Drink of the Week: Probitas White Blended Rum

Once upon a time not all that long ago, “white rum” was almost synonymous with neutrality, a spirit with only a wee wisp of flavor and character. But in this rum-rich era, even the light-colored end of the spirit’s spectrum is increasingly lively, and the arrival of Probitas White Blended Rum in American cocktail shakers earlier this year made the rum game much more interesting.

Its name meaning “honesty” in Latin (the rum’s sold in Europe as Veritas—“truth”), Probitas fills a distinct role in the rum category. Distilled, matured, blended and bottled entirely in the Caribbean, the spirit is a mix of three rums: an unaged column-still rum and an aged pot-still rum, both from Foursquare Rum Distillery in Barbados, and an unaged, lower-ester pot-still rum from Hampden Estate in Jamaica, selected by master distiller Vivian Wisdom. Blended by Foursquare master distiller Richard Seale, Probitas has a light straw color and a vivid fragrance of vanilla, grass and tropical fruit. And in the glass? Perfect for your next round of Daiquiris, this 94-proof rum packs a nuanced punch of citrus peel, molasses and banana. $25, bittersandbottles.com