Rum's Identity Crisis Is Over: Why the Category Is Finally Having Its Moment

For decades, rum was either cheap mixer or expensive collector's item. The extraordinary middle ground is finally arriving in serious bottle shops.

Rum has suffered from a branding problem that whiskey never had. The category spans molasses-based column stills in Puerto Rico, pot still cane juice agricole from Martinique, premium aged expressions from Barbados and Jamaica, and everything in between. The chaos made it hard to navigate and easy to dismiss.

The Premium Rum Revolution

Appleton Estate, Foursquare, Hampden, and El Dorado have spent twenty years producing world-class aged rums that are just now reaching their intended audience. Richard Seale at Foursquare has become an ambassador for transparency and quality that the category desperately needed. His Exceptional Cask Selection releases now generate the kind of anticipation that rivals allocated bourbon.

Agricole vs. Industrial: Understanding the Split

Rhum agricole — from fresh-pressed sugarcane juice, primarily in the French Caribbean — tastes completely different from industrial rum made from molasses. Agricole is grassy, funky, and complex; industrial runs the gamut from light and neutral to rich and estery. Neither is superior — they're different spirits that share a category name.

Florida's Rum Connection

Florida's proximity to the Caribbean and its own sugarcane history make rum our most geographically appropriate spirit. We're building our selection to reflect that heritage — aged expressions, agricole, and the best of the Caribbean's craft producers across all six Tampa locations.