Summer is almost over, but there’s still time for thirst-quenching, flavorful, warm-weather cocktails. And when it comes to fresh, summery cocktails, it’s difficult to beat the appeal of a citrus-driven, herbal, refreshing mojito. As for drinks suited for the warmer months, very few are more balanced, flavorful, and memorable.
For those unaware, the mojito is a traditional Cuban punch made with white rum, granulated sugar, fresh lime juice, mint, and a soda water topper. It’s loaded with fruit rum, sweet sugary, herbal mint, and fresh lime flavors. To add to that, the soda water adds a refreshing effervescence to the drink.
But as with any cocktail, the base spirit is important. While you don’t have to spend a month’s mortgage to get the best rum for mojitos, you also can’t head directly for the bottom shelf. If you do, you’ll end up with an abrasive, foul-tasting waste of a great cocktail.
The best rum for mojitos
The key is to purchase a well-made, reasonably priced white rum. Lucky for you, there are countless available on the market, and you don’t even have to find them because we did the work for you. Below, you’ll find the best rums for a fresh, flavorful mojito. Keep scrolling to see them all.
Bacardi Superior
When it comes to the quality-to-value ratio, it’s difficult to beat the appeal of Bacardi Superior. Always reasonably priced, this mixing rum is matured in American oak barrels before being filtered through a blend of charcoal to remove color and impurities while smoothing out the flavor profile. A wonderful choice for a mojito, it’s known for its flavors of tropical fruits, nuts, and vanilla. All with a creamy, dry, memorable finish.
Ten to One White Rum
There’s a reason Ten to One white rum is so popular among bartenders and rum drinkers alike. It’s a blend of column still distilled rum from the Dominican Republic and high-ester pot still distilled rum from Jamaica. An exceptional base for any cocktail (especially a mojito), it’s known for its flavors of honeysuckle, white pepper, lemon peels, and bright floral notes. It’s fresh, flavorful, and perfect for slow sipping or mixing.
Chairman’s Reserve White Rum
Chairman’s Reserve white rum is a great bargain mixing rum. It’s a blend of pot and column still rums with some aged and some unaged. The aged rum spent between two and three years maturing in ex-bourbon barrels before being charcoal filtered to remove coloring. This results in a complex, flavorful, highly mixable rum with notable flavors like sugarcane, toasted coconut, toasted marshmallows, caramelized pineapple, and citrus zest.
Don Q Cristal
This award-winning rum is distilled multiple times, similar to the way your favorite premium vodka is made. But instead of just bottling it then, it’s matured between two and five years in American white oak barrels before being charcoal filtered. The result is a sweet, smooth, flavorful rum loaded with notes of spicy cinnamon candy, caramelized pineapple, tropical fruit, vanilla, and light woody oak. It’s a complex, balanced base for mojito. It’s the kind of rum that you’ll mix with once and it will earn a permanent spot on your home bar.
The Original Kōloa Kauaʻi White Rum
While the Caribbean is well known for its rums, it’s not the only place this spirit is made. Did you know there’s a memorable, mixable white rum made in Hawaii? The Original Kōloa Kauaʻi white rum is made using pure cane sugar. It’s distilled two times in vintage steam-powered copper pot stills before being proofed with filtered water from Mount Waiʻaleʻale. The result is a complex, balanced rum with notes of marshmallow, vanilla, citrus peels, candied ginger, and raw sugar.
Wray & Nephew White Rum
If you were to take a poll of bartenders and rum aficionados and ask them to name the best mixable white rums, you’d get a lot of responses touting the appeal of Wray & Nephew white rum. This popular molasses-based rum is a blend of pot still-distilled and column still-distilled Jamaican rums. It’s a potent 63% ABV and highly mixable thanks to notes of molasses cookies, pineapple, ripe bananas, orange peels, honeysuckle, and vanilla beans.
Bottom line
If you’re a mojito drinker, you probably have one or two go-to white rums. But we implore you to broaden your horizons and try one (or more) of the above rums as well. Trying different rums is a great way to elevate your favorite tropical cocktail. Each of our picks was selected because of how well they complement the classic mojito flavors.
