10 Best Rums For A Mai Tai, According To Industry Experts

Now a tiki classic, the original mai tai cocktail was concocted in 1944 by Vic Bergeron for his Trader Vic's restaurant in Oakland, California. The original drink contained fresh lime juice, orange curaçao, orgeat syrup, rock candy syrup, and 17-year-old Jamaican J. Wray Nephew rum. Over the years, the mai tai has changed with the times. Mostly, it became as sweet and technicolored as a 1980s power ballad. As the drink continues to morph, so too do the best types of rum to use for making a mai tai.

The recent back-to-basics craft cocktail revival has brought the original 1944-style mai tai back into vogue. But, in yet another twist, the 17-year rum initially used in the recipe is no longer available. The most prevalent modern version replaces the original spirit with two separate rums. A Jamaican-style pot still rum is used to give the drink a robust funkiness, and a Martinique-style rhum agricole ships crisp, grassy notes.

So, which pot still rums and rhum agricoles are the best to use? And, is there a rum that can pull double duty? With these questions in mind, we recently turned to two industry professionals — Anton Kinloch, a partner at Fuchsia Tiki Bar in New York's Hudson Valley region, and James Oppedisano, the owner of the iconic Hala Kahiki in Chicago — for recommendations on the best mai tai rums.

While most rums are made from molasses, Martinique-style rums are very distinct in that they are made from fresh-cut sugar cane. This more agrarian approach to rum creation gives these spirits a unique category known as rhum agricole — French for agricultural rum. Distilleries in the former French colony of Martinique that follow strict rum production guidelines can be certified AOC (appellation d'origine contrôlée) by the French government.

When asked what rhum agricole should go into a mai tai, Kinloch's first recommendation was the white, 50% ABV rum from Rhum J.M: "I love using this Martinique rhum. It's really nice for a mai tai because it has this perfect grassiness."

In addition to grassy notes, this white rum also offers a unique minerality derived from its unique terroir: Sugar cane used by the distillery is grown in volcanic soils. Other flavor notes like stewed banana and grilled pineapple make this rum a natural fit in a mai tai.

Rhum agricole comes in two varieties: unaged (or blanc) and aged. As an aged variety, Rhum Clément VSOP imparts the grassy notes that are a signature of rhum agricole, but aging adds flavors of cocoa and smoky vanilla.

At Hala Kahiki, James Oppedisano uses Clément VSOP in his bar's take on the original mai tai. Oppedisano says that using aged agricole is more of a business decision than a personal preference: "I love unaged agricole, but it doesn't appeal to the masses as much as aged agricole. We've found that people like the mellowness of aged agricole. You still get the grassy notes and the essence of what an agricole is, but without it being too much."

Meanwhile, in the Hudson Valley, Kinloch says he prefers making mai tais with agricole blanc: "I like my mai tai to be a little bit crisp and clean. Aged agricole has its place, for certain, but it gives a mai tai to many dark tasting notes, like a little bit more flavor from the aging barrel. I really want the orgeat to stand out. I want the curaçao to stand out. I want to be able to taste all of those components individually."

Owned by the French corporation Maison Ferrand, a famous cognac brand, Plantation Rum spirits are set apart from other rums by a unique aging process. After distillation and aging in the West Indies, the rums are shipped to Cognac, France, where they are aged again in cognac barrels. For a mai tai, Kinloch recommends Xaymaca Special Dry from Plantation Rums as "a good budget-friendly rum that you could definitely use in conjunction with a rhum agricole blanc."

Plantation uses a special process that resulted in this rum. Xaymaca Special Dry was developed by Plantation's master blender and founder Alexandre Gabriel as a deep dive into the rum-making culture of Jamaica. Gabriel said Xaymaca is a result of wanting to work with complex flavors with "an almost 'animal intensity.'" The tasting notes for this spirit are just as wild.

When you open the bottle, you'll notice a balancing contrast between the nose and palate. The aroma sometimes borders on a smokey, nearly meaty scent, followed by vanilla and grilled tropical fruits. However, the palate of this rum becomes fruiter and full of herbaceous punch with tastes of apple, apricot, orange, grape, and pear.

While this Jamaican rum can be intense, multiple years of aging slightly mellow the funk and allow the island terroir to shine. When used in a mai tai, Xaymaca asserts its character but still allows the other ingredients to bloom alongside. 

Because rum is such a varied liquor category, the idea of "best rums" for any drink can be subjective. Often, the finest rum to use in a cocktail is the one you prefer the most. That said, experienced or well-versed rum drinkers are more likely to appreciate a mai tai with significant complexity. For a highly-complex Jamaican pot still, Kinloch recommends trying a bottle from Plantation Rum's Vintage series — specifically the 2005 vintage.

After production began in 2005, the vintage was released for sale in 2019 and is a 100% pot still blend from two different Jamaican distilleries. After being aged in Jamaica for 12 years, this vintage was shipped to France for one to two more years of aging. The result is a "rustic" and "intense" rum with notes of banana, dried fruit, and roasted coffee. Although the deeper aging creates traits that make this rum very distinct in a mai tai, it is a high-quality option that can provide a nuanced and subtle difference to your cocktails.

As such, Kinloch admits that these bottles are fairly pricey — and that's if you manage to track one down. "When it was more readily available, I used to use the Plantation 2005 as the base for my mai tai," he said. "But for those looking to get a little more adventurous, I would definitely recommend using any vintage Jamaican rum from Plantation." 

Originating in rural Haiti, clairin is a category of rum that resembles rhum agricole. While it offers the same vegetal and grassy notes as agricole, clairin also ships strong funk and even a bit of salinity. Some have even called it rum's answer to mezcal. Until a few years ago, clairin was hard to come by in the U.S., but importers are now increasingly bringing the spirit stateside as Americans grow to appreciate it. At Hala Kahiki, the bartenders have been woodshedding Haitian mai tais that make use of clairin.

Per James Oppedisano, "I've never really experimented with [clairin rum] until the last two years or so. They've really surprised me because there are so many options. They go so many different ways. They're fun!"

For a mai tai, Oppedisano suggests using Clairin Sajous as a like-for-like replacement for rhum agricole. Depending on personal preference, you could use a one-to-one ratio of clairin to a pot still rum. The bartenders at Hala Kahiki, however, have been favoring more of a two-to-one ratio, with the favor going to clairin.

"You can get such vibrant flavors and gives it almost like a salinity," Oppedisano says. "It just completely elevates the flavor profile." For Sajous, organic ingredients combine to form a creative meld of apple, olive, bee pollen, and pickled herb notes. This bottle may be pricier, but it can create some of the most unique expressions of a mai tai that you're likely to find.