Should you invest in rum?

Old rum could be worth thousands of pounds. Is it worth auctioning off?

rum being poured into a glass
(Image credit: © Getty Images)

The market for old rum in Britain has been having a... well, a rum old time. Sales of all types of rum passed £1bn last summer for the previous 12 months – a 51% increase on 2019, according to market watchers CGA by NielsenIQ. Younger drinkers in particular have acquired a taste for the spirit and that in itself bodes well for rum prices. But drinkers are also becoming discerning. The premium segment of the market grew by 85% in the second quarter of 2022.

In other words, rum has come of age. However, while rum of all types now counts for a bigger slice of the market than whisky in terms of the value of sales in the UK, it still has a fair way to go before it rivals its Scottish cousin in the market for rare, collectable bottles.

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

You can follow Chris on Instagram.