USA TODAY 10Best
Discover the 10 best craft rum distilleries in the United States
Best Craft Rum (2023)
Sugar cane plantations in the Caribbean began distilling rum during the 17th century from molasses, an inexpensive byproduct of the sugar refining process. The spirit came to the U.S. in 1664 with the opening of the first rum distillery on Staten Island and continued to grow in popularity through the Revolutionary War.
Rum has come a long way since those early days, and distilleries across the nation are experimenting with how to craft the finest variations. To find the best craft rum, we asked a panel of travel experts and American spirits experts to nominate their top picks, then readers voted for their favorites.
Here are the 10 best craft rum distilleries across the nation.
Photo courtesy of Ron Regalo de Vida
No. 10: Arizona Craft Beverage - Elgin, Arizona
Each rum from Arizona Craft Beverage is outstanding, especially their Regalo de Vida rum, which has won Best of Class for Dark/Gold Rum, Best of Class for Extra Aged Rum and Best in Show. Regalo de Vida rum is made from locally sourced sugar cane and is fermented, distilled, aged and bottled onsite in Elgin, Arizona.
No. 9: LYON RUM - St. Michaels, Maryland
LYON RUM is the flagship spirit of Windon Distilling Company, a microdistillery on the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland's oldest operating distillery. LYON uses 100% American sugar cane and proudly produces every drop of its rum in small batches on-site, from fermentation to bottling. Rum lovers have numerous options to choose from: White Rum, Dark Rum and barrel-rested Sailors Reserve Rum, plus Rock & Rum and seasonal specialties like Pineapple Rum and LYON Black Rum.
Photo courtesy of Cardinal Spirits
No. 8: Cardinal Spirits - Bloomington, Indiana
Rum lovers have four spirits to choose from at Indiana’s Cardinal Spirits. Their light Tiki Rum, perfect for mixing, is fermented and distilled from cane juice and light molasses, while the Lake House Spiced Rum is infused with whole botanical ingredients, such as vanilla, cardamom and orange peel. Also try their Barrel Aged Tiki Rum and Blackstrap Rum.
Photo courtesy of Dodie Huffman - Image Source
No. 7: Muddy River Distillery - Belmont, North Carolina
Muddy River Distillery specializes in rum made from top-quality ingredients in custom-built stills, and each rum is made with sugar cane molasses and sugar. Queen Charlotte’s Reserve spends a year in new American white oak, while Spiced Carolina Rum is blended with spices for hints of cinnamon and vanilla. The distillery also makes a coconut rum and basil rum.
Photo courtesy of Wicked Dolphin
No. 6: Wicked Dolphin - Cape Coral, Florida
Wicked Dolphin Distillery uses 100% Florida-grown sugar cane to create small-batch rums in a traditional copper pot still. The spirit then gets aged in used American white oak Kentucky bourbon barrels for a minimum of three years (and up to 14 years). Wicked Dolphin also produces a crystal rum, coconut rum (made from real coconut water), spiced rum and several fruit rums.
Photo courtesy of James Tran
No. 5: Seven Caves Spirits - San Diego, California
San Diego's Seven Caves makes ridiculously small batches of craft rum – just 25-30 gallons from this grain-to-glass distillery. Their barrel-aged rum – rested for six months in oak barrels – won a Gold Medal and Best in Class at the 2018 Distilled Festival. Every barrel that leaves the distillery is numbered, single barreled and limited.
Photo courtesy of Kelson Grave
No. 4: Far North Spirits - Hallock, Minnesota
Far North Spirits is the northernmost distillery in the contiguous United States, occupying a former wheat field on a family farm in Hallock, Minnesota. In addition to whiskey and rye, this husband-and-wife team produces three rums using demerara and turbinado sugars under the Ålander label: a Nordic-style with whole bean spices, a white Caribbean-style, and an amber rum aged in rye whiskey barrels.
Photo courtesy of Koloa Rum Company
No. 3: Koloa Rum Company - Lihue, Hawaii
All the rums from Koloa Rum Company are made with pure cane sugar and Mount Waialeale rainwater, and they're twice distilled in a vintage copper pot still. Options include white and aged rums, as well as rums flavored with coconut, coffee and spices.
Photo courtesy of Plank Road Distillery
No. 2: Plank Road Distillery - Plymouth, Wisconsin
A rum distilled from Sugar in the Raw and blackstrap molasses is just one of the delicacies at Plank Road Distillery in Plymouth, Wisconsin. They provide a friendly experience in their tasting room, with their handcrafted spirits and cocktails that you'll want to share with friends and family.
Photo courtesy of Paul Menta
No. 1: Key West Legal Rum - Key West, Florida
Key West Legal Rum is the first legal rum distillery in Key West since Prohibition. The rums here feature Florida sugar cane and infusions of coconut, Key limes and vanilla creme brulee. In addition to their regular rums, they offer some specialized creations like Devil's Rum (finished with cinnamon leaf oil) and Cuban Coffee Rum that's made with the extract of dark roasted coffee beans.
About 10Best Readers' Choice Awards
Nominees are submitted by a panel of experts. 10Best editors narrow the field to select the final set of nominees for the Readers’ Choice Awards. Readers can vote once per category, per day. For any questions or comments, please read the FAQ or email USA TODAY 10Best.
