Hoje, 80 % do rum do mundo é produzido no Caribe. Todos os destilados começam com uma planta, e o rum começa com uma espécie de grama chamada cana-de-açúcar. Mas a cana-de-açúcar levou quase 10.000 anos para chegar ao Caribe. E não foi até meados de 1800, quando começou a ter um sabor decente. Até então, era duro.
Aqui está a história curta. Sabemos que a cana-de-açúcar é nativa do sul da Ásia, e acredita-se que a erva doce foi domesticada pela primeira vez na ilha da Nova Guiné por volta de 8000 aC A Índia é conhecida por ter extraído e cristalizado pela primeira vez a planta açucarada por volta de 350 dC, e de lá comerciantes comerciais trouxe para a África e depois para a Espanha.
Por volta de 1400, havia uma enorme demanda pelo “sal doce” (açúcar) na Europa, então os portugueses começaram a plantar cana-de-açúcar na Ilha da Madeira. Eles logo perceberam que era uma tarefa extremamente trabalhosa em todos os processos de cultivo, colheita e produção. Os escravos eram, portanto, importados. Em 1493, Cristóvão Colombo tentou trazer mudas de cana-de-açúcar para o Caribe, mas elas não sobreviveram à viagem. O conquistador espanhol Diego Velázquez estava no navio com Colombo e se estabeleceu em Hispaniola (República Dominicana, Haiti e as pequenas ilhas ao redor) para servir ao cavaleiro e soldado espanhol Nicolás Ovando y Cáceres, que alguns anos depois se tornou o governador de as Índias.
Em 1501, Pedro de Atienza foi o primeiro a importar com sucesso mudas de cana-de-açúcar para Hispaniola. Ele colheu sua primeira safra quatro anos depois. Em 1511, em nome da Espanha, Diego Velázquez conquistou Cuba, trazendo consigo a cana-de-açúcar Hispaniola. Em 1518, um decreto real de Carlos V (governante do Império Espanhol e do Sacro Império Romano) licenciou 2.000 escravos para serem importados para Hispaniola para trabalhar nos campos de cana-de-açúcar. E em 1523, outro decreto real importou 1.500 escravos para Hispaniola e 2.500 para outras ilhas do Caribe, como Porto Rico e Jamaica. Os portugueses levaram sua produção para o Brasil e, em meados de 1500, havia quase 3.000 engenhos de açúcar. Os holandeses começaram a levar mudas de cana-de-açúcar para plantar em qualquer ilha caribenha que pudessem. Barbados e as ilhas ao redor da República Dominicana estavam entre os primeiros. Por volta de 1600, o rum nas rações diárias era comum para a Marinha Real.
Em 1758, George Washington fez campanha para a Virginia House of Burgess oferecendo rum de Barbados grátis aos eleitores, e ele venceu. Nos anos 1700, as ilhas do Caribe estavam perdendo dinheiro em suas plantações de tabaco e algodão devido ao fato de os Estados Unidos cultivarem suas próprias plantações, então a mudança para as plantações de cana-de-açúcar resolveu esse problema. Assim começou uma produção em massa de rum caribenho.
Em 1810, o primeiro hospital em Sydney, na Austrália, foi financiado por empresários locais em troca de um contrato que os licenciava para importar 60.000 galões de rum para vender. O hospital foi chamado de Hospital Rum. Além disso, em 1862, Don Facundo Bacardi começou a filtrar seu rum cubano através do carvão.
Modern Rums That Changed the Bar
Bartenders have helped push rum far beyond the familiar light, dark, spiced, and coconut bottles that once dominated American back bars. Producers began releasing rums with bigger personalities, traditional production methods, unusual infusions, and flavors designed for serious cocktails.
These five have become particularly influential behind modern bars.
2012 — Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum
Rum expert Ed Hamilton, founder of the influential Ministry of Rum, spent decades traveling throughout the Caribbean, visiting distilleries, researching rum production, importing spirits, and becoming one of the industry's most respected rum authorities.
Hamilton eventually began bottling rums under his own name, including Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum, a rich Guyanese rum created with cocktails in mind.
