Banks Rum
The modern Cuban-style rum brand founded in 2006 by Jim Wallman—Banks 5 Island Blend and Banks 7 Golden Age are the contemporary white-and-aged Caribbean-blend rum references for serious cocktail programs. Multi-island blending (Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Java) produces a layered profile that handles Daiquiri and Mai Tai needs without the brand-specific eccentricities of single-origin rums.
Banks is the modern Cuban-style rum brand that has, since founding in 2006, given home bartenders and serious cocktail programs a credible blended-rum option in the white-and-aged categories. Founded by Jim Wallman (a former Bacardi executive who left to start an independent rum-blending operation), Banks operates as a non-distilling blending and bottling house—sourcing aged and unaged rums from multiple Caribbean and Indonesian sources and blending them in Trinidad to produce the Banks 5 Island Blend (white rum) and Banks 7 Golden Age (aged blend).
The five-island blend approach is the brand’s defining feature. Banks 5 combines rums from Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, and Java (Indonesia)—five distinct rum-producing regions, each contributing different character. Trinidad provides the column-still base (clean, neutral); Jamaica adds pot-still ester character (funky, aromatic); Barbados contributes balanced aging character; Guyana brings Demerara depth; Java adds the Indonesian molasses-and-cane character that distinguishes the blend from purely-Caribbean references. The blend is filtered to clear (the white rum category requires the spirit to be visually clear before bottling), then bottled at 43% ABV—higher than budget white rum and meaningfully cocktail-grade.
The five-island approach addresses a specific gap in the modern cocktail market. Single-origin rums (Smith & Cross from Jamaica, El Dorado from Guyana, Mount Gay from Barbados) carry distinctive character that can dominate cocktails specifying white rum generically. Banks 5 stays neutral-enough to be a white rum in the sense modern cocktail recipes assume, while still providing more complexity and character than the commercial mass-market white rums (Bacardi Superior, Cruzan Light) that dominated the previous generation of cocktail use.
For exotic-cocktail use, Banks 5 is the white rum that handles a Daiquiri, a Mojito, a Mary Pickford, or any cocktail asking for white rum or light rum or Cuban-style rum without specific brand call-outs. The Mai Tai’s white-rum component (modern revival Mai Tai variants often specify a white rum alongside the aged rum) works well with Banks 5. For cocktails that benefit from more aggressive funk character, Banks 5 might be substituted with a Jamaican-style white rum (Wray & Nephew, or unaged Worthy Park) but the substitution changes the cocktail’s character meaningfully.
Banks 7 Golden Age is the aged equivalent—same multi-island blending approach, but using rums aged in oak for an average of seven years. The character is fuller, more vanilla-and-spice-forward, and works in cocktails that specify aged rum without further brand specification. For modern revival Mai Tai recipes, Banks 7 is one of the recommended aged-rum options (alongside Appleton Estate, Mount Gay XO, and other Caribbean aged blends).
The price point is mid-range: $25–$30 for Banks 5; $30–$35 for Banks 7. Comparable to other premium blended rums at similar age statements.
Where to buy: Well-stocked liquor stores, Total Wine, online specialty retailers. Amazon availability varies.