The Experts
Amber Gibson
Amber Gibson spends 350 nights a year in hotels... Read More
Amber Gibson spends 350 nights a year in hotels searching for the latest and greatest in the travel industry. Her writing and photographs have appeared in print, online, and on the radio for outlets including Forbes, National Geographic Traveler, Departures, Four Seasons Magazine, Conde Nast Traveller, NPR, Saveur, Departures, Rhapsody, Hemispheres, American Way, Private Air, and Serious Eats. She graduated as valedictorian from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and received a fellowship to attend the 2017 Wine Writers Symposium at Meadowood Napa Valley. Champagne, dark chocolate and gelato are her biggest weaknesses.
Amber Gibson
Amber Gibson spends 350 nights a year in hotels searching for the latest and greatest in the travel industry. Her writing and photographs have appeared in print, online, and on the radio for outlets including Forbes, National Geographic Traveler, Departures, Four Seasons Magazine, Conde Nast Traveller, NPR, Saveur, Departures, Rhapsody, Hemispheres, American Way, Private Air, and Serious Eats. She graduated as valedictorian from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and received a fellowship to attend the 2017 Wine Writers Symposium at Meadowood Napa Valley. Champagne, dark chocolate and gelato are her biggest weaknesses.
Amber Love Bond
Amber Love Bond is a Miami-based food + beverage... Read More
Amber Love Bond is a Miami-based food + beverage and travel writer, who is always on the go and looking for her next adventure. After a decade-long career in corporate finance, she stumbled upon her passion for writing about the world around and hasn't looked back. Amber contributes to over a dozen print and digital publications including Travel & Leisure, Thrillist, Forbes, Eater, Southern Living, Miami New Times, HelloGiggles, Men’s Health, Fodor’s Travel Guide, and more. Typically you can find her at the opening of every restaurant, sipping cocktails at the coolest bars, or hanging out under a palm tree with her laptop (and a cocktail) in tow. Follow her adventures on Instagram at @amber__love.
Amber Love Bond
Amber Love Bond is a Miami-based food + beverage and travel writer, who is always on the go and looking for her next adventure. After a decade-long career in corporate finance, she stumbled upon her passion for writing about the world around and hasn't looked back. Amber contributes to over a dozen print and digital publications including Travel & Leisure, Thrillist, Forbes, Eater, Southern Living, Miami New Times, HelloGiggles, Men’s Health, Fodor’s Travel Guide, and more. Typically you can find her at the opening of every restaurant, sipping cocktails at the coolest bars, or hanging out under a palm tree with her laptop (and a cocktail) in tow. Follow her adventures on Instagram at @amber__love.
Carrie Honaker
Carrie Honaker is a Florida-based food and travel... Read More
Carrie Honaker is a Florida-based food and travel writer who is not sure where she will land next, but it will involve messy eating, a spicy Tempranillo, and finding the local farmers market. She has hauled oyster cages off the Forgotten Coast of Florida, harvested indigenous crops with the Abenaki Tribe in Vermont, learned to make beef patties from a Jamaican auntie, made Guavaberry Liqueur with a 7th generation distiller on St. Maarten, and stomped cacao pods in Grenada. She writes about food, drink, travel, and culture for Bon Appetit, Conde Nast Traveler, Wine Enthusiast, Fodor’s Travel, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, and many more. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram.
Carrie Honaker
Carrie Honaker is a Florida-based food and travel writer who is not sure where she will land next, but it will involve messy eating, a spicy Tempranillo, and finding the local farmers market. She has hauled oyster cages off the Forgotten Coast of Florida, harvested indigenous crops with the Abenaki Tribe in Vermont, learned to make beef patties from a Jamaican auntie, made Guavaberry Liqueur with a 7th generation distiller on St. Maarten, and stomped cacao pods in Grenada. She writes about food, drink, travel, and culture for Bon Appetit, Conde Nast Traveler, Wine Enthusiast, Fodor’s Travel, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, and many more. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram.
Dave Stamboulis
Dave Stamboulis is a travel writer/photographer... Read More
Dave Stamboulis is a travel writer/photographer based in Bangkok. Born in Athens, Greece and growing up in the U.S., Dave first discovered Bangkok while on a 45,000-kilometer bicycle trip and moved there for good in 2005. Dave's photos have appeared in publications around the world. He's the author of Odysseus' Last Stand, which received the Silver Medal for Travel Book of the Year from the Society of American Travel Writers. In addition to working for Fodor's Guidebook to Thailand, he is the author of 500 Hidden Secrets to Bangkok, and his travel stories and photography appear in publications around the globe.
Dave Stamboulis
Dave Stamboulis is a travel writer/photographer based in Bangkok. Born in Athens, Greece and growing up in the U.S., Dave first discovered Bangkok while on a 45,000-kilometer bicycle trip and moved there for good in 2005. Dave's photos have appeared in publications around the world. He's the author of Odysseus' Last Stand, which received the Silver Medal for Travel Book of the Year from the Society of American Travel Writers. In addition to working for Fodor's Guidebook to Thailand, he is the author of 500 Hidden Secrets to Bangkok, and his travel stories and photography appear in publications around the globe.
10Best Editors
USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original,... Read More
USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original, unbiased and experiential travel coverage of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world.
10Best Editors
USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original, unbiased and experiential travel coverage of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world.