Rum and sunshine, there’s enough for everyone.

7s and 8s: Four bridge rums for mixing or sipping.

I mostly sort rums into one of three categories: Mixing, sipping and garbage. The latter are the heavily sugar and gawd-knows-what-filth dosed spirits that are pushed upon the teeming ignorant masses to erode the good name of Rum, the greatest of all spirits. The most egregious of those are no longer allowed to call themselves rum in the EU which is at least a good start so if the words rum, rhum or ron appear naught on the label leave them on the shelf to poison the souls of the less diligent. Breathe Andy, breathe. The other two categories (mixing and sipping) are pretty self-explanatory but there exists a sub-category between the two that I wish to discuss today that I call “bridge rums”. These aged rums are more expensive than typical mixing rums and are edging into “sippable” territory while remaining fairly affordable. More complex than the simple mixing rums they find a welcome place in cocktails where the rum is not overpowered by other flavours and remains the star of the show. A Daiquiri, a Rum Old Fashioned, a Mai Tai. You get the drift. These rums are usually aged for 7-8 tropical years (ageing being somewhat accelerated in a warm climate) and sit mid-range with a lesser aged mixing offering and a more aged – and expensive! – sipper or two typically available from the same distiller. Today I’m going to wheel out four examples that I value but this list is far from exhaustive and similarly placed rums from other distillers may serve you well. However, do make certain that the 7 or 8 is followed by the word years (or años) and is not just some number that an unscrupulous marketeer has simply plucked from the ether and slapped on the label. Yes, it happens. A last comment before we dive in is that in my opinion the best rums come from islands (or multi-island nations) that don’t begin with a P and I generally avoid rums that come from a mainland country unless it begins with a G. So there. I’ve picked a range of 7s and 8s that should be widely enough available that wherever you live you should be able to get your hands on at least one of them. Given that prices of these rums vary quite considerably in different markets the relative value to you will depend on what you need to fork out for them but I’ve included the price I paid for each 700ml bottle to give you a baseline. Anyway, let’s try a few rums!

El Dorado 8 (€21-26)

Coming from the South American mainland nation of Guyana (heh), El Dorado 8 is a rum I’ve written about on these pages a few times but it fits into this group so well that I couldn’t exclude it. A lot of folks reach for El Dorado 12 and when I did many years ago I found it far too sweet. El Dorado have cleaned up their act in recent times and that extra sugar is no longer present but I found the drier 8 year old (which also uses a different blend of rums from the distiller’s interesting collection of historic stills) much more approachable and it has been a staple “bridge rum” ever since. It has that typical Demerara rum quality that is often described as “smoky” which I think is perhaps a little misleading and might better be called “earthily spicy”. While I almost always use ED8 as a mixing rum I am never disappointed on the occasions I drop some in a glass all on its own. Although the bottle, screw cap closure and 40% abv look pretty pedestrian you get a lot of age and still pedigree from a remarkably affordable rum to the point I can’t think of another that can touch it for the price. Yet it remains a Demerara rum which is a specific style that limits its overall flexibility. It lends itself pretty well to a rum old fashioned and as a component of various multi-rum tiki cocktails where it brings that Demerara depth and some age to the mix. El Dorado 8 is a no-brainer if available to you at this kind of price.

Appleton Estate 8 (€28-33)

Jamiaca’s Appleton Estate make some cracking rums including the entry level Signature and the highly regarded 12 year old under the eye of master distiller Joy Spence. Some years ago I would happily mix away with the 12 year old but of late the price has started to rise quite dramatically to the point I’m not dropping 45+ rum tokens on a mixer. However, there is a somewhat overlooked aged Appleton that really kicks ass and some even prefer to its more expensive sibling. Appleton Estate 8 is a beautifully crafted pot still rum that is deeply, deeply enjoyable for sipping on yet, if the price is right (and it does vary quite a bit) is equally good in cocktails. Typically for an aged Jamaican rum, the funky edge is barely detectable but the wood and spice of a well aged rum transfers effortlessly into a Mai Tai or rum Old Fashioned. When sipping there is a slightly creamy vanilla note that might get lost in a cocktail but that’s fine as this is the rum I’m mostly likely to drink on it’s own out of this group. While the most expensive on my list it exudes far more class than the others with an attractive bottle and label with an excellent wooden cork and higher bottling abv of 43%. The slight extra price is well spent and purely in terms of favour sophistication this is the leader of this pack by a good margin. In a Mai Tai I find three parts of Appleton 8 topped out with one part of Rum Fire or Wray & Nephew overproof tough to beat – and hopefully somewhat in the spirit of Trader V’s original recipe.

Angostura 7 (€23-27)

For those of you who thought Trinidad’s Angostura only made bitters: Surprise! They also pump out a line of rums. From what I’ve tasted so far these are unremarkable but solid rums that are likely not my first choice at each price point. So why are we here? Well Angostura 7 has a peculiar property that makes it very interesting. On its own this coppery, “rummy” rum, with bittersweet orangey notes is just “fine” but unexciting. But for some strange reason it mixes really well and I’ll be damned if I can explain why. I just notice that every time I include it in a cocktail I mentally say to myself, “damn, that was a good one!” Could it be that its very mid-Caribbean ordinariness makes it very flexible? In that sense it takes our concept of a “base” rum and works very much as a well aged version of the same. I’ve not found too much information on how Angostura 7 is made and aged but suffice to say that whenever I see Ango 7 at the lower end of this price range I’ll pick one or two up and use it purely for how well it plays in a Mai Tai or Anejo Daiquiri.

Havana Club 7 (€22-25)

Good ‘ole HC7 finds a place on this list because – unless you live in the USA of course – this is the most easily available example of a bridge rum and most of you should have no problem finding a bottle. Americans can get it at almost any non-US airport when they travel and really need not worry about having it confiscated on their return as I’ve never heard of that happening. Being a Cuban rum we know it is from a column still and has no sugar added, ‘cos them’s the rules there. Sure, it’s not the most exciting rum ever but its leather and tobacco notes are pleasant enough to make it an enjoyable sipper and somewhat like the Angostura it is very flexible and works well in a very wide range of rum cocktails. On its own I find it just a little “thin”, likely due to the lack of pot-still content but in cocktails that matters less as juices and syrups will make up for it in body. It’s not the first bottle I reach for yet I’m never without one and when I do include it in a cocktail I’m rarely disappointed. Try it a Hotel Nacional Special or Old Cuban and see what I’m talking about.