Instead of bottling it at the common 80 proof, Hamilton chose 86 proof (43% ABV) to preserve more of the rum's character. Its deep molasses, caramel, smoky, and dark-fruit flavors made it especially useful in tiki and tropical cocktails.
Hamilton wasn't trying to make rum trendy.
He was trying to give bartenders the rum they needed.
2012–2013 — Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black
Hamilton also turned his attention to Jamaica's unmistakable flavors with Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black.
Produced at Jamaica's Worthy Park Estate, it is a blend of extra-light, light, and heavy pot-still rums distilled from fermented molasses. Unlike what you'll sometimes read online, the rum is not barrel-aged; its dark appearance comes from cane-sugar caramel added after distillation. It is bottled at 46.5% ABV (93 proof).
What makes it memorable is that classic Jamaican character—ripe and overripe banana, tropical fruit, spice, and plenty of what rum people affectionately call funk.
It became especially popular with tiki bartenders because a relatively small amount can add a big Jamaican personality to a cocktail.
Basically, this rum doesn't enter a cocktail quietly.
2014 — Planteray Stiggins' Fancy Pineapple Rum
Originally called Plantation Stiggins' Fancy Pineapple Rum, this collaboration between Maison Ferrand's Alexandre Gabriel and cocktail historian David Wondrich helped completely change the reputation of pineapple rum.
Instead of simply adding artificial pineapple flavoring to rum, Stiggins' Fancy uses actual Victoria pineapples. Pineapple rind is infused into rum and redistilled, while the sweet fruit is infused separately into dark rum. The components are then blended.
The name comes from Reverend Stiggins, the hypocritical temperance preacher in Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers who happened to enjoy pineapple rum.
Bartenders embraced Stiggins' Fancy for Daiquiris, Mai Tais, tiki drinks, original cocktails, and even shots. It became one of those bottles that began appearing on serious cocktail back bars everywhere.
It remains a bartender favorite and continues winning major spirits awards.
Good to know: Plantation Rum changed its name to Planteray Rum in 2024, so you'll see older recipes and bottles using the Plantation name.
Apparently pineapple rum just needed a couple hundred years and some really good bartenders to improve its reputation.
2018 — Probitas White Blended Rum
Probitas—sold as Veritas in some countries—helped demonstrate that “white rum” didn't have to mean light, neutral, and nearly flavorless.
It combines rums from two legendary Caribbean producers: Foursquare Rum Distillery in Barbados and Hampden Estate in Jamaica.
The result gives bartenders the best of two rum worlds: the balance and structure of Barbados combined with some of Jamaica's wonderfully funky pot-still character.
Probitas quickly became particularly popular for one of the simplest—and least forgiving—rum cocktails of all:
The Daiquiri.
Rum. Lime. Sugar.
Nowhere for a mediocre rum to hide.
2024 — Planteray Cut & Dry Coconut Rum
After helping elevate pineapple rum with Stiggins' Fancy, Planteray turned its attention to another category that hadn't always received much respect from serious bartenders:
Coconut rum.
Planteray reportedly spent years developing Cut & Dry, eventually creating a rum using real Barbadian coconuts and Barbadian rum.
Rather than tasting like coconut candy or suntan lotion, Cut & Dry emphasizes actual coconut character alongside chocolate, spice, and rum flavors. The approach quickly earned recognition, including major awards in the flavored-rum category.
In other words:
Coconut rum grew up.
Hard-to-Get Rums
Lemon Hart 151 Demerara Rum | Guyana
One of the legendary ingredients of tiki bartending, this 151-proof Demerara rum appears in classic recipes such as the Zombie and 151 Swizzle. Over the years, Lemon Hart 151 has repeatedly disappeared from the U.S. market, changed importers, returned, and remained frustratingly difficult to find in some states.
Good to know: When Lemon Hart 151 became difficult to obtain, rum expert Ed Hamilton developed Hamilton 151 Overproof as a Demerara-style alternative for bartenders making classic tiki recipes.
If you see Lemon Hart 151 sitting on a liquor-store shelf, this may be one of those times when “I'll get it later” is a bad plan.
