Drinking rum is the paragon of happiness.

This sugar-blessed potion comes in a prismatic spray of variety that has prompted more grail-like quests to hunt down rare bottles than than any other spirit. There are over 175 different rums available in the U.S. alone, and that’s ignoring all the bubblegum and foie gras-flavored (yes please) demons.

But what if you could only afford to have a handful of different brands in your regular stock?

How to Pick?

After culling the horde of rums available, our team of experts has compiled a list of 10 rums that are essential for the pursuit of good cocktail making. And though what lies below is one of the best representations of sexy rum I’ve ever seen, you’ll surely find something amiss. So don’t hesitate to simply skip the rest of this post and go flame me in the comments. Cheers!

10 Rums Everyone Should Have

Lemonhart 151 Smith and Cross Zacapa 23 Appleton V/X (or Extra Rhum Clement VSOP El Dorado 15 Rhum Neisson Blanc El Dorado 3 Rhum Barbancourt 8 Wray and Nephew Overproof

Three overproof rums made the list (though admittedly, I bumped JWray up a bit, as I’m not sure how anyone could live without it). But beyond that, this is the best of what rum has to offer. Even so, a few categories were left behind: a really rich dark Jamaican, a spiced, and though not necessarily a category, blackstrap.

Honorable Mention

Coruba

Cruzan Blackstrap

Kracken (or Old New Orleans Spiced)

I urge you to try the following monstrosity. It is surely proof that if you keep adding ingredients to a tiki drink, it only gets better. Or maybe you don’t believe me and think I just created this in my mind realizing no one would be able to make it…

The Blowlamp 1oz Appleton Extra

1oz Kraken

1/2oz Wray and Nephew overproof

1/4oz Fernet Branca

1oz Dolin Blanc

1oz grapefruit juice

1/2oz lime juice

1/2oz vanilla syrup

1 dash Angostura bitters

8 drops Herbsaint Legendre

grapefruit twist, for garnish Shake with crushed ice, grab your scepter, and donate to a glass by casting Nailed to the Sky. Rick from Kaiser Penguin

The Experts’ Data

Jeff “Beachbum” Berry Lemon Hart 151 Demerara

El Dorado 5 year Demerara

Appleton Estate Extra dark Jamaican

Appleton Reserve or V/X gold Jamaican

Rhum Clement VSOP amber Martinique

Flor De Cana Extra Dry white (PR Spanish-style substitute)

Flor De Cana 5 year or 7 year gold (PR Spanish-style substitute)

Rhum Barbancourt five star amber Haitian

Cockspur Fine gold Barbados

Old New Orleans spiced rum Wayne Curtis Lemon Hart 151

Smith and Cross

Flor de Cana 18

Barbancourt 8 yr

Zacapa 23

Santa Teresa 1796

Prichard’s white rum

El Dorado 21

J.M Rhum Vieux VSOP

Rhum Neisson blanc Ed Hamilton, Ministry of Rum Lemon Hart 151 Demerara (This isn’t available so it is going to drink a lot of people nuts, like me, who will be asked where they can get this. The Lemon Hart in Canada isn’t Demerara anymore)

El Dorado 5 year Demerara

Appleton Reserve or V/X gold Jamaican

Neisson Eleve Sous Bois or Neisson Blanc

El Dorado 3 yr old white

Flor De Cana 5 year or 7 year gold (PR Spanish-style substitute)

Rhum Barbancourt five star amber Haitian

Mount Gay Sugar Cane Rum

Don Q Añejo

Santa Teresa Gran Reserva Tiare Olsen, A Mountain of Crushed Ice El Dorado 15

El Dorado 3

Appleton Extra

ONO cajun spiced

Zacapa 23

Banks XM10

LH151

Coruba dark

Clément VSOP

Barbancourt 5 star Gabe Szaszko, cocktailnerd Appleton V/X

Smith & Cross

El Dorado 12yo

Lemon Hart 151

Oronoco

JWNO

Rhum Clemente Vieux Agricole

Angostura 1919

Zacapa 23yo

ONO Spiced Rum

Cruzan Blackstrap (hmm, Gabe can’t count very well)

Matt Robold, RumDood Smith & Cross

El Dorado 15 Year Old

El Dorado 3 Year Old White

Coruba Dark

Appleton Estate Extra (12 year)

Appleton Estate V/X

Neisson Blanc

Clement VSOP

Barbancourt 8 Year Old

Mount Gay Extra Old Martin Cate, Smuggler’s Cove El Dorado 3

El Dorado 15

Appleton Estate Reserve

Rhum JM Blanc

Neisson ESB

Mount Gay Sugar Cane

Coruba

Zacapa

Smith & Cross

Barbancourt 5 Star Blair Reynolds El Dorado 15

Lemon Hart 151

Clement Premiere Canne

Smith & Cross

Matusalem Platino

Cruzan Blackstrap

Ron Zacapa Centenario 23

Appleton Extra

Mount Gay XO

Appleton V/X Craig Hermann, Colonel Tiki Smith & Cross

Ron Zacapa 23

El Dorado 15

Rhum Clement VSOP

Appleton Extra

Lemonhart 151

Mount Gay Extra Old

Rhum Barbancourt (5 * or up)

Cockspur 12

Orinoco Silver Rick Stutz, Kaiser Penguin appleton extra

ED15

LH151

JWray

ED3

Coruba

blackstrap

zacapa 23

kracken

rhum neisson blanc

KP Question