Best White Rum for a Mojito

Updated June 2026.

The IBA Mojito is 45 ml white Cuban ron, 20 ml fresh lime, 6 mint sprigs, 2 teaspoons cane sugar, and soda water. Forty-five milliliters of 40% rum is one NIAAA standard drink. Soda and lime add none. “Best rum” is a clean white rum that still tastes like cane after mint. This is not a 2023 top-10 tasting. Spiced rums (Captain Original 35%; Kraken Black 47%) are a different class.

US white rum is often 40%; some export bottles are 37.5%. Related: white vs dark rum, Bacardi, IBA drink math.

What the glass actually needs

Job Typical bottles Why
White / silver rum 40% Bacardi Superior, Havana Club 3 (where legal), Cruzan Aged White IBA 45 ml ≈ 1 drink
Skip for this drink Captain Original Spiced 35%; Kraken Black 47% Flavored/spiced class
Dark or aged sipping rum Legal, different drink Oak and color fight mint

Four IBA Mojitos are about four drinks if the rum is 40%. A 2-ounce bar pour is 1.33 drinks. NIAAA binge pattern is a health line, not a target. No 2026 MSRP.

Sources

  • IBA Mojito (2026 page): 45 ml white Cuban ron, 20 ml lime, mint, sugar, soda.
  • TTB rum / flavored rum. Captain Original Spiced US 35%; Kraken Black 47% (this batch).
  • NIAAA December 2025. No invented ranking.

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