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<p class="text-muted">12 January 2023</p>
<h1 class="mt-1">RumX Awards 2022 - The Best Rums of the Year Revealed - Part I</h1>
<p class="text-block mt-3">Another year lies behind us, which means a lot in the world of rum: Plenty of new rums that ended up in our tasting glasses or as bottles on our collection shelves;
many great meetups, conversations and encounters with rum friends from various geographies; and some smaller, some larger rum tasting sessions with both newer releases as well as older,
legendary all-time favorites. <b>We’d like to thank you, our community members</b>, for making these special moments happen, for living and breathing the spirit of a truly collaborative,
caring, inspiring, sometimes controversial but always respectful community that helps all of us find, experience and exchange on our favorite spirits on the next level. And no, we did not
come up with this conclusion after finishing our end-of-year rum session, it is backed by the sheer numbers that document what happened in RumX: From January to December 2022, <b>2,860 new
rums</b> were added to the database and <b>56,537 new community ratings</b> were entered – this is more than double the amount we had seen in 2021! <b>YOU ROCK!</b></p>
<p class="text-block mt-3">But we get it, you did not come here to read about how proud we are of this community (but we are so happy about it that we’ll simply have to reconfirm this time and
again!). Let’s go on with some lovely black on white facts and figures. So, from a more quantitative perspective, what did make the rum world go round in the past year? Which new releases
were the top-rated ones according to our awesome (Oops... I did it again) RumX community? Which (independent) bottlers landed the highest average scores across all their 2022 releases? And
which other funny, surprising or simply noteworthy facts did we come across when reviewing our 2022 data? <b>Well... let’s check it out!</b></p>
<h2 class="mt-3">Top rums released in 2022</h2>
<p class="text-block">We’re kicking off our review with the Oscar’s of the RumX world - so to say the equivalent of the best actor in a leading role: <b>The top rum of 2022!</b></p>
<p class="text-block">Criteria: We only considered rums that were <b>released in 2022</b> and got <b>at least 25 community ratings</b>. This obviously has some downsides – we’ve seen
some limited releases with undoubtedly high-quality liquids inside that did not make it to our list, simply because there were not enough community ratings. We’ve assessed and discussed the lists countless times without ever coming to the
one outcome that seemed to satisfy all aspects – but we agreed on a central aspect: <b>We want this to be a community-based ranking.</b> This means, we had to strike a balance between
having as many individual user tastings as possible for our rums, while also not limiting the group of candidates too heavily by applying too restrictive entry criteria.</p>
<h3 class="mt-3">Hidden Champions of 2022</h3>
<p class="text-block">Since all hard limitations will inevitably result in tough decisions, we’d like to start our review with our list of the top five rums released of 2022 that would have
ended up in the list based on their average ratings but did not get the required number of tastings.</p>
<p class="text-block mt-3">We’d therefore like to call this list our <b>“Hidden Champions of 2022”</b>:</p>
<div class="row">
RX12843
Distilia Long Pond The Golden Age of Piracy Charles Vane 1983
Jamaica 1983 38yr 52,5%
1,261 €
RX12050
Infinity Spirits New Yarmouth The Royal Cane Cask Company 1994
Jamaica 1994 27yr 60,3%
299 €
</div>
<p class="text-block">Some truly remarkable releases – and who knows, maybe some more users will get the chance to try them in future and help to get them into the all-time favorites list in
our 2023 RumX Awards...?</p>
<h3 class="mt-5">Best rums of 2022</h3>
<p class="text-block">But enough foreplay. Ladies and gentlemen, we proudly present our rum releases of the year 2022! And the winner is... the Spirit of Rum <a
class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/rums/11613/spirit-of-rum-enmore-rumclub-private-selection-ed-22-rev" Selection Edition 22 Enmore 1994 REV</a>! Released
almost a year before this report was published, it confirmed the impressive quality of the REV marque. Even though we’ve seen some other remarkable REV releases from the 1994
vintage in the past years, this cask righteously claimed its spot at the top-end of the scale. The <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/bottlers/spirit-of-rum/" of
Rum</a> team definitely went on a streak in 2022 and kept delivering very well-received releases: In total we found three of their 2022 releases in our top 10 (not to forget that their
<a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/rums/14100/spirit-of-rum-hampden-rumclub-private-selection-ed-32-ch" 32</a>, the Hampden 1990, missed the list due to only
four missing tastings... please check the <b>“Hidden champions of 2022”</b> for the full details). Long story short: We tip our hats to the Spirit of Rum team in Berlin!
