There's a phrase almost everyone has heard. Be on your best behaviour. Usually a warning to fit in, do what's expected, don't make a scene.
Best Behaviour Rum takes that phrase and turns it around. It's the polite nod while having every intention of remaining unapologetically yourself. That tension between manners and character became the foundation of the rum, the brand, and the Garage they call home in Mount Maunganui.
Starting From Scratch
Most rum carries a story of somewhere else. Sugarcane fields, sailing routes, centuries of Caribbean heritage. Best Behaviour respects all of that and then asks a different question: what does contemporary rum look like when it starts here, in New Zealand?
The answer so far is three expressions. Each one different, each small-batch and barrel-aged, each built for easy drinking whoever happens to pull up a chair. At the 2026 New Zealand Spirit Awards and the World Rum Awards, the industry took notice.
Native Botanical Rum: Silver, 2026 NZ Spirit Awards
This is where the range announces itself. Rather than reaching for familiar tropical notes, the Native Botanical Rum looks to the New Zealand bush. Kawakawa fruit, Harakeke flaxseed, Karamū berry, blended with a selection of spices into something genuinely unfamiliar. Bright and bold with an earthy wildness that's hard to place and harder to put down. Best served cold, mixed, and without expectations.
Spiced Rum: Gold, 2026 NZ Spirit Awards
The Spiced Rum is the most approachable of the three and arguably the most deceptive. Warm and easy on the surface, vanilla and cinnamon and a hint of toffee, but the ex-bourbon barrel ageing adds structure and a quiet smokiness that keeps it from being simple. Gold at the NZ Spirit Awards. Works as well in a cocktail as it does straight from the glass.
Manuka Smoked Rum: Gold, World Rum Awards and Silver, 2026 NZ Spirit Awards
The Manuka Smoked Rum is the most distinctly New Zealand thing in the range. Mānuka honey and mānuka wood smoke infused into a barrel-aged base. It unfolds slowly: honey first, then vanilla and warm spice, then a long smoky finish that lingers well past the last sip. The most awarded of the three, and the one worth making time for.
Quality Without the Attitude
Best Behaviour isn't trying to make premium feel out of reach. The Garage in Mount Maunganui is small, the batches are small, and the ambition is straightforward. Make genuinely good rum and let the culture grow around it.
On the evidence of 2026, it's working.