Wajos Christmas Spiced Rum. Spiced rum from Barbados and Jamaica with cinnamon, clove, plum, and aronia, 37.8 percent – the spiced rum for December evenings and for anyone giving rum as a gift.
Wajos Christmas Spiced Rum is a spirit based on rum from Barbados and Jamaica, spiced with cinnamon and clove, and given a fruity note by plum and aronia. With 37.8 percent alcohol, 500 ml, from Dohr on the Moselle. Not a pure, unspiced rum, not a liqueur, and not a mulled wine substitute, but a spiced rum – bold, smooth, and aromatic. For ages 18 and up.
Christmas Spiced Rum by Wajos is the bottle that gets reordered every winter—almost all of it between November and Christmas. The perfect evening with it looks like this: the kids are asleep, the tree is up, and the leftovers from baking cookies are on the table. A small glass, neat, and at first, it smells of cinnamon and clove, just like the kitchen in the afternoon. Then comes the plum, dark and sweet, followed by the aronia with its tart bite. It is the rum that belongs to December like gingerbread—and that goes back into the cupboard in January.
Cinnamon and clove on the nose, plum and aronia on the tongue, smooth finish
The first impression is the nose: cinnamon, distinct, and clove behind it. You know the scent from Christmas spices, only fresher than spice powder from a tin. On the tongue, the rum appears first—warm, with the light molasses sweetness and depth that rum from Barbados and Jamaica brings. Then the fruit: plum, dark and round, and aronia, whose tart nature prevents the whole thing from leaning too far toward a liqueur. The finish is smooth, warming, and long; at 37.8 percent, it is bold yet gentle.
To be honest: the label says "spirit" instead of "rum"—as soon as rum is spiced, it legally loses that designation. For those expecting an unspiced, dry rum for drinking neat, this bottle is not suitable. Anyone who prefers gin with Christmas spices will find an alternative from the same producer in our Christmas Gin.
Neat, in punch, in coffee – and what belongs in baked apple sauce
It shows its best side neat at room temperature, in a small glass—this way, the cinnamon and plum stay at the forefront. If you prefer it colder, add an ice cube; this makes it smoother and the spices recede slightly.
It is right at home in a hot drink: a splash in hot apple juice with a slice of orange makes a punch that is faster to prepare than mulled wine. Two centiliters in coffee after a meal, topped with a little cream, replaces dessert. In warm milk with honey, it is the version for evenings when it is truly cold outside.
In the kitchen, it is the ingredient for everything involving winter fruits: a tablespoon in the sauce for baked apples, in red cabbage just before serving, or over vanilla ice cream with sautéed plums. It is out of place in a traditional "Rumtopf" due to the spices—that requires a clear, high-proof rum.
As a long drink, it works with ginger ale or ginger beer over ice, with a slice of orange—less Christmassy, but the best option when guests come over who prefer their rum mixed. It is not suitable for classic rum cocktails like a Mojito or Daiquiri: cinnamon and clove do not pair well with lime and mint.
Our tip: A small glass of the Spiced Rum paired with two Jamaican Rum Pralines—our finale for a Christmas dinner when no one wants cake anymore.
From a liqueur manufactory on the Moselle that started with spirits
Spirits are the origin of Wajos; everything else came later. Walter Josef Oster, whose initials form the name, came from a winemaking family in Ediger-Eller that has been growing wine for 15 generations. In the 1980s, he founded a liqueur manufactory alongside the vineyard—long before there were cremas, spiced oils, or spice blends. Anyone buying a Wajos rum today is buying from the oldest part of the range.
From the 2000s onwards, under son Peter Oster and business partner Ulf Schwichtenberg, the manufactory became the brand Wajos, based in Dohr near Cochem, with over 80 employees and its own stores throughout Germany—the first opened in Trier in 2008. The range includes around 900 items, most of them produced in Dohr and tested in their own laboratory.
The rum itself comes from the Caribbean, from Barbados and Jamaica, while the spicing with cinnamon, clove, plum, and aronia is the Wajos signature. For a spiced rum, this is the standard division of labor, and it fits a business whose craft since the 1980s has been the blending, spicing, and balancing of spirits. The family business calls its approach "working in a controlled small-scale way"—the Christmas Spiced Rum is a seasonal winter item that only sits on the shelf during the cold months.
The bottle for Advent, for under the tree, and for your supply until January
For us, this bottle is the Christmas gift for people who like rum and already have some. Spiced, seasonal, and with a label that stands out under the tree. The second spiced variety from the same producer is Santa's Spiced Rum; if you want cream in your glass, you will find it in the Christmas Cream Liqueur. All spirits and pralines can be found on our Wajos page.
As a supply, one 500 ml bottle is enough for an Advent full of small glasses and a few punch evenings. Once opened, it will last for many months if stored in a dry place away from light, meaning the bottle will still taste great next winter. It is not suitable for anyone under 18—or for anyone who finds cinnamon too much, as it is front and center here.
Rum from the Caribbean, cinnamon, clove, plum, and aronia from the Moselle—the spiced rum that heralds the start of December for us.