</p>
<div>
<figure class="bg-white p-3 rounded" style="border-left: .25rem solid #222C2E;">
<blockquote class="blockquote pb-2">
<p>“The recognition as the best rum release is based on the verdict of many rum lovers in the RumX community - which means the outcome has a high acceptance. Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>To me it is always exciting to taste cask samples - will the rum meet the expectations or not? In the case of the REV 1994 it was love at the first sip!“</p>
</blockquote>
<figcaption class="blockquote-footer mb-0 font-italic">
Dirk Becker from <b>Spirit of Rum</b>
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p class="text-block mt-2">On rank 2 we find another outstanding release, this time from Jamaica’s <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/distilleries/hampden/">Hampden</a>
distillery: <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/rums/11796/salon-du-rhum-hampden-jamaica-ch" Salon du Rhum Hampden 1990</a>. This year’s festival bottling for the <a
class="main-link" href="https://community.rumx.com/t/live-from-salon-du-rum-spa-2022/5395/1">rum fair in Belgium</a> turned out to be a real gem – and Serge over at <a
class="main-link" href="https://www.whiskyfun.com/2022/Would-we-not-do-rum-again.html">whiskyfun.com</a> is one of its fans (or should we say ‘lovers’?). An outstanding rum for
sure – this year’s list features only two rums that reached an average rating of more than 90 points!</p>
<div>
<figure class="bg-white p-3 rounded" style="border-left: .25rem solid #222C2E;">
<blockquote class="blockquote pb-2">
<p>“When we had the great opportunity to test the 1990 rum, one word came to mind: this rum has EVERYTHING we like. Exotic fruits, a funky side, a very nice length, a superb
balance... we immediately loved this selection!“</p>
</blockquote>
<figcaption class="blockquote-footer mb-0 font-italic">
Vincent from <b>Salon du Rhum</b>
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p class="text-block mt-2">Finishing on rank 3, we also welcome Swell de Spirits’ <a class="main-link"
href="https://rumx.com/rums/13297/swell-de-spirits-tdl-private-garden-no1-clos-des-spiritueux" Private Garden No.1</a> on the winner’s podium. Even though slightly falling
short of the 90 points mark this one is still a worthy runner-up to our rum of the year. We’ve seen quite some highly regarded releases from <a class="main-link"
href="https://rumx.com/distilleries/tdl/">T.D.L</a> recently, and <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/bottlers/swell-de-spirits/" de Spirit</a>’s selection
is nothing less than a perfect example of the impressive quality of the early 2000s vintages.</p>
<div>
<figure class="bg-white p-3 rounded" style="border-left: .25rem solid #222C2E;">
<blockquote class="blockquote pb-2">
<p>“Our initial reaction when tasting this rum was just wow - this is the most complex Rum! Thanks a lot to the people who trust us and the team at RumX! We are feeling honored,
this means that we are doing our job to select the best Rum casks out there for all of you. Thanks to Fabien and the team from Clos des Spiritueux for the great collaboration!“</p>
</blockquote>
<figcaption class="blockquote-footer mb-0 font-italic">
Mika from <b>Swell de Spirits</b>
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<div class="row">
RX13297
Swell de Spirits T.D.L Private Garden No.1 Clos des Spiritueux 2000
Trinidad 2000 22yr 57,5%
</div>
<p class="text-block">Comparing this year’s top list to the one of 2021, it appears as if the overall quality of rum has decreased a bit. In 2021, we had six rum releases that scored an
average of 90 or more points, we went down to two in 2022. Interestingly, even our 3rd place winner, <a class="main-link"
href="https://rumx.com/rums/13297/swell-de-spirits-tdl-private-garden-no1-clos-des-spiritueux" de Spirits T.D.L</a>, would not have ended up in last year's top ten where the
lowest average
score was 89.23 points. Nonetheless, this year’s list features a bit more variety than the previous one: We see both Agricole and Molasses-based rums in the ranks that originate from six
different distilleries in four countries. The usual suspects remain the same though – <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/countries/jamaica/">Jamaica</a> <a
class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/countries/guyana/">Guyana</a> and <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/countries/trinidad/">Trinidad</a> remain
