Hot Buttered Rum is one of our favorite seasonal drinks and is a nice change-of-pace from egg nog and spiked cider. Rum is the perfect base for this buttery libation, which is spiced up with allspice dram and apple cider. There are several quality recipes for Hot Buttered Rum, but this year we’re making the below recipe, courtesy of Kenneth McCoy and NYC’s Rum House.

Hot Buttered Brugal

2 oz Brugal Añejo Rum
1 teaspoon honey
½ teaspoon butter
4 oz hot apple cider
½ oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram

Add all ingredients to mixing glass. Stir vigorously, then pour into heated coffee mug. Grate fresh cinnamon on top, and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Like that? Drink this:
- Rum Punch Recipes
- Ron Abuelo 7 Anos Rum Review
- Old Monk Rum Review

Ron Abuelo 7 Anos is a rich, amber-colored rum with aromas of vanilla, caramel and fresh sugar cane. Flavors range from more vanilla and caramel to cocoa, toffee and honey. That sweetness fades in the finish, with lingering notes of dry leather and citrus. It’s exceedingly easy to sip, and even rum novices will be hard-pressed to find much burn in this one.

Apart from the very solid attributes noted above, perhaps the best characteristic of Ron Abuelo 7 Anos is its price. Like its younger sibling, the Anejo, the 7 Anos is incredibly affordable. So while it sits in my glass adorned with neither ice nor mixer, the Rum and Coke crowd can mix freely without monetary guilt.

That said, for better mixing results, throw it into actual cocktails. The sweet start and dry finish lends itself well to a variety of drinks, like an anejo daiquiri, a rum old fashioned or a rum punch

Stats:
- 40% Alcohol by Volume
- $20

Like that? Drink this:
- English Harbour 5 Year Rum Review
- Denizen Rum Review
- Brugal Anejo Rum Review

Denizen Rum starts with column-distilled rums from the Angostura Distillery that are charcoal-filtered and aged up to five years in small bourbon barrels. From there, 15 types of Jamaican pot-distilled rums are added to the mix and blended in Amsterdam (a city that’s been blending rums since the 1700s, when the Netherlands colonized much of the Caribbean).

The result is a clear rum – the color imparted by barrel aging is filtered out – with lots of sweet molasses and tropical fruit on the nose. Take a sip to find a medium-bodied, surprisingly spicy rum that’s full of vanilla, citrus and molasses, plus some green grass and figs. The Jamaican rum component really shines here, adding a heavy, viscous quality to the lighter Trinidadian rum. It finishes dry and slightly woody with some lingering vanilla.

Denizen Rum is a game changer for white rums. Granted, this is an aged rum that’s just had the color stripped out. But still, it’s priced the same as many mass-market white rums – looking at you, Bacardi – but offers loads more flavor and utility in cocktails.

Right now, New York is your best bet for finding Denzen Rum, but it’s also available at a handful of online retailers.

Stats:
- 40% Alcohol by Volume
- $16

Like that? Drink this:
- Plantation Grande Reserve Rum
- Zaya Gran Reserva Rum
- English Harbour 5 Year Old Rum

On the nose, Plantation Grande Reserve offers aromas of ripe bananas, toasted coconut, leather and caramel. Take a sip to taste vanilla, caramel and molasses, plus some orange peel, fruit and baking spices. It’s loaded with flavor and offers more sweetness than the nose suggests. The lingering finish is a mix of sweet and spice, with lots of cinnamon heat fighting for attention in the enveloping background of sugar cane sweetness.

The dual-oak aging process comes through with American oak notes like caramel and vanilla mingling with the mild fruit notes likely supplied by the French oak. It’s certainly a viable sipper, which is always welcome at such a modest price point. That said, Plantation Grande Reserve is great in cocktails. Try it in a daiquiri or a fruit-forward tiki drink, or add a rum float to your Cognac Julep.

Stats:
- 40% Alcohol by Volume
- $20

Like that? Drink this:
- Plantation 20th Anniversary Extra Old Rum
- Dos Maderas PX Rum Review
- Ron Abuelo Anejo Rum

The rundown –

Port Royal Gold

Included in a room drop at our Spanish Court Hotel, Port Royal Gold seemed cheap and astringent, certainly not a viable sipper. I imagine it has some application in cocktails, but all I can say for now is that it’s not very impressive sipped straight from a hotel bathroom drinking glass.

