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So you’d love to give someone special the Gift of Rum, but you’re not quite sure of the options. Well, how about Boutique-y Pete’s Three-for-Three suggestions to help navigate both the cost, style and perhaps the best way to consume the Rum? All are available to buy from Master Of Malt.

Up To £30(ish) 

A limited budget isn’t a Boutique-y bar to fab Rum. For all Rummies looking to move their sipping habits upto cask-strength, we’ve got a 12 Year Old beauty from Colombia in the form of Casa Santana. Complex, and inviting, presented at 58.4% ABV, this high strength Rum is a joy to sip neat, over ice, or in classic serves like an Old Fashioned, or stirred down with sweet vermouth, like a manhattan. The Rum surprises both novice and experienced Rummy alike in it’s approachability. 

We’ve also the Signature Blends in this price point, both set to upgrade your home bar and mixology offerings! Signature Blend #1 offers an amazingly enjoyable blend of full-bodied Jamaican and Martinique Rum-flavour. Drinks well enough on it;s own, but really comes to light in a daiquiri, or mojito, and it’s the harmony with fresh fruit that makes it work. Muddle strawberries or raspberries into your daiquiri, or serve long with pineapple juice. It really works! Rum fans will appreciate the harmonious flavours. One for the aspiring bartender in you!

Signature Blend #2 offers a lighter serve, that works in stirred drinks beautifully, or long with ginger ale, or cola. Drunk neat, or over ice the Rummy will appreciate the fab combination of Guyanese and Jamaican Rums. Rich and elegant, but with just a hint of funk that lifts the experience. Ideal for someone taking their first steps beyond Spiced Rum, as well as the aspiring mixologist. If you end up with Signature Blend #1 and #2, try making a Mai Tai using equal measures of each Rum - works a dream!

Up To £50

We’ve a wonderfully diverse selection of Rums that will allow the Rum explorer to experience some exciting new flavour profiles. We have a fine selection of recognisable taste profile Rums produced from molasses, but we also have three examples of just how good sugarcane juice spirits can be in the form of our Novo Fogo Cachaca release, and our Agricole Rums from Madeira, in the form of O Reizinho and Engenhos do Norte, both aged expressions allow you explore the vibrancy of sugarcane juice spirits, but with the reassurance of time in oak - or to be more specific - ex-Madeira cask in this case. Neat, over ice, or as an Old Fashioned recommended. The Engenhos do Norte being my pick of the three if you’re dabbling for the first time.

For the Salty Sea Dogs out there, then our Diamond Distillery, Port Mourant Still 11 Year Old  offers the rich, full-bodied Guyanese vibe that will be so familiar to fans of Navy Rum (without the massive amounts of caramel colouring that go hand in hand with some brands). Mix it how you like, but neat, or with a splash of water is a must-try!

This price band allows you to get your hands on an absolute treasure, especially if you are a fan of Jamaican Rum. Blended Rum #1 might not have the most evocative name, but it's potent blend of aged marques of Rum from four different famous distilleries in Jamaica bring an amazing amount of complexity, and powerful funk. It’s going to be a heck of a Rum for a beginner, but those who appreciate authentic Rum will absolutely love it! One that even the most experienced Rummies will love. Makes an amazing Old Fashioned, and a heck of a Mai Tai! Do try it neat though.

Over £50

Just creeping into this price zone, we’ve the Pedro Ximénez Cask finished Labourdonnais, the naturally sweetest in the range due to pre-seasoned Pedro Ximénez cask, but one that offers some amazing flavours due to the cask combination and sugarcane juice Mauritian Rum.

For anyone who follows the fortunes of the Rum World, you’ll know that Foursquare Distillery keep winning Rum Producer of the Year, year after year in prestigious tasting competitions such as the International Spirits Challenge, and International Wine and Spirits Competition, and our 12 Year Old release is a fine example of just why they are so widely acclaimed. This single cask release will be enjoyed by experienced and aspiring Rum drinkers alike, and is my tip for a ‘safe bet’.

Finally, if you want to bust the budget, and treat the special Rum-Fan (or perhaps yourself), then we’ve three releases from closed Distilleries in the form of Caroni, Enmore and Uitvlugt. These may be a lot more expensive than some we’ve featured, but these really are a taste of history. My tip is for the big, bad, dieselly Caroni, a highly sought after Rum for both drinkers and collectors alike. This release has all the lovely and instantly recognisable taste-profile you’d expect, but is a little softer and more rounded, and could well be the release that inspires another generation of Caroni fans. 

Enjoying these Rums is best done neat, with a splash of water or (if you’re feeling flash) in an Old Fashioned.