the most prominent countries among the community.</p>
<p class="text-block">Accordingly, most of the rums released could probably be described as “well-established quality benchmarks”: Most of the releases show marques and vintages of their
respective distilleries that we have already seen multiple times before. In the case of the Enmore 1994 REV, the Hampden 1993 and the Diamond 2001, we even find the exact same combination
of distillery, marque and vintages in both the 2021 and this year’s list again.</p>
<p class="text-block">But to be clear: We are not arguing about quality here at all. As much as we love to encounter new styles, flavors and directions that rum can take – don’t we all like to
have our well-known favorites at home that we can turn to again and again? And if anyone can find another outstanding cask from any of these vintages – just keep them coming!</p>
<h3 class="mt-5">Top rums rated 2022</h3>
<p class="text-block">Sticking to our comparison with the Oscar’s, we will now go to the lifetime awards. In other words: Which rums were the best rated ones based on
the tastings added by the community in 2022? The criteria for this ranking are a bit easier than the previous one: We considered <b>all rums in the database</b> (independent of their
release
date) that got <b>at least 25 community ratings in 2022</b>.</p>
<p class="text-block">And we are reminded of last year’s ranking since we again get to praise Velier’s <a class="main-link"
href="https://rumx.com/rums/38/velier-caroni-39th-release-the-last-heavy-trinidad-rum" Last”</a> Caroni released in 2019. The total of 52 tastings made in 2022
resulted in an average of 93.02 points, which means they fell slightly below the 94.1 points from 2021’s RumX Awards – but the score is still breathtakingly high of course.</p>
<p class="text-block">The second rank goes to another release from <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/bottlers/velier/">Velier</a> and one of the already legendary
Demeraras that Luca Gargano bottled a while ago – the <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/rums/516/velier-uitvlugt-ulr" ULR 1997</a> released in
2014. 26 ratings in 2022 resulted in an average score of 92.35 points (about 0.8 points up from 2021). This bottling is one of the most prominent representatives of DDL’s legendary Savalle
still and a testament to Velier’s landmark position among the rum bottling companies.</p>
<p class="text-block">Up next we find two representatives from German bottler <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/bottlers/heinz-eggert-gmbh/" Artesanal</a> which again
recall sweet memories from 2021’s top releases of the year list. Our 2021 rum of the
year, the <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/rums/7784/heinz-eggert-gmbh-west-indies-rum-artesanal-barbados-rum-rockley-style-bbr" 1986</a>, finished second
after the <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/rums/7787/heinz-eggert-gmbh-hampden-rum-artesanal-jamaica-rum-hd-distillery-ch" 1990</a> – even though the
difference in scores is only 0.11 points. The overall ratings confirm the quality of the liquids either
way, with their average they are even slightly ahead of this year’s frontrunner from <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/bottlers/spirit-of-rum/" of Rum</a>. We
consider this as yet even more proof that for most of our beloved distilleries certain
vintages and marques simply stand out, as both the 1990 Hampdens as well as the 1986 Rockleys showcase time and again. Next one up is our rum release of 2022, Spirit of Rum’s <a
class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/rums/11613/spirit-of-rum-enmore-rumclub-private-selection-ed-22-rev" REV 1994</a>, which again is only nuances behind in
terms of the overall score. A really strong field with some absolutely stunning bottlings representing different rum styles.</p>
<p class="text-block">Looking at the full list, the dominance of Jamaica and Guyana remains striking – especially releases from <a class="main-link"
href="https://rumx.com/distilleries/hampden/">Hampden</a> appear to be absolute crowd pleasers to the RumX
community. Half of the top 10 rums in our list stem from the distillery in the Trelawny Parish with the oldest vintage (1983) being almost 20 years apart than the youngest one (2002).
