Celebrate National Rum Day with These Amazing Aged Rums

This National Rum Day, do yourself a favor: Don’t commemorate the occasion with a mojito or a frozen daiquiri or a Hurricane. It’s not National Sugary Cocktail Day, after all. Pour yourself a glass of something sophisticated, something complex, something amber. 

It may be a long-running cliché that the best aged sipping rums are the equal of great whiskies or cognacs, but it’s the truth. And it bears repeating, especially since rum seems to have gotten left behind in the post-millennial spirits craze. According to the Distilled Spirits Council, whisky sales rose almost 5 percent in the United States from 2014 to 2015, and tequila and cognac sales rose more than 7 percent, while rum sales actually declined. It’s a sad situation, but one that can easily be rectified. These seven gorgeous aged rums, hailing from various spots throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, run the gamut from sweet to dry, from smooth to spicy. There’s something here for everyone. And they’re meant for enjoying all on their own, without crushed ice, lime juice, or sugary syrups.