Warm up with aged rums that don’t need to be mixed.

By Kelly Magyarics, DWS, CSX Editor-in-Chief
It’s potently perfect in that Daiquiri (the original version with rum, lime and sugar, not those blended artificially-flavored monstrosities at beach bars.) But rum is also holding its own served simply in a rocks glass—sometimes with a splash of water or an ice cube. More and more, brown spirit imbibers are discovering the sweet complexity of aged rum, and ‘tis the season to jump on board.

Omar Vega, food and beverage director for the restaurants and bars at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation on Amelia Island, Florida, says rums from the Caribbean and Central and South America are the ones to watch. “They are extremely smooth and really open up with time or with a nice ice cube or sphere in them,” he notes, and serves many at Omni’s Rum + Tequila experience, a poolside bar stocked with high-end sipping spirits. Zafra 21 Years Master Reserve Rum from Panama is aged a staggering twenty-one years in used Bourbon barrels, rendering a rich and complex spirit with notes of caramel and ginger.

Just like other brown spirits, aged rum comes off the still clear, without the color, aroma and flavor that make it so sip-able—that is actually the work of the barrel. “I think these rums have been aged enough that you can smell and taste what the barrel is giving out during the aging process,” Vega explains. “It also mellows it out for that smoothness I look for when sipping on a rum.”

Barrels that have been previously used to mature something else—whether it be Bourbon, Scotch, Port or Sherry—impart different nuances on a rum. Ron dos Maderas rums from the Caribbean tend to have interesting aging regimens, including transporting them to Spain to undergo some time in Sherry casks. Ron Dos Maderas PX 5+5 Rum starts off by aging for five years in the Caribbean in American oak, before being shipped to Spain to spend three years in barrels that formerly held Palo Cortado Sherry, and two years in ex-Pedro Ximenez (PX) Sherry casks.

As with sipping Tequila (see our recent article), newbies may best learn to sip rum via a flight. “[This] gives them opportunity to not only taste three different types of the same spirit, but better understand the differences in taste and smell between the three,” he explains, adding that it can help someone better understand their preferences. He suggests serving three to four different styles—perhaps those with different age statements—and then go on to experiment with different brands.

Angostura Rum from Trinidad and Tobago (the same producer who makes those indispensable bitters) produces a range of rums that would make for an interesting flight. The Angostura 1919 8 Years Old Rum, which sees at least eight years in American Bourbon barrels, has rich and spicy notes along with luscious vanilla and caramel.

And don’t be afraid to pair aged rum with food. Vega likes them alongside dessert, with one ice cube to coax out aromas and flavors. Its sweetness can also match that of glazed ribs—and offset spicy flavors of jerk chicken.

Above all, these are spirits that are dying to enjoyed, slowly, just like other brown spirits. As Vega puts it, “The process of making an aged rum is interesting, and the history behind them are just as appealing.”

Click HERE to browse our entire selection of aged rum.

Kelly Magyarics, DWS, is CSX’s editor-in-chief. She can be reached by email at kelly@drinkCSX.com, or on Twitter or Instagram @kmagyarics.