Also, Guyana remains an evergreen in our top lists – in combination with <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/bottlers/velier/">Velier</a> iconic black bottles the
chances of not having an outstanding Demerara representative in your hands remain
small anyhow.</p>
<p class="text-block">One last note on the bottlers behind these releases – we once again have to express our deep respect for the impressive story that Dominik Marwede wrote during his time
at Heinz Eggert / Rum Artesanal. With a total of four releases from his time at the company in the top 10, he put Rum Artesanal on eye level with Italian bottler Velier, headed by the
living rum legend Luca Gargano, and clearly ahead of other renowned rum bottlers like <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/bottlers/maison-ferrand/">Plantation</a>.</p>
<div class="row">
</div>
<h3 class="mt-5">Most tasted rums released in 2022</h3>
<p class="text-block">On to the next category, the most tasted rum releases from 2022. Again, criteria first: We look at <b>all rums released in 2022</b> and <b>sort them by total number of
tastings</b> added. So yes, this should again give those rums an edge that came to market in the early months of the year, but we still felt this might be fun to look at. Even though
we see a lot of
releases from the first half of 2022, we still have representatives like Velier’s <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/rums/13414/velier-long-pond-cambridge-stce"
Pond Cambridge STCE 2010</a> in the list as well that had its very first appearance to the public only in October at <a class="main-link"
href="https://community.rumx.com/t/live-from-whisky-live-paris-2022/5295">Whisky Live in Paris</a>.</p>
<p>But more interestingly, this year’s most tasted rum is an Agricole from Martinique, Saint James’ <a class="main-link"
href="https://rumx.com/rums/12796/saint-james-les-ephemeres-n1" Ephémères No. 1</a> from 2001. Looking at the average rating of almost 88 points it doesn’t
really surprise us to see this one gaining a lot of attention – especially at the release price of only slightly above 100 Euros. Rank 2 goes to one of the latest discoveries of Luca Gargano
from Velier, Haiti’s Clairins. The <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/rums/11818/velier-chelo-clairin-vieux-sajous-lustau-oloroso-cask" from 2017</a> was aged
for its entire four years in former Lustau Oloroso Casks and released in early 2022, which back then put it among the oldest
Sajous releases to date. Following the average score of 81.28 points, this one could not quite keep up with the Saint James, but obviously still managed to grab the attention of the
community. Rank 3 goes to another big name in the rum world, Barbados <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/distilleries/foursquare/">Foursquare</a> distillery and their
2007 vintage release called <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/rums/11721/foursquare-exceptional-cask-selection-xix-sovereignty">Sovereignty</a>.</p>
<p>What else? Releases from Jamaica dominate this ranking with five different rums originating from three distilleries, namely <a class="main-link"
href="https://rumx.com/distilleries/long-pond/" Pond</a>, <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/distilleries/clarendon/">Clarendon</a> and... well, you
guessed it, <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/distilleries/hampden/">Hampden</a> No Guyana rum was
represented this time, instead we found <a class="main-link"
href="https://rumx.com/rums/11670/saint-lucia-distillers-chairmans-reserve-masters-selection-grape-of-the-art-rumx" very own release</a> from Saint Lucia Distillers selected
with our friends from <a class="main-link" href="https://www.grapeoftheart.com">Grape of the Art</a> in the top 10 as well – thanks to everyone in the RumX community!</p>
<div class="row">
RX11670
