Rum

Queensland

Bundaberg Underproof Rum 700ml

We stock it because it is number two in ALM's national dark rum segment with 13.36% share, steady on last year. Dark rum is a brand-loyal category and Bundy is the brand.

700 mL37.0%20.0 std

Catano · Puerto Rico

Bacardi Carta Blanca

We stock it because a range that carries only obscure bottles is making a point rather than serving customers, and because plenty of people know exactly what they want.

700 mL37.5%20.7 std

Santa Cruz del Norte · Cuba

Havana Club Anejo 3 Anos

We stock it because the drink it was designed for is two ingredients and a lime, and it does not come together properly with an unaged rum.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Demerara · Guyana

El Dorado 15 Year Old

We stock it because it is the Demerara most people should try second, once the 12 has explained what the style is doing.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Tintenbar, New South Wales

Winding Road Cane Spirit

We stock it because it tastes like the place it is from, which is the whole argument for buying local spirits rather than the label on the front.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Tumbulgum, New South Wales

Husk Bam Bam Rum

We stock it because it is grown, pressed and distilled in one place in northern New South Wales, and there are very few spirits in this country you can say that about.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Barbados, Jamaica & Trinidad · Caribbean

Plantation 3 Stars White Rum

We stock it because the extra strength is the difference between a cocktail that tastes of rum and one that tastes of lime, and because it is the most useful white rum on the shelf.

700 mL41.2%22.8 std

Quetzaltenango · Guatemala

Ron Zacapa Centenario Solera Gran Reserva Rum 700mL

We stock it because it is the rum most often given as a gift in this country, and because someone should tell you what the 23 actually means.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Demerara · Guyana

El Dorado 12 Year Old

We stock it because those stills cannot be replicated, and a range this small should carry at least one thing that genuinely exists nowhere else.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Bundaberg, Queensland

Bundaberg Master Distillers Collection Small Batch Rum 700mL

We stock it because the gap between this and the Original is the clearest lesson in what barrel time does, and both are on the shelf to compare.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Lara · Venezuela

Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva

We stock it because it is the bottle that converts whisky drinkers, and because being straight about the sweetening is the difference between selling someone a rum and selling them a surprise.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Saint Lucy · Barbados

Mount Gay Black Barrel 43% 700ml

We stock it because it is the rum that makes a good Old Fashioned without pretending to be whisky, and because 43% means it survives ice.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Clarendon & Long Pond · Jamaica

Plantation Xaymaca Special Dry

We stock it because it is loud, dry Jamaican rum at a fair price, and because the no-dosage decision is stated on the bottle rather than buried.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Nassau Valley · Jamaica

Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rare Casks

We stock it because it is the bottle that answers the question of whether rum belongs in a glass on its own, and it answers it without costing what a comparable whisky would.

700 mL43.0%23.7 std

Nassau Valley · Jamaica

Appleton Estate Signature Blend

We stock it because it is the clearest inexpensive lesson in what pot still character actually tastes like, and because Joy Spence has been blending it since 1997.

700 mL40.0%22.1 std

Bundaberg, Queensland

Bundaberg Original Rum

We stock it because a shop selling only bottles you have to have explained to you is making a point rather than serving anyone, and because it sits three shelves from Beenleigh and Husk, which is the most useful comparison in the category.

700 mL37.0%20.4 std

Richmond, New South Wales

Karu Outcask Wild Rum

We stock it because Australian rum is thin on the ground and this one has genuine character rather than added sweetness. It drinks like a whisky drinker's rum.

700 mL46.0%25.4 std