Alcohol information
What is gold rum?
Gold rum, AKA amber rum, is a medium-bodied rum that’s generally aged. Sounds both dangerous and delicious, right? It is! Let’s dive into a little more detail.
By Kris Barton · Updated - Medium-bodied rum
- Aged in oak
- AKA amber rum
In short
Gold rum, also called amber rum, is a medium-bodied rum that’s generally aged. It gets its colour from wooden barrels, or sometimes from caramel.
How does gold rum get its colour?
Gold rum gets its colour from ageing in wooden barrels, usually charred white oak barrels at that. At least, that’s the traditional way. Some gold rums get their colour from added caramel.
What does gold rum taste like?
Gold rum tends to have more flavour and a stronger taste than white rum. It’s usually considered a midway point between lighter and darker rums. If the gold rum was coloured with caramel, you can expect a sweeter taste.
What is gold rum used for?
Gold rum typically has tonnes of flavour. It can be mixed into a cocktail, served with a mixer, or even just drunk on the rocks. It all works! Trust me, I’ve sampled it a lot.
Cocktail-wise, probably the most popular cocktail with gold rum has to be the Mai Tai, which mixes gold rum with orange curaçao, lime juice and orgeat syrup to make something delicious and refreshing. Here are a few more to try:
Mai Tai
Golden rum, orange curaçao, lime juice, orgeat syrup, lime wedge, maraschino cherry
Zombie
Dark rum, golden rum, demerara rum, lime juice, falernum, Donn’s mix (fresh white grapefruit juice and cinnamon syrup), grenadine, Angostura bitters, Pernod
Bahama Mama
Orange juice, pineapple juice, golden rum, Malibu, crème de banana, grenadine
Old Cuban
Aged gold rum, prosecco, simple syrup, lime juice, Angostura bitters
Gold rum vs dark rum
The difference between gold and dark rum basically comes down to how they’re matured. All rums start out as light rums and are then aged in different kinds of casks.
For example, white rums are aged in stainless steel tanks so they stay perfectly clear. Gold rum is aged in plain oak barrels, whereas dark rum is aged in darker oak barrels for longer.
TL;DR: the difference is how long the rum is aged and what it’s aged in.
Gold rum vs spiced rum
Despite generally being darker, spiced rum is often based on light rum. It’s darker because of the herbs, spices and sometimes caramel used to make it.
Which gold rum should I use?
For gold rum, we recommend Mount Gay:
Summary
So, what is gold rum? Gold rum is different from other rums because of how it’s aged, and sometimes what goes into it. It’s usually aged in charred white oak barrels, or coloured with caramel, to get its golden colour.
Want more rum cocktails?
We have 72 quick and easy rum cocktails, from the Mai Tai to the Strawberry Daiquiri, sorted by white, dark and spiced rum.
See all 72 rum cocktailsFurther reading
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