Wray and Nephew Overproof

This is one of the most consumed rums in Jamaica, an impressive stat given its potency. The 126 proof spirit hides beneath some alcoholic top notes, but is otherwise packed with aromas and flavors. It’s pure sugarcane with a malty sweetness that’s reminiscent of cachaca. I ordered this rum to accompany my lunch, and several of my dining companions noted that they could smell the rum from across the table. While I enjoyed it, this was not a crowd pleaser.

Appleton Estate V/X

This entry-level Appleton Estate rum is a blend of 15 rums aged five to 10 years in used whiskey barrels. It works very well in cocktails, as its sweet molasses and fruit backbone holds up well in most drinks. Given its versatile nature and affordable price point, Appleton Estate V/X was a ubiquitous fixture at Jamaican bars, where it was often used in rum punch.

Appleton Estate Reserve

This blend of 20 rums – each aged eight years or more – is smooth, rich and easy-drinking, with notes of vanilla, butterscotch, orange peel and spices. Sitting just above the V/X, it works well in cocktails but is also a very decent sipper. This was my regular pre-dinner, post-dinner and sometimes during-dinner drink during my stay in Jamaica.

Appleton Estate 12-Year

Also called Appleton Estate Extra, this blend features stocks ranging in age from 12 years to 30 years. It’s warm and nutty with notes of citrus fruit, vanilla and oak. Sampled at a few different venues, it was served neat in a snifter each time and seemed to be a favorite amongst bartenders. It’s tasty, well-balanced stuff, and one of the better rums I sampled during the Jamaican tour.

Appleton Estate 21-Year

A full-bodied sipping rum full of oak influence and spice that would likely pair well with a cigar. It was certainly enjoyable, but I found it a bit too woody and preferred the 12-Year overall.

Smatt’s Gold

I’d never heard of this rum prior to visiting Jamaica, and upon seeing it on a restaurant menu, the name didn’t evoke much confidence. So of course I ordered it. Served as a shot, but sipped like a gentleman, I found the body to be thin and watery, but it did pack a punch of flavor. Smatt’s also makes a silver, unaged rum, which I didn’t sample.

Coruba Dark

Served as a shot at Usain Bolt’s sports bar, called Tracks and Records, Coruba Dark was sweet, heavy and full of molasses. While it made for a decent shot, I’d love to revisit this rum in tiki cocktails.

Meyers Dark

Eh. Sweet, simple and nothing special. It makes a decent addition to cocktails, but doesn’t offer much on its own.

El Dorado 12

This was my first time sampling El Dorado Rum. I really liked it, despite it’s not being local. Turns out it’s from Guyana. No matter. El Dorado 12 is smooth and mellow with hints of honey and brown sugar. It offers fruit and spice and finishes clean and dry. Very good stuff.

El Dorado 15

Next up, the El Dorado 15 skips the honey and brown sugar backbone of its younger friend, instead opting for more oak influences, plus notes of coffee, chocolate, almonds and orange spice. I’m not sure I preferred the 15 over the 12, but it was certainly a lovely drink.

Click here for a full recap of the Jamaica trip.

Mount Gay Eclipse Black is made from a blend of single and double distilled rums aged from two to seven years, and it’s aged in lightly-charred American white oak casks.

On the nose it’s full of banana, clove and molasses. It’s warm but not overly alcoholic. Take a sip to taste flavors of toasted oak, brown sugar, tropical fruits, spices and sweet vanilla. It’s full-flavored and finishes with some warm, peppery spice. Considering its proof, it’s quite smooth from start to finish.

Mount Gay Eclipse Black is a simple, user-friendly rum that can be consumed neat, but will likely find its mark as a mixer (both ginger beer and Coke seem like solid options). That said, do at least try it straight. It goes down easily, and a single ice cube is all you need to temper the heat.

Stats:
- 50% Alcohol by Volume
- $25

Like that? Drink this:
- Mount Gay Extra Old Rum Review
- Ron Abuelo Anejo Rum Review
- Brugal Anejo Rum Review

An Indian discovery, punch gained popularity amongst sailors who took advantage of the abundance of Caribbean sugar cane as a perfect ingredient for their new drink of choice. When punch arrived in the new world, many drinkers relished the taste, texture and simplicity of the drink, and enjoyed sharing it in large quantities.

“It’s the original mixed drink,” says David Wondrich, drinks historian and author of Punch. “It caught on early in American history and quickly became a sensation.” It’s easy to understand why – it’s delicious and comes in large containers.

In celebration of National Punch Day, we’re breaking out the bowls, cups and ladles and mixing up some rum punch. The below punch recipes come courtesy of Flor de Caña and NYC mixologist Phil Ward.

