Bacardí Superior White Rum Review

Bacardí Superior is a recognizable and budget-friendly light rum that’s perfect for mixing into cocktails. Is it the world’s best rum? Of course not, but novices and pros alike could do a whole lot worse.

Tasting Notes

Color: Crystal clear—the charcoal filtration has done its job, and done it well.

Nose: Tropical fruits, namely pineapple, and a strong alcohol smell reminiscent of gasoline, which is quite impressive in its own way for an 80-proof spirit

Palate: Vanilla and tropical fruits like coconut, melon, and pineapple, along with lemony notes that become more pronounced as it moves throatward

Finish: Lemon and quite a bit of char, which must come from the charcoal filtration

Our Review

Bacardí isn’t just the best-known rum in the world, it’s likely the only rum many people have ever tasted, the sole representative of a wide and ridiculously diverse category. That’s a lot of weight to place on the shoulders of this light, inoffensive, relatively benign spirit. But here we are.

Bacardí’s flagship rum was the first to get aged and then charcoal filtered, removing both the color and many of the impurities that plagued lesser brands and gave the entire category a bad reputation. This development revolutionized the way rum was perceived, from a harsh sailor’s drink to the stuff that’s graced countless Mojitos, Daiquiris, Cuba Libres, and of course Bacardí Cocktails over the decades. 

Bacardí Superior isn’t a challenging rum, nor is it meant to be. With a harsh finish, especially for an 80-proof spirit, and a nose that evokes a gas station as much as a tropical beach, it’s not a great sipper, but when was the last time anyone sipped it? As a mixer, it’s…fine. Rum fans who have enjoyed Daiquiris with higher-grade white rums like Ten To One or Banks 5 Island won’t be very impressed with Bacardí, but if it doesn’t quite elevate a cocktail, it doesn’t diminish it either. There are far worse ways to spend an evening than with a Bacardí and cola or two. And it’s cheap enough to mix with abandon.

Judging a spirit this ubiquitous seems almost beside the point. Whether or not we love it, and wherever we may place it in the rum pantheon, we’ll all certainly be drinking it again at some point. And while it’s certainly nowhere near the summit of the category, there are worse places to set up base camp.