Sip Summer Away

Time for some myth-busting: although rum is made from sugar cane, not every rum is sweet.

All rum is dry after distillation but sweetness is added to some before bottling, to round out the flavours. The rums featured here—both flavourful dry (unsweetened) rums as well as smooth (sweetened) sipping ones—are great for enjoying straight up or over ice.

Because Jamaica and Barbados don’t allow sweetening, their rums are benchmarks for dry-style aged rum. Bourbon drinkers can slide over to charredoak-barrel-aged Mount Gay

Black Barrel Double Cask Blend (LCBO 17465, $60.20), with toffee and vanilla tastes juiced by tropical fruit. Appleton Estate 8 Year Old Reserve (LCBO 14354, $39.95) has spicy and nutty aromas, with lime and orange zest plus pepper on the palate.

These next two smooth operators are sweetened to round out the blends of carefully matured rum. In hot, humid climates like St. Lucia’s, a spirit like Chairman’s Reserve Finest Saint Lucia Original Rum (LCBO 519132, $41.15) matures rapidly, gaining dried fruit, raisin and cigar-spice character. Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva Rum (LCBO 366633, $59.95) from Venezuela matures for up to 12 years, gaining milk chocolate and toffee lushness, with a hint of black licorice.