10 Budget-Friendly Aged Rums that Are Amazing and Cost Less than $30

10 Budget-Friendly Aged Rums that Are Amazing and Cost Less than $30
April 3, 2023 Off By Emily Cruz Villegas

One of the best things about the rum market is that you don’t have to spend much money on a good bottle. Most rum brands offer budget-friendly options while maintaining great quality and premium products. These are excellent for sipping and mixing. 

We did a quick search on Drizly.com to see the best deal of 10 rum expressions (not in order of preference) available in the state of Illinois, USA, and from where you’ll get a deeper insight at the upcoming Chicago Rum Festival. 

1. BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho

BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho rum is one of the oldest private rum companies in the world, created in 1862. For seven generations, the Bacardí family enjoyed it as their personal reserve. Thankfully, everyone can now sip this golden rum and share special memories. Its longer aging develops a rich body with velvety smoothness and more complexity in the flavors from the barrel.

BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho
  • Country: Initially the Bahamas, currently made in Puerto Rico
  • Category: Gold Rum / Aged Rum
  • ABV: 40%
  • Taste Notes:
    • Nose: Dried apricot and banana leaf
    • Palate: Oak, dried fruits, and spices
    • Finish: Expansive and well-rounded

2. Angostura® 7 Year Old Rum 

To create this expression, Angostura’s Master Blender selects light, medium, and heavy rums that have been aging for at least seven years. The blend is then returned to casks to further marry its flavors. This is how Angostura 7 Year Old Rum is a powerful, robust, and flavorsome spirit. It is packed with mouthwatering flavors that include maple, chocolate, honey, and toffee and presents a rich, full-bodied taste that tapers off into the classic rum finish. You can enjoy it neat as a sipping rum or over ice.

  • Country: Trinidad and Tobago 
  • Category: Aged Rum
  • ABV: 40%
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Nose: An enticing bouquet of creamy aromas of vanilla, chocolate, molasses, espresso, spice, and oak  
    • Palate: Packed with toasted bakery-like flavors of chocolate, honey, toffee, caramel, coffee, and roasted nuts  
    • Finish: Rich medium body

3. El Dorado Rum 8 Year

El Dorado Rum 8 Year is a rum produced by Demerara Distillers Limited. The rum was aged in oak barrels for at least eight years, using the distillery’s traditional “double wooden pot still” method. The result is a smooth and characterful blend, excellent for sipping or using in craft cocktails. Founded in 1670, Demerara Distillers Limited is one of the oldest and largest distilleries in Guyana.

  • Country: Guyana 
  • Category: Aged Rum
  • ABV: 40%
  • Tasting Notes: 
    • Nose: A light to medium-bodied nose with hints of tobacco mixed with caramel toffee. A faint aroma of dried stone fruits, cinnamon, and flambéed bananas 
    • Palate: Sweet, with vanilla, caramel, and dried fruits
    • Finish: Caramel and vanilla

4. Ron Centenario 7 Year Añejo Especial Rum

Ron Centenario 7 Year Añejo Especial is a premium rum made from sugarcane juice. This rum is aged seven years in American oak barrels using the Solera aging method. You can enjoy this rum neat, on the rocks, or mixed in with tropical or citrus cocktails since it features an excellent body and a satisfying texture. The taste of honey and oak makes it an ideal companion for all types of occasions. Ron Centenario has been producing rum since 1961 and is located in Liberia, Costa Rica.

  • Country: Costa Rica
  • Category: Aged Rum
  • ABV: 40%
  • Tasting Notes: 
    • Nose: Pleasant aromas of honey, red apples, and oak
    • Palate: Slightly sweet and smooth, emphasizing the pleasant smoky taste of the wood
    • Finish: Cooked pineapple, honey, and cappuccino

5. Havana Club Añejo Clásico 

Havana Club Añejo Clásico is an exquisite spirit that is distilled and aged in Puerto Rico under the Caribbean sun for one to three years in oak barrels. Then, the aged rums are blended and aged a second time in oak barrels for a minimum of three months.

  • Country: Puerto Rico
  • Category: Aged Rum
  • ABV: 40%
  • Tasting Notes: 
    • Nose: Dried apricot and pineapple, brown sugar, and hints of light tobacco and tea
    • Palate: Vanilla and brown sugar with subdued caramel, leading into fruity notes of papaya and raisin
    • Finish: Medium length and sweet. Molasses and raisin flavors combine with subtle hints of oak and char

6. Tanduay Gold Asian Rum

Tanduay Gold Asian Rum is a blend of rums aged up to seven years in ex-bourbon barrels with a taste profile of mature honey with hints of toasted oak, almond, and vanilla. It offers a smooth and complex profile, making it the ideal addition to your favorite cocktail.

