Smith & Cross Jamaican rum. If you’re only familiar with rum in the context of bottles like Bacardi white, Captain Morgan spiced, Myers dark, etc, or even dabble in ‘higher end’ ones like the golden Zacapa, Diplomatico, or El Dorado lines, I think this is one rum that will *really* open your eyes forever to the incredible diversity in rum styles.

It’s AMAZING and definitely one of my favorites – probably not the best for people *just* starting with rum as the flavor is VERY strong and distinctive, but for those who are ready to dive into the rum world, this is a no brainer to add and keep in your collection.

For those less familiar with rum, the most common heuristic may be to judge it by its color or age statement (which makes sense since we often first learn to distinguish spirits by these seemingly concrete attributes), though for rum, all bets are off here. I touched on the topic of rum colors previously, but it’s so important to emphasize that you should definitely NOT use color to anticipate how a rum will taste! The method of production will significantly impact the taste of the end product, so you end up with incredible variance between spirits all labeled as “rum” that may even look similar, but taste absolutely NOTHING alike.

Jamaican rum is a perfect illustration of this, and what makes it unique is the production process that leaves a high level of flavorful esters in the end product. In fact, this Smith & Cross rum is barely aged at all (~ under a couple years), yet tastes significantly more flavorful and distinctive than some ‘light’ rums that are actually aged longer (and charcoal filtered to make it clear). Sooo if you’ve managed to read thru all this and don’t already have a bottle, what are you waiting for?!

Check out some recipes with Smith & Cross!