The Best Rums of 2025. The ones that made my year.
2025 has been another quietly remarkable year for rum and, if I’m honest, for my palate too. Over the last twelve months I’ve tasted more, learned more, and been surprised more often than I expected. New releases, independent bottlings, and plenty of different styles crossed my glass, but a few in particular stopped me in my tracks and stayed with me.
Rather than put together a traditional “best of” list, this year I wanted to do something a little more personal. These are the rums that made my year. They aren’t ranked. They aren’t trying to win a category. And, for the first time, they aren’t limited to bottles I own.
If I tasted it in 2025 and it made me pause, smile, or immediately message another rum friend, then it earned its place here.
This list is about flavour, yes but it’s also about surprise, memory, and those small moments where a rum reminds you why you enjoy doing this in the first place.
How I chose these rums
To keep things simple (and honest), I gave myself a few loose guidelines.
Every rum on this list is something I tasted in 2025. It doesn’t matter when it was released only that I spent time with it this year.
Anything was fair game: festival pours, samples, borrowed bottles, or something pulled from my own shelf. I probably do own a bottle… but I didn’t have to.
Most importantly, each rum had to stand out. Not necessarily because it was the best in a particular category, but because it was memorable! Something that surprised me, excited me, taught me something, or was simply a pleasure to drink.
With that in mind, here are the rums that really made their mark on my 2025.
Transcontinental Rum Line, Panama 2006
This was my highest rated rum of the year, and it earned that spot without any drama at all. Beautifully balanced, textured, and rich without ever feeling heavy, this Panama 2006 sits right in that sweet spot between complexity and pure drinkability.
The profile that sticks with me most is honey-glazed BBQ baby back ribs… a genuinely delicious balance of sweet and savoury that immediately takes me back to a brilliant evening at the Real Rum Experience. It’s a rum that feels assured and well-judged, without ever trying too hard.
If someone asked me for a single bottle that summed up why I love rum in 2025, this would be a very strong contender.
Planteray, Hogo Monsta
In a room full of hundreds of pours, it takes something special to cut through the noise. When Paul invited me over to taste this pre-release, Hogo Monsta announced itself before I even reached the table.
This is high-ester funk with confidence: bold, expressive, and deliberately uncompromising. It’s not a rum I’d reach for as a quiet sipper, but it’s one I keep thinking about. Playful and a little wild, it’s exactly the kind of rum that makes me curious to explore more.
Bristol Classic, Enmore (30 year)
This is long ageing done right. Thirty years in cask, from the historical Enmore still, and handled with the restraint and respect you’d hope for! The result is something genuinely special.
There’s also a personal connection here: I treated myself to this bottle for my 30th birthday, and it delivered on every level. Elegant, composed, and deeply expressive, it’s one of those rums that feels complete from the first sip to the last.
Unsurprisingly, this was another rare 10/10 from me this year… and one I won’t forget in a hurry.
Black Tot, Master Blender’s Reserve 2024
It wouldn’t feel right to put together a list like this without at least one Black Tot making an appearance. I spent a surprising amount of time deciding which edition to include, but in the end it was the 2024 Master Blender’s Reserve that edged it for me.
This is a brand I have a lot of time for, and this bottling captures exactly why. Thoughtful, assured blending, with a profile that feels both familiar and quietly refined. It doesn’t chase extremes; instead it rewards time and attention revealing more the longer you sit with it.
A deserved place on a very personal list.
Providence, 2021
This one came at the very end of the year, sampled at the last Real Rum Experience of 2025 and it stayed with me for reasons that go beyond what was in the glass.
Yes, it was delicious. But this rum also prompted a moment of reflection. Looking back through my old tasting notebooks (from before I even started the blog), it was only two years ago that I blind-tasted a selection of Haitian rums and wrote, quite bluntly, that they “weren’t to my liking.”
Revisiting that style now, and finding so much to enjoy, was a quiet reminder of how much a palate can develop when you give it time and attention. For that reason alone, Providence 2021 deserved its place here.
Honourable mentions
There were many rums that came close to making this list. Close enough that, without a limit, this could easily have turned into a much longer piece. To keep things focused, here are a few honourable mentions that stayed with me this year:
Hampden Great House 2025: Much like Providence, this rum reminded me how far my palate has come. Jamaican funk is a style I’m now ready to explore more deeply, and this was a compelling introduction.
Foursquare Redolent: I haven’t picked up a bottle yet, but tasting this at a few rum shows this year convinced me I will. Another excellent ECS release from Foursquare, it left a strong impression.
Kill Devil Venezuela: I’d kind of forgotten I had this one until later in the year, and revisiting it was a real pleasure. Rich and expressive, it benefits from a drop of water and rewards a slower approach.
Diplomático Reserva: It feels a little strange to include what I often think of as an entry-level rum, but revisiting the range with Master Blender Nelson Hernandez this year was a nice reminder of where I started…and that it’s still a rum I enjoy.
Black Tot Historic Solera: I’m already onto my second bottle of this one. While I usually use it in a Right Hook cocktail, it also works beautifully as a quiet after-dinner treat.
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