🏆 The RumX Community Awards 2025 are LIVE!

Blog
1

banner_single_casks
banner_single_casks1337×240 80.6 KB

Dear Community,

Hold on to your glasses—the time has come! :tumbler_glass:

After 12 months of tasting, reviewing, and debating, we are proud to launch the RumX Community Awards 2025. Based on 60,670 reviews from 48,000 users, these are the most honest awards in the industry. 0% jury, 100% data.

This year, we’ve expanded to 6 categories to cover the full spectrum of rum. Here is the schedule for the week:

  • Today: Best Single Casks 2025 :unicorn:

  • Tomorrow: Best Independent Bottlers :pirate_flag:

  • Thursday: Best Blended Rums :alembic:

  • Friday: Best Classic Rums :classical_building:

  • Saturday: Best Spirit Drinks :candy:

  • Sunday: Most Popular Rums :rocket:

:collision: LIVE NOW: BEST SINGLE CASK 2025

We are kicking things off with the premier class. Unsweetened, cask strength, uncompromising. The bar was set high (min. 40 reviews), and the race for the podium was incredibly tight.

Who took the crown with a massive 9.0/10 rating? (Spoiler: The winner might be a very familiar face to our community
 :wink:)

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Discover the winners and the full Top 10 here:

https://www.rum-x.com/awards/2025/

:speech_balloon: Let’s discuss! Did you have the winners in your glass? Can you confirm the hype? Check the list and let us know your thoughts below! :backhand_index_pointing_down:

Cheers,
Oliver & the RumX team

17 Likes
2

Leute, wir sind super gespannt auf euer Feedback! :tumbler_glass:

In den letzten Wochen ist hinter den Kulissen extrem viel Herzblut (und die ein oder andere Nachtschicht :sweat_smile:) in die Datenauswertung und die Neugestaltung der Awards geflossen. Es war ein wilder Ritt durch eure 60.000 Reviews, aber wir hoffen sehr, dass euch das Ergebnis und das neue Format gefallen!

Auf eine extrem spannende Woche voller Highlights und Überraschungen! :rocket:

22 Likes
3

Hey,

That’s a really solid top 3 / top 5.

I’m just wondering whether the 40-review threshold isn’t a bit strict. If my filters are correct, that leaves roughly 30 rums in total, not only single casks. I understand the importance of having bottles with a substantial number of reviews, but I’m not sure 40 isn’t a bit high


Can’t wait to discover the other categories. Cheers to the RumX team and community!

Q.

10 Likes
4

Meine Highlights aus diesem Jahr:

Single Casks:

Die beiden RumX AbfĂŒllungen (TDL 2001 und LP 2005)

RX24528 - Savanna The Very Rare Casks 3rd Release Traditionnel HES 2007

PLV:

RX23888 - T.D.L Planteray One Time Limited Edition Trinidad TDL 2003

RX22143 - Foursquare ECS XXVII Equide

m 2010

12 Likes
5

My first thought after seeing all the 50cl bottles in the top 10 was if the 40-review requirement was biasing towards smaller bottle sizes as presumably more people would have had the chance to try them. Though, I’m sure a lot of the reviews come from samples, so not sure if that’s a factor.

Solid top 10 though.

5 Likes
6

vielen Dank fĂŒr die ganze MĂŒhe, die ihr euch wieder gemacht habt! :star_struck:

Was mir nicht so ganz klar ist: die Bottleshop VRW 2005 AbfĂŒllung ist doch dasselbe Fass wie die RX Precious Liquors AbfĂŒllung, oder lĂ€uft die außer Konkurrenz?

Mein Highlight war klar der Reimonenq 2007 (RX24538, bin mir aber nicht sicher, ob der nicht schon 2024 abgefĂŒllt wurde), daneben Ă€hnlich wie @Basti der Planteray TDL 2003, der hat einfach ein Mega Preis/LeistungsverhĂ€ltnis. Der Gourmet Pool LSO 2005 hat zuletzt auch voll ĂŒberzeugt!

9 Likes
7

Strong & quite Logic.

Swell TDL was so complex :heart_eyes:

Precious Liquors LP just a delight,

And Vagabond Spirits released maybe the oldest Savanna ever with TDL finish, so cool.

Great top 3 ! And top 10 too.

6 Likes
8

Starke Liste! Aber eine Frage tut sich auf: Wie kommt es zu den Inkonsistenzen bei den angezeigten Bewertungen? Gerade beim Zweitplatzierten sehr deutlich: Auf der Übersicht 8,9 Punkte bei 118 Bewertungen, im Profil dann nur noch 8.8 Punkte bei 45 Bewertungen.

2 Likes
9

I think it takes into account both RX20000 and RX23695 which are the same cask divided in 2


4 Likes
10

Premiùre impression, on a là un top 10 trùs “classique” finalement, du HD & Jam cie (4), T.D.L (3), Savanna (2) et 1 seul Guyana.

Le Swell TDL 2001 est excellent (ouvert en avril chez moi), et je suis Ă©tonnĂ© de le voir avec autant de notes alors que l’on a quasiment pas vu de bouteilles ouvertes sur les rĂ©seaux sociaux


Le travail de Nicolas Petit n’est plus Ă  prouver, il avait dĂ©jĂ  marquĂ© les esprits avec son TDL 2008.

Le Long Pond je suis passé à cÎté, dommage.

