Lil Wayne is not the owner of Bumbu, per se, but he is an investor and loyal brand ambassador. “It seems like Lil Wayne’s rum is made for people who have an appreciation for the craft of making rum, rather than the desire to drink alcohol to get drunk,” Garcia Lawler says. We were pretty floored by the XO expression, which tasted remarkably similar to whiskey. It’s aged up to 18 years in bourbon barrels, with notes of toffee, toasted oak, and orange zest, and designed for sipping on its own. Garcia Lawler noted that if mixed into a drink, she might even mistake it for a Jack and Coke.
The only thing we would change is the aggressively masculine black bottle, marked with a pirate-like “X.” “You know how in old-timey movies, women poison their husbands with arsenic? This is the bottle they use,” Garcia Lawler says. “It looks like it was made for someone who only buys car leather body wash.”
We also enjoyed the Bumbu Original variety, which was on the bitter side, and according to Allen, an ideal beverage for sipping alongside a book. Garcia Lawler favored the Cremé, which she described as an eggnog-like drink she would reach for while watching The Holiday or Pride & Prejudice on a cold winter’s day. At this point, you might be sensing a theme that the rums we’re tasting are more than just beach drinks.