So I was in Iceland recently, and looking it up, I could find very little info on Icelandic rum. After all, Iceland isn’t exactly a country known for processing sugarcane. I checked the duty free website, and I saw that they had one Icelandic rum: Reykjavík spiced rum. So imagine my surprise when I come to the airport on my way home, and they actually have 3 Icelandic rums!

My last review was on Reykjavík rum. Aside from Hvítserkur, there was one more rum at the airport that surprised me: Stormur veðrað romm. From my reseatch, Stormur is a very new Icelandic rum. It only started selling in 2024, with their expressions of veðrað romm (weather rum) and hátíðarromm (festival rum), and there may be more, it’s very hard to research this when I don’t speak Icelandic or live in the country, but I very intentionally did not buy this rum, because it came out to about $60 for a 70cL bottle, and, much like Reykjavík rum, it’s most probably not even distilled in Iceland, but rather shipped in and blended and bottled there. Also, it was discontinued everywhere except for duty free due to a mass recall of one of their batches as a result of contamination by glass shards. Not to say that I fear endangered by the batch that made it to the airport, but, I am not confident at all in this rum’s continued existence since it’s so new and expensive and already scandal-ridden.

So with that in mind, I went with the more reasonably priced and better established Hvítserkur rum. I wish they had aged at the airport, but they only had spiced and white, so I went with white. I emailed the owner (Hakon Freyr Hovdenak), and he confirmed that the 3 year old (aged in sherry cask) is only available directly from the distillery, and that there’s a 7 year old on the way.

Note: Mash from Jamaican sugarcane molasses, fermented somewhere in the Caribbean (neither the owner nor website gave specifics), then imported to Iceland. Vacuum-distilled at 35-37 degrees in a continuous vacuum column still hand-made by the owner of the distillery. This allows it to be distilled at a lower boiling point and keeps many esters from being cooked away by a traditional distillation. It’s super cool, check out their video https://youtu.be/CnTf5YURYtM. I could not find a no-additives statement anywhere. With so much written about how pure and clean this rum is, I was surprised that the owner did not respond to my query about whether he can confirm that there is no sugar or other additives added. He responded to my other questions, but not that one.

Review

Smell

Funky. Banana, pineapple, and basically smells very typically Jamaican. It smells almost identical to Myers’s original and Planteray 3 stars. Myers’s just has a slight hint of industrial rubber, which normally doesn’t bother me too much, but like 3 stars, Hvítserkur just has none of that taste.

Taste

Pretty much tastes the same as Planteray 3 stars, but with a bit more light, fruity funk. Xaymaca was noticably bolder in flavor, but it’s an aged rum. It has a similar crispness and smoothness to Planteray 3 stars. Likewise, it makes a nicer daiquiri than either Xaymaca or 3 stars. It’s smoothness and lightness are just perfect, and the fruity funk is bold and shines through the daiquiri. It’s not as fruity and funky as Xaymaca, but in a daiquiri, I prefer something a bit less aged.

Verdict 8/10

(Edited from 8.5/10 on 1/4/26)

I am sad that the airport didn’t have any of the aged rum. The white unaged rum makes such a nice daiquiri. The vacuum distilation is supposed to keep more of the esters and reduce the burn over traditional distillation, and I don’t know if it makes a huge difference, but it’s definitely got a slight edge over Planteray 3 stars. Maybe I won’t go so far as to say it’s tied with Xaymaca, but it’s definitely my favorite white rum so far. 8.5/10

I also just wanted to mention how much I appreciate Hovdenak distillery. So many rums try to hide their process and what they add. Hovdenak does tours of their distillery, they have videos showing it off, and the owner will even respond to your emails… mostly. I really would have liked a statement on any additives or sugar present. The distillery proudly claims to use 100% pure crisp glacial water and 100% green geothermal power… which isn’t so much a beauty of this distillery as it is a beauty of Iceland as a country. I highly recommend you visit the country, and, if you’re there, you might as well pick up this rum from a town right next to Reykjavik.

January 4, 2026 Update:

A lot of the rums that have enjoyed high scores saw pretty steep reductions with my new scoring system, but not Hvítserkur. Every time I try it again, it holds up surprisingly well, against even well respected rums like Clairin Sajous. I am only reducing its score to 8/10. Fantastic rum.