Sales of rum in the US dropped by 6.2% last year, with the value (-5.1%), premium (-8%) and high-end premium (-1.1%) segments all in the redThe super-premium segment was the only positive outlier in the US in 2025, with volumes up 2.9%Premiumisation has reshaped rum, with dark and aged iterations in the highest price tiers outperforming the wider categorySpiced & flavoured is the third-largest segment for rum in the Americas by volume, accounting for more than 56% of all rums sold in the US in 2025The use of natural flavourings and better base spirits suggests a similar premiumisation tren
Premiumisation provides a lifeline for rum amid choppy seas in the Americas – Category Intel
‘Within a category declining across all tiers at the Americas level, the clearest story of relative outperformance is at the premium end.’

Gone are the days when pirates and palm trees were the defining images of rum, but can the category’s spiced & flavoured segment follow the same premiumisation path set out by its aged expressions?
Eloise is a freelance journalist and editor and has been reporting on the drinks industry since 2020. She spent five years at The Drinks Business, three of which as editor of The Drinks Business Asia. In 2023 she was named the Alan Lodge Young International Drinks Writer of the Year. As a freelance journalist she has written for Global Drinks Intel, Harpers Wine & Spirit, The Spirits Business, The Caterer, Financial Times, Daily Mail and TimeOut.