  • Country: Philippines 
  • Category: Gold Rum / Aged Rum
  • ABV: 40%
  • Tasting Notes: 
    • Nose: Refined and elegant. The presence of mature honey, almond, caramel, toasted oak, orange peels, and vanilla
    • Palate: Good balance of alcohol level and sweetness, as well as expressive flavors of vanilla, tropical fruit, coconut, and nutmeg
    • Finish: Persistent in harmony. The caramel flavor persists on the finish, with vanilla and wooden notes

7. Plantation Isle of Fiji Rum

This rum is made of local Fijian sugarcane using traditional techniques. The rum is first aged in Bourbon casks for approximately two to three years, and then it is sailed to the southwest of France for a second maturation in French oak barrels. This double-aging method, paired with Fijian know-how, creates a rum with warm notes of exotic fruits and raisins. The Isle of Fiji is a great place to sip rum.

  • Category: Aged Rum
  • Country: Fiji
  • ABV: 40%
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Nose: It starts on molasses, pear, and varnish. It then becomes fruitier and spicier on apple, banana, and gooseberry, as well as nutmeg and vanilla, with a hint of smoke
    • Palate: Rich and round, it follows the nose with vanilla fudge, honey, ginger, and fruity notes of prune and coconut
    • Finish: Very long on dried banana, bourbon, and allspice

8. Rhum Barbancourt 3 Star 4 Year

Rhum Barbancourt 3 Star is one of the finest rums in the world. It consists of a light-tasting, delicate rum aged four years in Limousin oak barrels. Pleasant with a mixer, Rhum Barbancourt lends itself to the best cocktails and cooking recipes, much to the delight of connoisseurs and gourmets.

  • Country: Haiti
  • Category: Gold Rum / Aged Rum
  • ABV: 43%
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Nose: With striking maturity despite its young age, top notes reveal lime, followed by tart citrus fruits
    • Palate: The entry is spicy with light woody notes, well-balanced
    • Finish: Green with a note of fresh sugarcane juice

9. Ron Barceló Rum Imperial 

Barceló Imperial is made from the nectar of the best selection of Dominican sugarcane grown on the brand’s plantations. It is aged in the best weather conditions for up to ten years in whisky and bourbon barrels. The process of aging has given this rum a pleasant taste and a thick, chewy mouthfeel. Barceló Imperial is an exquisite color, fragrance, and flavor harmony for the senses. Barceló is a family-owned company based in Santo Domingo and has produced rum since 1929.

  • Country: Dominican Republic
  • Category: Aged Rum
  • ABV: 40%
  • Tasting Notes:
    • Nose: Aromas of buttercream, dried cherries, intense vanilla, pineapple jam, and caramelized nuts
    • Palate: A mild entry to a dry but fruity flavor
    • Finish: Carrot ice cream cake, kola nut, mocha, and a robust toasted taste that gradually fades

10. Don Q Reserva 7

Don Q, Puerto Rico’s best-selling brand, offers an elegant and complex aged Puerto Rican rum made of a blend of rums aged for a minimum of seven years in American oak barrels. Don Q Reserva 7 was made by master blender Jaiker Soto in collaboration with Silvia Santiago (Maestra Ronera), and Roberto Serrallés, who is the sixth-generation rum maker. Soto blended both light and heavy rums distilled in two types of column stills. Overall, this is a dry and silky wood-aged rum that can be very versatile.

  • Country: Puerto Rico
  • Category: Aged Rum
  • ABV: 40%
  • Tasting Notes: 
    • Nose: Molasses, vanilla, oak, chocolate, and a light char smoke
    • Palate: Pineapple, milk chocolate, ginger, pepper, charred oak, and caramel
    • Finish: A bittersweet and a gentle spiced finish

Have you decided which bottle you want to add to your collection?

Featured image source: Istockphoto

About The Author

Content Director at The RumLab || She is a Journalist & Ghostwriter from Caracas-Venezuela, with more than six years of experience in Academic Research. She also has a postgraduate education in International Relations and a Master's Degree in Public Management. In the last few years, she has been working in sales and digital marketing.

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TagsAngostura Rum Bacardi rum Don Q El Dorado Rum Havana Club Plantation Rum Rhum Barbancourt Ron Barceló Ron Centenario Rum Tanduay Rum