Hamilton Saint Lucia Pot Still | Saint Lucia
Now this is a genuinely hard-to-get Hamilton.
Ed Hamilton released a small series of Saint Lucia pot-still rums from individual vintages and barrels, including 7-, 8-, 9- and 10-year expressions. The rums were produced by Saint Lucia Distillers and became cult bottles among serious rum drinkers. Hamilton's bottling agreement ended, so the releases were discontinued; remaining bottles have become increasingly difficult to find.
Good to know: If you stumble across an old bottle today, you're essentially finding new-old-stock rum. One retailer still lists its 2005 eight-year bottling but describes it as “very limited availability and gone for good once sold out.”
Ed Hamilton strikes again.
Foursquare Exceptional Cask Selection | Barbados
Master distiller Richard Seale periodically releases limited bottlings under Foursquare's Exceptional Cask Selection (ECS) series. These aren't one permanent rum; each release is a unique expression involving different ages, barrels, blends, and maturation techniques.
They're specifically produced as limited releases, and desirable editions can disappear quickly. Foursquare describes each ECS as a one-of-a-kind release available only for a limited time.
Older releases such as Criterion, Dominus, Empery, Nobiliary, Redoutable, and others have become collector bottles.
Good to know: Rum people sometimes jokingly call Foursquare the “Pappy of Rum” because enthusiasts chase certain releases much like bourbon collectors chase Pappy Van Winkle.
Translation: If a rum nerd spots one on the shelf, don't stand between them and the bottle.
O rum passou por muitos nomes, como: água de Barbados, água demoníaca, grog, kill-devil, sangue de Nelson, rhumbooze, rumbowling, rumbullion, rumbustion e emenda a chave principal.
Em 15 de janeiro de 1919, na US Industrial Alcohol Company em Boston, Massachusetts, um tanque de ferro fundido contendo 400.000 galões de melaço se rompeu, criando um tsunami pegajoso de dezesseis pés de altura através da estação ferroviária do Atlântico, levantando um trem dos trilhos. , ferindo cento e cinquenta pessoas, matando doze cavalos e vinte e uma pessoas, até que finalmente descansou como um lago de melaço em North End Park.
Agosto é o mês nacional do rum.
A Bacardi possui a maior destilaria de rum do mundo, localizada em San Juan, Porto Rico. Se você visitar de navio de cruzeiro, pule a excursão cara para visitar a destilaria. Em vez disso, apenas pague vinte e cinco centavos para pegar a balsa. Você pode ver a destilaria onde os navios de cruzeiro atracam.
A maior parte do rum é produzido no Caribe e quase todas as ilhas produzem rum.
O rum overproof da Jamaica Wray & Nephew é o rum de prova mais alto do mundo, com 63 % .
Em 1943, o personagem de desenho animado da Disney Pato Donald bebeu cachaça, e no mesmo filme, Saludos Amigos, a Disney apresentou um novo personagem do Brasil chamado José Carioca.
O rum mais caro é uma garrafa de 1940 de J. Wray & Nephew. Está avaliado em $ 54.000.
A equipe em Porco Lounge e Quarto Tiki criou o maior do mundo Daiquiri em 11 de novembro na Fabuloso show gastronômico em Cleveland. Partindo com o objetivo de fazer um coquetel de 100 galões, os bartenders misturaram rum , xarope simples , suco de limão e gelo em lotes de 12 litros e, em seguida, despejou tudo em um barril enorme decorado para parecer um Tiki caneca.
1942 Atravessando o Pacífico
Humphrey Bogart pede dois Planter's Punches.
1944 Ter e não ter
Lauren Bacall bebe um Daiquiri.
Clarence the Angel pede um Flaming Rum Punch.
1950 Pai da noiva
Os coquetéis pedidos são Rum & Coke, Tom Collins e Frozen Daiquiri.
1955 rapazes e bonecas
Marlon Brando faz Jean Simmons beber vários Dulce de Leches em Cuba.
Simmons: O que você pediu?
Brandão: Doce de Leite. Dulce é a palavra espanhola para “doce”. De significa “de” e leche significa “leite”. Doce de leite.
Simmons: Eles não servem simples?
