Rum is undoubtedly having a moment, and as it continues to grow – at the premium end of the market in particular – some styles are getting more attention than others. Rum is a notably diverse category, a­ er all, and there’s a lot to explore, for producers and consumers alike.

“We’re seeing consumers interested in rum on various levels, from neat sipping to spiced,” says Speciality Brands managing director Chris Seale. “We are offering a wider range than ever, covering a spectrum of styles and occasions.”

As consumers explore the category their knowledge is increasing, so the distinctions between various styles, and the wealth of innovation within those styles has arguably never been more prominent. “What I am most excited about is people starting to see the spectrum of different rums, and how each serves a different purpose,” says Duppy Share Rum founder George Frost.

For Appleton Estate brand ambassador Chris Dennis, this growing level of knowledge is crucial. “We’re slowly approaching a tipping point where we can start defining rums by country and therefore production style, instead of simply by their colour,” he says.

If we must define the category broadly by colour, gold rum is certainly leading the charge at the moment. IWSR Drinks Market Analysis reports that dark rum, which includes both gold and black rum, was the sub-category that saw the strongest growth in 2021, with gold rum out in front.

When people speak of sipping rums, they are invariably found within this subcategory.

At Cask Liquid Marketing, director Richard Herbert has seen sales of sipping rums, such as El Dorado 12 Year Old and 21 Year Old increase in the last two years, “helping to add value to the category and introduce new consumers”, he says.

For Cask’s managing director Claire West, this is particularly noticeable in the on-trade, “with customers typically associating age with quality”.

Sipping rums have long been a priority for Bacardi, according to global brand ambassador Dickie Cullimore, who says this has been driven by consumer demand. He gives recent examples of Bacardi’s Gran Reserva 10, as well as Gran Reserva Especial 16, “inspired by our drinkers, and in that sipping space”.

After dark rum, it’s the flavoured category that has been having the most success currently, according to the IWSR. And while rum shows o‑ some of its most varied and diverse expressions here, spiced rum remains the champion, and very often the one to introduce new consumers to rum in the first place.

But Cullimore believes that spiced rum has achieved validity of its own in recent years. “The assumption was that people would start with spiced and then graduate into traditional rum, but what’s happening now, largely led by the UK, is that it is growing into its own sub-category,” he says. “Its increased popularity has seen producers explore the universe of spice and what it could be.”

Major evolution

The result is a category that has evolved significantly in recent years. “We’ve seen a request for drier styles over the past year, and believe this is going to continue,” says Herbert, citing Cask’s Black Tears Cuban spiced rum as an example of this drier style. Another example of this evolution in style is Canerock, from Plantation Rum. “A true spiced rum, it took us three years to find the perfect recipe – an aged rum, blended with natural spices, using our 30 years of rum making experience,” says Maison Ferrand communications director Angélique Jullienne.

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Dave Marsland, St Lucia Distillers rum brand ambassador and sales manager for Spiribam UK, believes that the growth of spiced and flavoured rums is “driven by a desire to seek out traditional flavours from across the world”. This has led to a focus, he says, on Chairman’s Reserve Spiced, with its Saint Lucian flavours.

The real success story in rum isn’t so much a style as a price point, however. IWSR reports an overall global category growing by 10% in volume and 15% in value between 2020 and 2021, what it defines as premium-and-above rum grew by 26% in volume, and 34% in value.

Anne Martin, Havana Club global marketing director, confirms this. “We can safely say that premiumisation continues to be a major trend for the category,” she says. “We are witnessing a surge in the demand for premium rum in our key markets, and we’re not expecting this to slow down yet.”

“The march of premiumisation continues at pace,” agrees West, describing rums from the Cask portfolio such as El Dorado 12 as “an affordable luxury to be enjoyed throughout the year”.

Nigel Brown, president of Siddiqui Rums, says: “The premium rum market is driving growth, and people are spending more on rum now. The premium rum market is only just beginning.”

Bacardi’s Cullimore is seeing consumers of other categories discovering premium rums, while existing consumers move more to the premium end of the market too. “Our core rum drinker looks to premium as a different way to enjoy spirits, which gives rise to a variety of products, like cask finishes with a higher abv,” he says, adding that this has benefited expressions such as Bacardi Reserva 8.”

For Speciality Brands, this growth in premium rum has informed recent portfolio choices, with new additions such as Rivers Antoine and Neisson. “We’re seeing strong growth for sipping rums such as the Hampden Estate range, and equally the traditional Martinique AOC Rhum Agricole Neisson has generated impressive interest since we took it on a year ago,” reports Seale.

Frost, at Duppy Share, is seeing the same. “The demand for our XO rum has been mind-blowing,” he says. “It’s no surprise that with more people drinking rum, more people are looking for the absolute best.”

Producers such as Appleton are well placed to benefit from the rise of the premium end of the market, says Dennis, explaining that the estate’s long history allows it to have enough liquid to produce its core range while creating annual releases of exclusive rums such as its Hearts Collection. “It’s been exciting to become a part of this end of the market as we have seen it evolve,” he says.

Bespoke services

Cask is catering for this demand for premium rums by offering a bespoke service to retail and on-trade customers, allowing them to select casks based on style, age and barrel, with a bespoke label and a limited number of bottles.

St Lucia Distillers, meanwhile, has been bringing its Chairman’s Reserve Master’s Selection programme to a wider audience, giving bars the opportunity to select their own barrels, while the Rhum Clément Barrel Programme was introduced for the first time in 2022, giving the option of single batches finished in everything from tequila, grappa or sake barrels.

Cask finishes like these are increasingly common, invariably commanding premium price points. Among the more prominent is the recent series of cask-finished rums from Bacardi, based on its Reserva 8 expression. Last year saw the launch of a limited-release Sherry Cask Finish in the US, which is set to be followed by a Reserva 8 Rye Cask this year.

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Products like these have the potential added benefit of drawing consumers from other categories. Cullimore believes that premium rum will increasingly take cues from the whisky category in particular, such as minimum age statements. “We’ll see cask finishes, as that offers a different way to enjoy something you already love, but also barrel strength and higher-abv finishes,” he says.

Marsland sees the benefits of this approach too. “Luxury retail has taken advantage of the growing Irish whiskey audience by showcasing our Admiral Rodney Officer’s Release No.2, finished in Irish whiskey casks,” he says.

“Finishing rum in unusual casks is one of the ways we are engaging with drinkers from other categ
ories, such as Cognac or peated whisky, offering us the opportunity to introduce them to the exquisite world of rum in a way that feels familiar to them,” says Havana Club’s Martin, citing the example of the brand’s recently launched Cuban Smoky, aged in whisky barrels from Islay.

And then there’s the array of wine casks for rum producers to choose from.

“Cask finishing or full-term maturation in ex-wine casks is not a new thing in the rum world, but with the popularity and quality of these releases, I think we will continue to see more brands lean towards them,” believes Speciality Brands rum ambassador Dean MacGregor.

Brown reports that, while the focus remains on Siddiqui’s two core products, a dark and a white rum, now produced by Penderyn Distillery in Wales, there are ongoing experiments when it comes to barrel ageing.

“We have several expressions in the works, ageing in several different barrels, that we are considering for the premium rum market,” he says.

For some, innovation need not reinvent the wheel, and is rather focused on quality offerings that meet consumer demand.

“Foursquare started to release limited-edition cask strength offerings some seven or eight years ago, and now the demand outstrips supply,” says brand ambassador Peter Holland.

Ultimately, there’s no shortage of rum styles for consumers to explore, and seemingly endless potential for innovation from producers.