Spiced rum: what it is and how to drink it

Spiced rum is rum that has been flavored with spices such as vanilla, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, which makes it warmer and sweeter than a plain white or aged rum. CBC Liquors on Littleton Rd in Westford carries it on the rum page, and this guide covers what is in the bottle, how to drink it and how to get it from us.

What is spiced rum?

Spiced rum is rum with added flavor. A producer starts with a rum base, usually a lightly aged one, and infuses or blends it with spices and other flavorings. Vanilla, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice and orange peel are the usual suspects, and many bottles add a little caramel for color and roundness.

The result tastes sweeter and softer than most unflavored rums, even when no sugar is obvious on the label. That is why spiced rum works for people who find straight white rum sharp, and why it mixes easily with simple things like cola or ginger beer.

There is no single legal recipe, so two bottles labeled spiced rum can taste quite different. One might lean on vanilla and baking spice, another on citrus and pepper. The spice blend is the producer's own, which is the main thing that separates one bottle from the next.

Bottled strength is commonly around 35 percent alcohol by volume, a little below the 40 percent you see on many other spirits, though it varies by bottle. Check the label if you are matching a recipe.

How is spiced rum different from white rum and dark rum?

The three words describe different things. White rum, such as Bacardí Superior White Rum, is light in color and flavor and is typically filtered after aging. It is the usual base for a daiquiri or a mojito because it stays out of the way of the lime and mint.

Dark rum gets its color and weight from longer aging, from caramel, or from molasses-heavy production. GOSLINGS Black Seal Rum is an example of a dark rum: rich, with a deeper molasses character. That richness comes from the rum itself, not from added spice.

Spiced rum sits across those categories. Its color can be gold or amber, but what defines it is the flavoring. If you want sweetness and baking-spice aroma, reach for spiced. If you want depth from the barrel, look at aged bottles like ZAYA Gran Reserva Rum.

One more neighbor is flavored rum, such as Malibu Original Rum, which is coconut rather than spice. It is a different drink with a different job, mostly tropical and easy-going.

Which spiced rum can you buy at CBC Liquors in Westford?

The spiced bottle we have in stock is Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, which is also one of the best sellers in the shop right now. It is the style most people picture when they say spiced rum: gold in color, with vanilla and warm spice up front.

Beside it, the rum page lists spiced, white, dark and flavored bottles, so you can compare the styles in one scroll rather than guessing from a label. That matters if you are buying for a recipe and are not sure whether it calls for spiced, white or dark.

Stock changes day to day, so the page is the place to confirm what is in right now. If you are heading in for a particular bottle, check it first and you will know before you drive over.

How do you drink spiced rum?

The simplest way is over ice in a short glass, with a twist of orange if you like. The cold tightens up the sweetness and lets the spice come through. Some people prefer it neat at room temperature, which opens the vanilla and cinnamon notes more.

Most spiced rum ends up in a mixed drink. Rum and cola is the classic, and a squeeze of lime turns it into something closer to a Cuba libre. Ginger beer works well because its heat plays against the sweetness and the spice. Tonic is less common, but a splash of soda with citrus makes a lighter long drink.

If you are stocking up on mixers, you will find them on the mixers page. It helps to decide the drink first and buy the bottle second, because a recipe with ginger beer wants a different rum than one built around eggnog.

For guests 21 and over, a spiced rum drink is easy to batch in a pitcher ahead of time, which keeps you out of the kitchen when people arrive.

What are the best cocktails to make with spiced rum?

A few drinks suit spiced rum particularly well, and none of them need special equipment.

Spiced rum and ginger beer over ice with lime is the easiest. Use about two parts ginger beer to one part rum and adjust to taste. It is a close cousin of the dark and stormy, with more vanilla and less molasses.

In cooler months, warm drinks make sense. Heat some apple cider gently with a cinnamon stick and add a measure of spiced rum to the mug. The spirit's own cinnamon and clove notes line up with the cider so you do not need to add much else. Hard cider is also on the cider page if you want something else to pair with the shelf.

Spiced rum also goes into eggnog, hot chocolate and coffee. In each case, treat it as a seasoning: a small pour changes the drink without taking it over.

For a gathering, the store's party planner page is a good place to start thinking through what to put out.

How do you choose between spiced rum bottles?

Start with how you plan to use it. If most of it will go into mixed drinks, a straightforward spiced rum like Captain Morgan does the job, because the spice and sweetness hold up against cola, ginger beer or cider. If you plan to sip it, look for a bottle that reads as more aged and less sweet, and consider whether an aged rum suits you better than a spiced one.

Read the label for strength, and for any note about aging or spice. Producers who put effort into the blend usually say so.

Size matters too. A larger bottle makes sense for a holiday gathering or a season of hot drinks, while a smaller one suits a recipe you are trying for the first time. Ask at the counter if you are unsure and tell us what you are making. We can point you toward the right style among the rum we carry.

If you are comparing across the wider shelf, vodka and whiskey have their own pages, which helps when you are building a drinks list for a party and want a spirit for each guest.

How do you get spiced rum from CBC Liquors?

You can walk in at 142 Littleton Rd in Westford. We are open Sunday 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Monday through Thursday 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM, and Friday and Saturday 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Pickup runs the same hours.

We also offer delivery and shipping. Delivery hours are Sunday 10:00 AM to 7:30 PM, Monday through Thursday 10:00 AM to 8:30 PM, and Friday and Saturday 10:00 AM to 9:30 PM. We serve Chelmsford, Carlisle, Littleton, Acton, Tyngsborough, Lowell, Billerica, Boxborough and Dunstable, and you can see the details for your town on pages like Chelmsford, Acton and Lowell.

CBC Liquors is rated 4.7 out of 5 on Google from 339 reviews. Our catalogue holds 4,613 products from 1,888 brands, so if spiced rum is not what you end up wanting, there is a good chance the rest of the shelf covers it, starting with the liquor page.