White rum
Also called light rum, silver rum, blanco rum, rhum blanc
Clear rum, unaged or briefly aged then charcoal filtered to strip color. Light Spanish style white rums are clean and dry; cane juice and Jamaican styles carry grass and funk. It is the base of the Daiquiri, the Mojito and the Piña Colada.
- light molasses
- fresh cane
- coconut
- citrus
- white pepper
- clean spirit
- faint funk in pot still styles
Origin
Most rum is distilled from molasses; Martinique rhum agricole and some others use fresh cane juice. White rums are unaged or lightly aged, with any cask color removed by charcoal filtration, so the distillate rather than the wood sets the flavor. Styles differ by still and origin: light column rums of Cuba and Puerto Rico, grassy agricoles, and heavier pot still rums. 'Overproof' describes rum bottled above 50% ABV.
Common uses
- daiquiri
- mojito
- pina-colada
- Cuba Libre
- Hemingway Daiquiri
- rum punch
Pours that use it
- Classic
Daiquiri
Rum, lime and sugar, shaken until the tin frosts
The Cuban rum sour: white rum, fresh lime juice and simple syrup, shaken hard and served straight up in a chilled coupe.
RumShakenEasy - International
Mojito
Havana's mint and lime highball, pressed not pulverized
Cuba's mint and lime highball: white rum, fresh lime, sugar or syrup and gently pressed mint, built over ice and topped with soda water.
RumMuddledIntermediate - International
Pina Colada
Puerto Rico's rum, coconut and pineapple blend, made with fresh juice
Puerto Rico's national drink: rum, cream of coconut and pineapple juice blended or shaken with ice and served in a hurricane glass with pineapple and a cherry.
RumBlendedEasy
Sources
- Rum: a lexicon of rum terms, Difford's Guide · secondary source, retrieved 2026-10-11