Top 10 Inexpensive Rum Brands to Try

Bacardi is an iconic rum company, founded over 150 years ago by Spanish immigrant Facundo Bacardi who worked with master Cuban distillers to produce one of the world’s most popular rum collections. Also known as Carta Blanca Superior, Superior is Bacardi’s signature white rum. It’s a light, clean white rum with tropical notes of lime and vanilla. It’s the perfect choice for a rum and coke.

Don Q distinguishes its rums by offering a multiple distillation process to ensure the smoothest, most subtle tasting rums. The Don Q is Cristal’s clear rum variety, aged between one and five years. Don Q is the height of smoothness, with flavors so subtle that they’re practically undetectable in cocktails.

Cruzan is a rum producer out of the Caribbean Island of St. Croix, offering dark and light rum along with a long list of flavored rums. All their products are some of the cheapest on my list. Their light rum has a light-yellow hue, is aged up to four years, and undergoes post-aging filtration to ensure a full-bodied mouth feel. Its notes of vanilla make it the perfect candidate for a pina colada.

Originating in Jamaica in 1944, Captain Morgan is known for its spiced and flavored rums. They also have a popular white rum, but the original spiced rum is a crowd pleasure for cocktail parties. It has a medium body with a palate of caramel and vanilla. Plus, it’s got very low-calorie content.

Gosling is a longstanding and unique rum producer in Barbados, priding itself on its Black Seal rum. Black seal rum is a key ingredient in Barbadian fish dishes and also inspired the now world-famous Dark n Stormy rum cocktail. Gosling’s Black Seal Rum is black rum with complex and rich flavors of stewed fruits, vanilla, and spices.

One of the only certified Fair-Trade companies, Flor de Cana is the oldest rum producer in Nicaragua. Flor de Cana is both a sugarcane plantation and distillery that recently turned 150 years old. The 4-year-old Extra Seco is a clear rum with a unique palate of white chocolate and orange.

Calypso Silver is a rum producer out of the Virgin Islands. They offer a range of affordable white and dark rum, along with flavored rums like coconut. The clear rum Calypso Silver has a delightfully sweet taste, receiving rave customer reviews for its versatility. Whether you want to make a daiquiri or a rum and coke, Calypso Silver mixes well with all flavors.

Originating in Puerto Rico, Castillo uses fermented molasses in their distilleries. They’re now under the umbrella of Bacardi’s massive spirit monopoly, but their rum retains its uniquely smooth flavor. It has subtle notes of tropical fruit and spice with a smooth finish that pairs well with tropical juices. It’s my first pick for a strawberry daiquiri.

Burnett’s White Rum comes from a distillery in the Virgin Islands but is an American family-owned spirits company that produces other spirits on American soil. Their signature white rum is clear and as classic as they come. You get vanilla and almond notes with a warm and spicy finish.

From the famed Southern Sazerac company, Cane Run is a modern white rum, aged five years, and filtered through charcoal. Despite its cheap price tag. Cane Run has won various gold and silver prizes at the world’s most notable spirits competitions. Cane Run is a white rum that starts with a subtle vanilla flavor that intensifies to peppery sweet molasses.