PIRATE BOOTY! The Ultimate Giftable Sipping Rums From Around The World

This is from the Angostura distillery — that’s right, the same folks who make the famous cocktail bitters. Angostura’s own rum bottlings contain added sugar, so this is a rare chance to try it unadulterated, in all its cask-strength glory. Aged for 17 years in Trinidad and two more in Europe, this is a rare collectible, but it’s too delicious not to drink.

Huge notes of clove and dark fruit, along with a curious hint of eucalyptus.

After 318 years, the world’s oldest rum distillery knows its stuff, and this approachable but complex sipper is a perfect example of a quintessential Barbadian rum. Here is a 14-year-old pot still distillate finished in Andean oak casks, which until now has never been used for aging rum. Limited to less than 3,000 bottles, this one-time release makes a fantastic gift — as long as the lucky recipient pours you a dram.

A spice rack of flavors from the Andean wood adds to Mount Gay’s traditional toffee, vanilla, and apricot notes.

This Texan rum by whiskey distiller Jared Himstedt is predictably an excellent choice for bold whiskey lovers. Balcones is a straightforward molasses-based rum that’s double distilled in copper pots, aged in various barrels, and bottled at cask strength ranging from 125-130 proof, so a splash of water or an ice cube is encouraged. While you probably won’t mistake this rum for bourbon, there’s more than a passing resemblance.

Raisins, bitter dark chocolate, caramel, and a hint of campfire smokiness.

Black Tot Day” refers to July 31, 1970, the day the British Royal Navy stopped issuing its seamen a daily rum ration, or “tot.” This homage is a blend sourced from the same locales as the actual Royal Navy rum — Jamaica, Barbados, and (mostly) Guyana). It’s a perfect gift for history buffs, optimally sipped in a plush armchair while reading The Naval History of Great Britain by John Barrow.

Molasses forward with a meaty vibe that’s a hallmark of many Guyanese rums. Supporting players include dried fruit, cinnamon, and allspice.

While most rum is made from molasses, a sugarcane by-product, agricole-style rum is made from cane juice. Oahu-based Ko Hana specializes in sugarcane varietals that are native to Hawaii, and they only bottle single varietal rums, so you can taste your way through the spectrum of Hawaiian cane spirits. Koho, which employs the Ko Kea strain, is aged for two years in American oak and bottled at 90 proof. Ke Aloha!

This rum sits between a dry, grassy rhum agricole and a sweet molasses-based rum with notes of vanilla, caramel, and banana.

J.M. has been made in Martinique since the 18th century, but it’s never gained the same name recognition as Rhum Clement, J.M.’s agricole sibling. One sip of this XO, aged in ex-bourbon casks for at least six years, proves its relative obscurity has nothing to do with quality. On the contrary, this complex sipper rewards repeated tastings. A terrific gift for the contemplative drinker.

Vegetal and grassy notes typical of an agricole are present without overpowering delicate baking spice undertones.

Bacardi may be the rum most associated with Puerto Rico, but the best-selling rum on the island is Don Q, made by the Serralles family for more than 150 years. Their premium sipper is this Gran Reserva Añejo XO, aged 9-12 years in ex-bourbon barrels capped with a touch of solera-aged rum for good measure. Light and easy-drinking, Gran Reserva is perfect sipped neat or in a yummy rum Old Fashioned.

Burnt sugar, cinnamon, caramel, leather, and a bit of dark fruit.