Chairman‘s Reserve Master's Selection (Grape of the Art & RumX) 2005
Saint Lucia 2005 15yr 61,5%
RX11754
Clarendon Plantation Jamaica 2007 Clarendon MSP (One-Time Limited Edition) MSP
Jamaica 2007 15yr 48,4%
90 €
</div>
<h3 class="mt-5">Most purchased rums in 2022</h3>
<p>We’re closing part one of our RumX Awards with the list of the most purchased rums in 2022. The name implies the underlying criteria already, but to be technically precise here is the
guiding principle for this list: We consider <b>all rums from the database</b> and <b>sort them by number of bottles</b> that were added to our community members’ collections in 2022. In
addition, we
also checked the “open rate”, i.e. the number of bottles that were opened in relation to the total number of bottles added. And while we are aware that not everyone immediately updates
their collection status as soon as a new bottle is opened, these values might give an indication of which rums are primarily bought for drinking and which are rather considered a
collector’s item or even an investment/trade object.</p>
<p>But let’s start off by having a look at the top spots of this list. Interestingly, we found exactly those three rums again that already landed in the highest ranks of our most tasted top
list. With 227 bottles added to our users’ collections, the <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/rums/12796/saint-james-les-ephemeres-n1" Les Ephémères</a> by Saint
James (open rate: 8.4%) wasn’t only the most tasted rum in the past twelve months, but also the one with the highest
number of bottles added. Rank 2 goes to Foursquare’s nineteenth release of their Exceptional Cask Selection series called <a class="main-link"
href="https://rumx.com/rums/11721/foursquare-exceptional-cask-selection-xix-sovereignty">Sovereignty</a> which was added 206 times (open rate: 8.3%) to our users’ collections.
Rank 3 is then taken by the second most tasted rum in 2022, Velier’s <a class="main-link"
href="https://rumx.com/rums/11818/velier-chelo-clairin-vieux-sajous-lustau-oloroso-cask" Sajous</a> aged in ex-Lustau Oloroso Casks which was added 163 times (open rate: 12.3%).</p>
<p>This duplication among the two lists seems to make sense: the more bottles that are bought; the more people get to enjoy the rum. Interestingly, the open rates of these rums are at the lower end
of the scale; the number of tasting notes added is four to five times higher than the number of opened bottles for each of these releases. Knowing that all three releases were quite sought
after and sold out quickly, we normally don’t see too many chances to get our hands on one or more bottles of these rums (at least on the primary market). It makes us even happier to
see that the high numbers of tasting notes could also be achieved thanks to the various <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/blog/whats-a-bottle-split/" splits</a>
among the community, many of them organized in our <a class="main-link" href="https://community.rumx.com">community forum</a> (again, kudos to
our community for sharing the rum passion in this way!). So even though quite a few bottles are now stored somewhere in cupboards, home bars or cellars, these rums still find their ways
into the noses, mouths and maybe sometimes also the hearts of us rum lovers – which is what they were made for, right?</p>
<div class="row">
RX11754
Clarendon Plantation Jamaica 2007 Clarendon MSP (One-Time Limited Edition) MSP
Jamaica 2007 15yr 48,4%
90 €
</div>
<p class="text-block mt-5">Still thirsty for more statistics and exciting insights? <a class="main-link" href="https://rumx.com/blog/annual-report-2022-part-2/" here</a> for the second part of our RumX Awards.</p>
<h2 class="mt-5">Comments</h2>
<p class="text-block">What was your personal rum highlight in 2022? Did you have the opportunity to taste the winners and what were your impressions?</p>
</div>
