Is Rum Gluten-Free?

Plain rum is gluten-free — it's made from sugar cane, not from the gluten grains wheat, barley or rye. In fact, plain rum is safe regardless of whether it's dark or light rum.

However, spiced rums and flavored rums are not always safe on the gluten-free diet. It's possible for them to contain gluten, so you need to know what you're buying.

Best Rum Choices When Eating Gluten-Free

Spiced and flavored rums can be tricky because manufacturers of alcoholic beverages aren't required to disclose their ingredients. Many, in fact, use special recipes and formulas that they're not especially eager to reveal.

If you're looking for the safest gluten-free choices, generally, you'll be fine if you stick with plain rum from:

• Bacardi
• Cruzan
• Mount Gay
• Myers
• Rondiaz

Plain rums from these brands are gluten-free, but flavored rums may not be. Here's what you need to know if you have celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity and you want to drink straight rum or even rum cocktails such as a rum-and-Coke or a piña colada.

Here's the gluten-free status for the most popular brands of rum worldwide.

Gluten Information for Popular Brands of Rum

Bacardi

This may be the best-known rum in the U.S. and worldwide —virtually every bar will have a bottle of Bacardi on the shelf.

According to the company, Bacardi 8 (Ocho), Superior, Gold, Select, Bacardi 151 (a very high-proof rum) and Bacardi's flavored rums are gluten-free.

Beware of Bacardi Silver as that contains malt and is not gluten-free (even though it was discontinued several years ago, you might still see some Bacardi Silver out there).

Captain Morgan

Captain Morgan makes Captain Morgan's Original Spiced Rum and a variety of different flavored rums, ranging from coconut to grapefruit.

Original Spiced Rum has no gluten ingredients, according to the company, but it is not tested for trace gluten. Steer clear of flavored rums from Captain Morgan as they may or may not contain gluten.

Cruzan

This rum is made in the Caribbean on the island of St. Croix. The Cruzan collection includes several different dark and light rums, plus flavored rums.

As with other brands, the plain rum should be safely gluten-free, but the flavored rums may not be safe. Cruzan doesn't make any gluten-free claims.

Malibu Rum

Malibu makes only flavored rum. Its top-selling product is "Caribbean rum flavored with coconut liqueur" and the brand also sells Malibu Black (70 proof rum with coconut liqueur), plus pineapple and mango-flavored rums, each of which contains liqueur.

Malibu states that they do not use any gluten-containing ingredients in Malibu Original, Malibu Black, Malibu Flavours, and Malibu RTDs.

McDowell's No. 1

This brand is based in India and is the number one best-selling brand of rum worldwide. McDowell's No. 1 Celebration rum isn't spiced and doesn't include any gluten ingredients. Therefore, it should be safe.

However, the company doesn't make any gluten-free claims and doesn't say whether it makes its rum in a facility that also processes gluten grains. The company makes multiple other spirits.

Mount Gay Rum

Made in Barbados, Mount Gay rum comes in five flavors: Silver, Eclipse (a gold rum), Black Barrel (a darker, blended rum), Extra Old (aged for eight to 15 years), and Master Select (a rum blended from Mount Gay's oldest, most select stock). All are pure rum, and all are gluten-free.

Myers's Rum

Myers's Rum is made in Jamaica out of pure molasses produced from Jamaican sugar cane. It's actually a blend of up to nine dark rums. As a plain rum, it's considered gluten-free.

Rondiaz

Distributed by conglomerate Prestige Beverage Group, Rondiaz rum originates in the Caribbean and comes in a wide variety of flavors.

The company's plain rums — which include dark rum, gold rum, and 151 proof gold rum — are gluten-free. Prestige Beverage Group does not reveal information on ingredients for its flavored rums.

There obviously are many more brands of rum. Again, generally speaking, plain rum (dark or light) should be safe, especially if it's from a small distillery that makes only rum since that eliminates the chances of gluten cross-contamination.

Gluten-Free Piña Coladas and Other Mixed Drinks

In many cases, mixed drinks made from rum also are gluten-free. A rum-and-coke, for example, is gluten-free, since both plain rum and Coke are safe. And a mojito made with rum, soda water, lime juice, sugar, and mint also is gluten-free (flavored mojitos may not be, though).

However, you should beware of rum drinks with multiple ingredients, such as a Long Island Iced Tea — many will not be safe. Also, pre-made drink mixes, such as those intended for piña coladas, may contain gluten ingredients as flavoring.

As said above, you also should be careful of coconut or pineapple-flavored rums, since they may contain ingredients that aren't gluten-free.

There is no gluten-free-labeled piña colada mix on the market. Fortunately, it's easy to make your own piña coladas from scratch using coconut cream and pineapple juice.

A Word From Verywell

If rum is your drink of choice, stick with plain dark or light varieties or with one of the flavored brands recommended above. Also, be cautious with mixers — many will be gluten-free, but some common mixers are not safe on the gluten-free diet.