Rum-Running in the Caribbean
July 8, 2025
“Once considered the drink of ruffians.”
——-
In 1976, the University of Pittsburgh was well on its way to winning the national championship for football. Like most of the Freshmen class that year, I faithfully sat in the stands of old “Pitt Stadium” and participated in perhaps the biggest party held on any campus in the United States.
That’s where it happened. My first experience with rum. Much like the Pirates of old, we found its attraction similar; it was cheap, easy to smuggle and even easier to carry. If the game became lopsided, as often was the case, we even had a cheer. It was a rhythmic chant of B-A-C-A-R-D-I.
Times certainly have changed. Pitt football has not been the same since Tony switched the pronunciation of his last name from Dorsett to Dor-SETT, Computers no longer require programming cards and my college fraternity brothers and I have matured. Well … at least we do not sit around and chant names of liquor anymore.
Like most Americans who manage to survive their youth, we understand how to sound sophisticated while ordering a special vodka martini but put us in the tropics and the trouble starts. What do you do with rum? Somehow it seems hard to imagine those same pirates of yesteryear, placing fruit in their mugs and swilling it down with a yo-ho-ho let’s have another peach daiquiri. Not that there is anything wrong with that!
Sugarcane was introduced to the Caribbean during one of Christopher Columbus’s voyages to the West Indies. It was not long before settlers discovered that distilling the molasses, which is a byproduct of processing sugarcane, could make liquor. Since it was economical to make and easy to carry, rum became associated with sailors and pirates. Rum probably derives its name from saccharum. For centuries this beverage was considered a drink for ruffians with an image of bootlegging and rum-running. Not until the 20th century was it enthusiastically accepted as a cocktail ingredient.
Bacardi rum is currently the world’s bestselling brand and ownership is still claimed by approximately 300 descendants of the company’s founder Don Facundo Bacardi Maso. From 1862 through 1960, the family built their business from a Cuban headquarters. Once Fidel Castro came to power, however, Bacardi left and has since established a holding company in Bermuda.
These days, rums are refined all over the Caribbean and various other parts of the world. With all due respect to Bacardi, there are more exotic and lesser-known rums that may be better for sipping. The Caribbean is home to some of the most exotic and storied rums in the world. “Exotic” can mean rare, aged, artisanal, or made with unique local ingredients or production methods.
Here’s a curated list of some of the most exotic rums in the Caribbean:
1) Hampden Estate (Jamaica) Website
- Exotic Qualities: Wild fermentation, no additives, intense tropical fruit and spice flavors.
- Try: Hampden Estate Overproof or Great House Edition (annual limited releases)
- Exotic Qualities: Aged without additives; small-batch releases prized by collectors.
- Try: Foursquare 2007, Redoubtable, or Exceptional Cask Series
- Exotic Qualities: Volcanic terroir of Mt. Pelée, AOC-regulated production, grassy and mineral notes.
- Try: Rhum JM XO or vintage bottlings like 1999 or 2001
- Exotic Qualities: Produced on a historic estate using pot stills and estate-grown cane
- Try: St. Nicholas Abbey 12-Year or White Rum for Tiki-style drinks
- Exotic Qualities: Full-flavored, funky Jamaican “hogo,” popular with mixologists
- Try: Rum Bar Gold or Rum Bar Overproof
Good sipping, Mon.