Brando: Bem, só de manhã. Tem a ver com o calor. À noite, eles colocam uma espécie de conservante.
Simmons: Isso é interessante. O que eles usam?
Brandão: Bacardi.
Simmons: Isso não tem álcool?
Brando: Bem, apenas o suficiente para evitar que o leite azedasse.
Quando Simmons está em sua segunda bebida, ela diz: “É tão delicioso. Esse sabor Bacardi certamente faz a diferença. Você sabe, essa seria uma maneira maravilhosa de fazer as crianças beberem leite.”
1959 Nosso Homem em Havana
Alec Guinness e amigos bebem Daiquiris.
1960 O Apartamento
Shirley MacLaine pede um Daiquiri e Hope Holiday pede um Rum Collins.
1961 Café da manhã no Tiffany's
Audrey Hepburn bebe um Planter's Punch.
1963 Venha soprar sua buzina
Frank Sinatra pede um Rum & Coke.
1965 Thunderball
Sean Connery pede um Rum Collins.
1969 Olá, Dolly!
Barbra Streisand menciona um Rum-Toddy.
1974 O Poderoso Chefão: Parte II
John Cazale pede um Banana Daiquiri.
1996 De perto e pessoal
Michelle Pfeiffer tem um Banana Daiquiri.
1997 Abra seus olhos
Fele Martinez e Penélope Cruz bebem Rum & Cokes.
1998 coisas selvagens
Matt Dillon pede Rum e Coca-Cola.
1999 Eu, eu mesmo e Irene
Renée Zellweger e Jim Carrey têm Rum & Cokes.
2000 Chuck & Buck
Mike White pede um Rum & Coke.
Jogos de renas de 2000
Ben Affleck pede Rum e Coca-Cola.
2000 As Irmãs Banger
Goldie Hawn faz um Rum & Coke para si mesma.
2002 Morra Outro Dia
Pierce Brosnan bebe um Mojito. Quarenta anos antes, James Bond explodiu a Vodka Martini e agora revive o clássico coquetel cubano dos anos 1920, o Mojito.
2003 Bad Boys II
Gabrielle Union e Jordi Molla bebem Bacardi Mojitos.
2003 De Justin para Kelly
Greg Siff tem uma Piña Colada.
2004 I Heart Huckabees
Jude Law menciona que no futuro ele beberá Piña Coladas.
2005 A colheita do gelo
John Cusack pede um suco de rum e abacaxi.
2007 Perfeito Estranho
Hemmingway Daiquiris são pedidos.
2007 Shrek Terceiro
O Gato de Botas sonha acordado em pescar com um jarro de Mojitos ao seu lado.
2008 Ilha de Nim
O capitão fala sobre vender Piña Coladas aos turistas.
1843 Martin Chuzzlewit, Charles Dickens
"Ele poderia... fumar mais tabaco, beber mais rum-toddy"
1920 Este Lado do Paraíso, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Este livro tem a primeira menção literária conhecida do Daiquiri.
1958 Nosso Homem em Havana, Graham Greene
A primeira frase do livro diz: “Wormold desfrutou de seus coquetéis de rum congelados, com limão”.
2014 Garota Exemplar, Gillian Flynn
Mojitos são mencionados.
Lista de Eventos do Ministério do Rum
Realizado todo mês de junho em Fort Lauderdale, Flórida.
Enorme lista de eventos de rum em todo o mundo.
Celebrity Rum
Celebrity spirits aren't limited to tequila, vodka, and whiskey. Musicians, actors, and other famous names have also found their way into rum.
Some simply lend their fame to a bottle.
Others actually own the company, help develop the rum, or apparently wake up one morning and think:
You know what my career needs? A distillery.
Blue Chair Bay — Kenny Chesney
Country superstar Kenny Chesney launched Blue Chair Bay Rum in 2013, inspired by the Caribbean lifestyle that has influenced so much of his music.
This isn't simply an endorsement. Chesney's company says he fully owns Blue Chair Bay, and he worked with master blender Mike Booth developing the rums. The line includes White, Spiced, Coconut, Banana, and several rum creams.