Proportions can be modified. Just multiply the below single-servings to accommodate larger quantities.

Flip Flop Punch

2 oz Chamomile-infused Flor de Caña 4-year old
4 sugar cubes
3 oz club soda
1 oz lemon juice
1.5 oz grapefruit juice

Muddle and dissolve 4 sugar cubes in 1 ounce of club soda, then add the rest of the ingredients one at a time and stir as added. Add ice and stir the punch until it is chilled. Strain punch into a glass or punch bowl (depending on the size of the portion), top with 2 ounces club soda and garnish with grapefruit slices.

*Chamomile Infused Flor de Caña is made by adding 4 bar spoons of chamomile tea to one bottle of rum. Let the concoction sit for an hour and forty five minutes and then strain out the tea. Save the bottle for storage.

Goodnight Moon

2 oz Flor de Caña 7-year Grand Reserve
4 sugar cubes
3 oz club soda
2 whole cloves
1 pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
1 oz lemon juice
2 oz Fuji apple juice
2 dashes of Peychaud bitters

Muddle and dissolve sugar cubes in 1 ounce of club soda. Muddle the cloves with the sugar cubes, then add remaining ingredients one at a time and stir as added. Add ice and stir punch until chilled. Strain concoction into a glass or punch bowl, depending on the size of the portion, top with 2 ounces club soda, and garnish with apple slices and cinnamon sticks.

Green Acres Punch

2 oz Flor de Caña 4-year old
1 oz Flor de Caña 18-year old
.75 oz rich demerara simple syrup
1 oz lime juice
6 oz hot, strong green tea
1 mint sprig

Combine all ingredients in a container and leave over night. Strain the next day and refrigerate. To serve, pour the punch into a glass and garnish with a lime wheel and mint sprig.

Bacardi Oakheart is created with a blend of rums mellowed in charred American white oak barrels. From there, spices including maple, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey and vanilla are added. The result is what the company calls

…a bold, spiced rum straight from the heart of charred oak barrels with an amber hue, a hint of smokiness and unique velvet-like smoothness.  Rich and oaky on the nose, with hints of smoke and dried fruit, this exceptional spiced rum has a robust flavor that stands up to any challenge. Slightly sweet and peppery with a noticeable rum-kick, Bacardi Oakheart tastes great straight or combined with cola and served over ice in a chilled stein glass.

The Oakheart name was developed in collaboration with thousands of consumers and hundreds of bartenders. More than 2,700 names were considered before Oakheart was selected, a process that took more than two years.

Bacardi Oakheart will be available nationwide this September  at a suggested retail price of $12.99 for a 750-ml bottle.

Like that? Drink this:
- The Lash Spiced Rum
- Blackbeard Spiced Rum

On the nose, Old Monk is sweet, with notes of vanilla, molasses and butterscotch. Take a sip and it offers lots of caramel, plus some spice and dried herbs. Given the initial hit of sweetness, it finishes fairly quick and dry.

Sipped neat, it’s adequate but not terribly compelling. Cocktail wise, however, Old Monk makes a lovely daiquiri. As expected, it tastes quite different from a crisp, refreshing daiquiri made with white rum. Instead, the Old Monk lends its sweet, buttery characteristics to the cocktail for a deeper, richer drink.

Also, it’s cheap. And has an appreciation society on Facebook that’s 1,500 members strong.

Stats:
- 40% Alcohol by Volume (internationally: 42.2%)
- $16

Like that? Drink this:
- Ron de Jeremy Rum
- Ron Abuelo Anejo Rum
- The Lash Spiced Rum

A Rumologist is a person with a vast knowledge of all things related to rum – one that can pour, educate, mix and create island-inspired cocktails for Tommy Bahama,” explains Rob Goldberg, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Restaurants for Tommy Bahama.  “The person we are looking for must embody everything that a Tommy Bahama Rumologist should be about,” adds Goldberg.  “They must not only love to create cocktails and put new twists on old recipes, but he or she must be so passionate about rum, that this person alone could claim this new title.

The winner will fulfill his Rumologist duties by traveling, drinking rum, hosting events and developing cocktails for Tommy Bahama restaurants as the company’s chief rum consultant and ambassador. Not a bad gig. Other perks include $50,000 and an appropriately-themed wardrobe.

Interested parties should create a 45-60 second video declaring their candidacy and explaining why they should be chosen. Enter via the Tommy Bahama Facebook Page.

The winner will be announced in October.