MĂȘme s’il faut atteindre les 40 avis minimum pour ĂȘtre dans top, je tiens Ă  souligner les SC suivants :
‱ Spirit Gallery Fiji 2001 - 244 ex (21 avis)
‱ The Whisky Jury Hampden 1997 “Licorne” - 195 ex (11 avis)
‱ The Colours of Rum Clarendon 1995 n°16 - 148 ex (30 avis)

Et dans les 2 meilleurs RQP de l’annĂ©e, Planteray TDL 2003 et Foursquare Equidem.

6 Likes
11

but shouldn’t that be labeled somewhere? Not everybody knows, those are the same cask. you only see one bottle, 8.9 points from 118 ratings. But if you click on the bottle it shows only 45 ratings with 8.8 points. Thats bad communication, if not misleading information.

2 Likes
12

Meine persönlichen Highlights dieses Jahr sind TWJ Hampden Unicorn / RX25334, Hampden HGML 2020 Awakening Series / RX25227, Swell TDL 2001 RumX / RX22222 und der Precious Liquors Long Pond VRW RumX / RX20000.

Der Nobilis Diamond No. 51 vom 14. GRF / RX24769 hat mir auch ĂŒberraschend gut gefallen, genauso der Foursquare ECS Magisterium / RX19590 und der Savanna The Very Rare Casks 3rd Release / RX24528.

5 Likes
13

Also ich kann mit der Liste gut leben, mein Highlight aber war der Gourmetpool Long Pond LSO 2005. Leider bin ich was hinterher mit dem Versand der Samples, denke sonst wĂ€re er definitiv ein Top3 Release geworden. Und 40 reviews finde ich auch schwierig, gerade zum Ende des Jahres hin wird es dann schwierig fĂŒr releases die Zahl zu erreichen. Aber klar, irgendeine Grenze muss man ja setzen.

5 Likes
14

Thanks for the sharp eyes, @Kenny and @mto75!

@Quent187 is absolutely correct. The #2 spot is a single cask split between The Bottle Shop (RX23695) and RumX (RX20000).

To answer the confusion regarding the data: Since both bottles contain the exact same liquid, we threw all reviews from both editions into the same “pot” and calculated a combined median. In my opinion, this is the most accurate approach to reflect the true performance of the liquid without splitting the votes, which ensures the best possible compatibility with our ranking logic.

Regarding the visual representation: Stefan from The Bottle Shop selected the first half of the cask first, so we honored him by placing his edition on the podium. For technical reasons, we cannot display two different bottles in the same rank slot.

We did include a note about this merger in the header of the detailed winner description, but I appreciate the feedback that this might be easy to overlook! We will make sure to highlight this connection more clearly in the text to avoid future confusion.

Cheers! :tumbler_glass:

13 Likes
15

hey Oliver,

thanks for clarifying! The philosophical question remains: is it stull the same liquid if one is bottles 2024 with 18 years and 64,7% and the other in 2025 with 19 years and 64,6%. I still think its very confusing, especially for new members who try to understand the rating and have no clue how the single cask game is working.

5 Likes
16

FĂŒr mich die Top 3 AbfĂŒllungen dieses Jahr aus dem GedĂ€chtnis:

  • RumX Long Pond 2005
  • Savanna Rare Cask 3rd Edition
  • Ricci Titan
11 Likes
17

Der Silva SVN ist mE noch nicht vergriffen. Der AbfĂŒller Vagabond hat ihn jedenfalls noch als „en stock“ auf der Website: SILVA COLLECTION - Rhum - SVN 2003/ 2025 - 61.3 % - 50cl - Vagabond Spirits

6 Likes
18

Vagabond ist auch schon in der Onboarding-Pipeline fĂŒr RumX. So könnt ihr in Zukunft deren AbfĂŒllungen auch direkt ĂŒber RumX beziehen - inkl. RumX Loyalty Points. :high_voltage:

14 Likes
19

I understand that it gets harder as the community and the number of tastings keeps growing. So I fully support the idea of different categories.

Maybe for some categories the minimum number of tastings should be lower indeed. Best single cask is still a very broad category, rangeing from mid shelf to top shelf to real high end stuff (sometimes to the extremes when it comes to price points, like the last Velier Caroni at €1500 for 50cl for example).

The RRL from The Sins by Distilia and Rob is nowhere to be found so far, and for me definitely one of my highlights this year (maybe even the best?).

TWJ HD 1997 (unicorn), RX20000, RumX x Swell TDL, Savanna very rare casks
 all also highlights.

I did not taste the Vagabond (regretting it, but I’m never in a hurry when it comes to rum), but I’m certain that that will be justified.

As always, it gets harder to keep track of when everything is bottled. Other personal highlights are probably from earlier years.

I do notice that for me, it’s not always about rating rums, but about the moment. Rating rums is technical and has to do with searching for “faults” in the rum. How is the balance between te different aspects? Is the alcohol well integrated? Is there a part of it that’s overpowering the rest? Etc.

Sometimes (hopefully most times) it’s just about enjoying and sharing a good glass in good company and with a good conversation. Or sharing the mutual passion for the best spirit in the world (in my own humble opinion).

In that regard: the Jamaica trip in February, the RumX community weekend and our wedding weekend in October. Even the guys weekend a couple of weeks ago where I brought six bottles and introduced people to the diversity of rum. Those were my rum highlights this year. Without a doubt.

in the end only one question is relevant: do you like what you are drinking?

Maybe I should just shut up and rate more rums :wink:

17 Likes
20

Thanks so much for your lovely feedback!:folded_hands:

4 Likes