Industry Report: Rum Trends Of 2025
Rum-blings from around the world...
Dear Drink To That reader,
Your industry report for this week is on one of my favourite spirits: rum.
And what’s not to like about this shape-shifting drink? It’s versatile, affordable and has some of the best brand stories to dive into.
Bacardi reigns supreme
According to a survey taken by Drinks International, Bacardi was the top-selling rum of 2024 and has been in this position for the last seven years. It was the top house pour in 20% of the bars polled. This was followed by Havana Club in second place.
Third place went to Maison Ferrand’s Planteray and what’s interesting is that it’s been tipped as 2025’s top trending rum for its appeal and hype. Meanwhile, Appleton Estate came in at fourth place, with 18% of bars declaring it as a top three pour.
This data was gathered by collecting the opinions of 100 bars which have been featured in recent editions of The Word’s 50 Best Bars and Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards across an even geographical split.
RTD rums are on the rise
The Ready-To-Drink product market is projected to grow by 12% in volume from 2025 to 2027. Tequila and vodka are currently the most popular bases in the US, but rum is gaining momentum for a couple of reasons.
The first is because of rum’s tropical flavours and versatility in cocktails. Rum-based RTDs give consumers an opportunity to make high-quality mojitos, daiquiris and pina coladas effortlessly from home.
The second reason is because of rum’s growing perception as a premium spirit. It’s spilled over into the RTD market, with consumers being more willing to pay for RTDs featuring a premium rum.
The spiced rum category isn’t slowing down
Spiced rum has long remained one of, if not the most popular rum category of the past few years. In 2025, that isn’t going to change.
According to E&A Scheer, the global spiced rum market was valued at $7 billion in 2024 and is projected to leap to $10 billion by 2030 with a growth of 4.5% CAGR as higher quality rums and new spices enter the arena.
E&A Scheer have looked at several factors that contribute to the popularity of spiced rum. For one thing, there’s a perception that spices elevate the flavour and aroma of rum, which is the opposite of how spiced rum used to be perceived i.e. to mask the taste of low-quality alcohol.
Secondly, younger consumers are looking for more experimental drinks and cocktails and spiced rum fits those requirements. According to CGA, the 18 - 34 demographic dominates half the spiced rum market.
World rums FTW
Master Of Malt recently revealed their list of trend-setting rums for 2025 and a number of them are based outside of the Caribbean:
Bristol Rum Company’s Sofia Golden: This product is tapping into the growing trend of golden rums and away from the spiced rum craze.
Legado Fresh: This rum comes from Paraguay and is made at an organic sugar mill and with organic molasses.
Kakira gold: This rum comes from Uganda and is distilled in the solera method.
Varela Hermanos 40-year-old: Aged rum looks like another trend that’s going to become even more popular in 2025 and this Panamanian rum is a fine example of it.
Pipa Rum de Goa: This rum combines a cultural story of Portugal and India for some interesting results.
Let me know what you think of these rum trends or if you think I’ve missed any. You can get in touch via infodrinktothat@gmail.com
Cheers to you,
Jamie