For too long, white rum has been seen as a lower-quality spirit that acts as a propellant in serves. Many bartenders and aged rum drinkers dismiss white rum as cheap, synonymous with mass-produced brands, lacking in complexity and age and associated with omnipresent cocktails such as the mojito, cuba libre and piña colada.
Many of these preconceptions are rooted in long-standing regional and historical preferences.
In the Caribbean and South America, aged rum has long been considered the ‘premium’ choice, often reserved for special occasions or consumed as a sign of status. By contrast, white rum has historically been considered a more fun, everyday spirit, ideal for tropical, sweet, fruity cocktails and punches – a world away from the complex dark aged rums savoured like single malt whiskey/whisky or cognac.
The long charge sheet against white rum contains many holes, of course. For starters, it’s inaccurate to say all white rums are unaged. While many are, others are cask-aged for short periods to mellow their flavour. Other styles are aged for years and charcoal-filtered to remove any trace of barrel-imparted colour, much like a cristalino tequila.
One example of an aged white rum is Havana Club Original Añejo 3 Años, the entry-level expression of Pernod Ricard’s Cuban rum brand. Global marketing director Nathalie Parte emphasises that its ageing process sets it apart from many other light rums in the marketplace. “The minimum three years of ageing imparts the liquid with sophistication and depth rarely found in the subcategory,” she says.
Huge opportunities
Another common criticism is that white rum is bland and lacks innovation compared with other styles. “There’s a huge opportunity to do more with white rum,” argues Shavinraj Gopinath, beverage manager at the Casa Sol restaurant at the Maxx Royal Bodrum Resort in Turkey. “Brands are creating white rums primarily as a house pour, entry-level product before they go into aged products, but there’s so much more to do in the market with the category.”
Examples of premiumisation and innovation, especially among smaller craft producers, are not hard to find.
Devon-based Hattiers Rum, the first British B Corp-certified rum, produces Eminence Blended Aged White Rum (below), a blend of aged and unaged rums from Australia, Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados. It is one of the brand’s key expressions and a gold medal winner at the International Wine & Spirit Competition.
“By barrel-ageing our rum, we infuse it with layers of complexity that only time in wood can bring,” explains founder & CEO Philip Everett-Lyons. “Through careful filtration, we can remove the colour while preserving those rich, nuanced flavours. The result is a white rum that delivers the best of both worlds – the crispness and versatility you expect from a white rum, combined with the depth and character typically found in darker spirits. This also makes it perfect for mixing, adding bags of flavour to cocktails without overpowering them.”
Another producer defying typically low consumer expectations around white rum is Belize-based Copalli. The brand makes rum from organic, heirloom sugarcane and has won praise for its contribution to local communities and rainforest preservation. One of Copalli’s more unusual offerings is Copalli Cacao Rum (below), an ultra-premium white rum infused with roasted organic cacao nibs grown at its distillery in the rainforest of Southern Belize.
“We grow so many interesting local fruits and crops at our farm that we’re continually experimenting with how to use those ingredients in future releases of our rum,” says Copalli CCO Scott Shaw. “When you talk about brand heritage, that’s exactly how we maintain it. Everything ties back to our farm, our sugarcane fields, community and respect for the environment and ecosystem of our home in Southern Belize.”
The company also produces Copalli Barrel Rested Rum and Organic White Rum, a more mainstream release made with organic sugarcane juice crushed within two hours of being harvested. The fact that this expression is made without added sugar enhances its taste and quality, according to Shaw.
“Consumers and bartenders have increasingly discovered that well-made, top-quality white rum is not only flavourful, but also highly versatile,” he claims. “In addition to traditional white rum drinks like a daiquiri or mojito, the number of interesting and innovative cocktails that can be created using this spirit is seemingly endless.”
Elsewhere, a more recent release from the Seychellois brand Takamaka counters the widely held view that age is what commands luxury status and price points in rum. Le Clos Napa Laz (below), a blend of 100% unaged sugarcane rums made using a slow double distillation process to capture the complex flavour of the cane, was launched into select European markets last month.
The addition to the brand’s luxury Le Clos range is made entirely from non-hybrid cane varieties sourced from farmers local to the company’s Trois Frères Distillery and limited to 408 bottles.
Bacardí, Havana Club leverage music tie-ins
Bacardí dominates the world of white rum, but this 20.6m-case giant has been focusing elsewhere in recent years on persuading consumers to trade up from the classic standard Bacardí Carta Blanca to higher-priced expressions in other styles, such as Caribbean Spiced, the brand’s first spiced line extension, and Reserva Ocho Sevillian Orange Cask Finish, an 8-year-old rum finished in ex-orange wine casks from Seville, Spain.
This year, the company switched focus back to Bacardí Carta Blanca with a marketing push aimed at music-loving Millennials and Gen Zers. In April, the brand announced that Grammy-nominated singer Camila Cabello would star in a new summer campaign (below) celebrating the “vibrant spirit” of her new music and Bacardí’s association with “fun and community”. The campaign featured Cabello’s new song ‘I Luv It’ and included a co-created signature drink, the ‘I Luv It Punch’, built around Bacardí Carta Blanca.
In a similar music-related vein, this year Pernod Ricard promoted Havana Club Original Añejo 3 Años at major European music and cultural festivals in five countries, including the UK’s Glastonbury Festival and Notting Hill Carnival, France’s Garorock and Yardland, as well as Portugal’s Afro Nation.
“Across the venues, our Havana Club Grounds team provided immersive experiences that not only highlighted our 3-year-old rum in delicious cocktails, but also delved deep into Cuban culture,” says global marketing director Nathalie Parte. “With a focus on inclusivity, sustainability and local empowerment, these activations enabled drinkers to connect with Havana Club’s rich heritage.”
According to Parte, the launch of a limited-edition bottle (below), featuring vintage stickers and holographic effects to capture the vibrant essence of Cuba, positively impacted the activations.
Changing on-premise attitudes
In the world of mixology, attitudes to white rum are changing as ever-more discerning consumers and bartenders discover the depth and complexity the subcategory can offer.
“My perception of white rum has definitely evolved over the last few years,” admits Jacoby Morciglio, bar manager at Denver’s Adrift Tiki Bar. “My understanding of it when I started working with rum was more that white rum was a lengthener to add more proof and a slightly more neutral flavour to a drink. Some of the column still white rums can definitely function like this, but there’s so much more out there.
“My first smack in the face was Wray & Nephew’s Overproof Jamaican Rum. The name ‘Overproof’ gave a bit of a hint as to how it would read, but nothing like the ripe fruit flavour blaster it is,” he adds. “The colour is so unassuming and to have that much depth and complexity is wild.
“I definitely view white rum as a much, much larger umbrella term with thousands of expressions, flavours and uses.”
Similarly, the owner of The Mothership rum bar in Milwaukee, Ricky Ramirez, is equally enthusiastic about white rum’s potential. “With more brands coming into the rum game, including new American brands, it becomes more important for people to have an understanding of how the country of origin, terroir, fermentation and the stills used in making rum are important in the final product [and to] understand that some white rums have as much character as an aged whiskey/whisky,” he says.
Despite these upbeat words from bartenders, the white rum segment is not forecast to grow as fast as other styles. In 2023, according to a recent report by Persistence Market Research, the white rum market was valued at US$4.67bn, behind light/gold rum, the largest subcategory, valued at over $5bn. The spirit’s fastest style is spiced, predicted to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% over the next nine years.