The rums are made in the Caribbean from sugarcane molasses.
Kenny didn't just sing about sitting on a beach.
He bottled it.
SelvaRey — Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars is a co-owner and creative force behind SelvaRey Rum, produced in Panama by legendary Cuban-born rum maker Francisco “Don Pancho” Fernandez.
SelvaRey produces White, Chocolate, Coconut, and aged expressions. Mars became heavily involved with the brand's creative direction, including its packaging, advertising, and tropical-luxury image.
Other investors and partners have included Anderson .Paak and Asian pop superstar Jay Chou.
Bruno Mars selling rum somehow feels considerably less surprising than Bruno Mars selling, say, insurance.
Ten To One — Ciara
Singer Ciara became an investor, co-owner, and director of Ten To One Rum in 2021.
But there's an important distinction: she didn't found the company.
Trinidad-born entrepreneur Marc Farrell founded Ten To One in 2019 with the goal of presenting Caribbean rum without relying on the usual pirates-and-palm-trees stereotypes.
Ciara later joined Farrell as co-owner and became involved in marketing, creative direction, business development, and strategic partnerships.
The brand blends rums from several Caribbean origins.
This is one celebrity brand where the rum came first and the celebrity came later.
Sammy's Beach Bar Rum — Sammy Hagar
Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Sammy Hagar founded Sammy's Beach Bar Rum.
The rums are distilled in Puerto Rico from cane molasses and include white and aged expressions.
Of course, Hagar was already an old hand at celebrity spirits. Long before celebrity tequila became fashionable, he founded Cabo Wabo Tequila.
Apparently retirement was never going to involve lemonade.
Blackwell Fine Jamaican Rum — Chris Blackwell
This one is a little different because Chris Blackwell isn't a movie star or singer—he's one of the most influential people in modern music.
Blackwell founded Island Records, the label instrumental in bringing artists including Bob Marley to an international audience.
He later created Blackwell Fine Jamaican Rum, drawing on his Jamaican heritage and family history. The rum launched in 2008 and is produced in Jamaica.
There's another wonderful connection: Blackwell owns GoldenEye, Ian Fleming's former Jamaican home where Fleming wrote his James Bond novels.
Rum + Bob Marley + James Bond.
That's a pretty good résumé for one bottle.
Crossfire Hurricane — The Rolling Stones
This is the newest one—it launched in 2026.
The Rolling Stones created Crossfire Hurricane, a Jamaican rum named after the opening lyric of their 1968 hit “Jumpin' Jack Flash.”
Crossfire Hurricane was developed with respected rum ambassador Ian Burrell and combines Jamaican rums from four major distilleries: Hampden Estate, Long Pond, Worthy Park, and Clarendon.
The project also connects to the Stones' long history with Jamaica, including recording sessions there beginning in the 1970s and relationships with Jamaican musicians.
Two expressions launched: Gold and Reserve, both bottled at 40% ABV.
The Rolling Stones have been around long enough to become both rock history and rum history.
Three Hearts Rum — Johnny Depp
Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp has entered the actual rum business with Three Hearts Rum, working with spirits entrepreneur Robert DeLeon.
The project is intended to showcase traditional Caribbean rum production rather than simply build a celebrity-branded novelty product, with plans for expressions highlighting different rum-producing regions.
There is something almost inevitable about Johnny Depp eventually getting involved with rum.
After five Pirates of the Caribbean movies, apparently someone finally answered:
“Why is the rum gone?”
Celebrity Rum: Who Actually Owns What?
Founder / owner / co-owner:
Kenny Chesney — Blue Chair Bay
Bruno Mars — SelvaRey
Ciara — Ten To One (co-owner; Marc Farrell founded it)
Sammy Hagar — Sammy's Beach Bar Rum
Chris Blackwell — Blackwell Fine Jamaican Rum
Celebrity/band-created or partnership projects:
The Rolling Stones — Crossfire Hurricane
Johnny Depp — Three Hearts Rum
The distinction matters because celebrity spirits range from genuine ownership and product development to licensing arrangements and promotional partnerships.
A famous face on the bottle doesn't always mean a famous person owns what's inside it.