Rum
Rum is a distilled spirit traditionally made from sugarcane juice or molasses and typically aged in oak barrels, although experimentation with other barrels also takes place. Rum is most widely associated with the islands of the Caribbean and Latin American countries, but it is made in many countries around the world, including Scotland, Sweden, and the U.S. In Spanish-speaking countries rum is called ron, though no one knows for sure where the word “rum” itself was born. White or silver rum is either unaged or is lightly aged, then filtered to strip out the color; it is generally intended for use in cocktails. Gold or amber rum is aged in oak barrels, though there are no agreed upon standards on how long this term, nor any real distinction between the terms. Dark rum is usually made from caramelized molasses, aged for a longer period of time, and usually in barrels that have been more deeply charred. Overproof rum can hit up to 160 proof and is intended for use in cocktails, including the Volcano, where the overproof rum is floated on top and ignited. Spiced and flavored rums are also quite popular.
Top Rum Posts:
Havana Club Tributo 2017
Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
Bacardi Anejo Cuatro 4 Years Old, Reserva Ocho 8 Years Old, and Gran Reserva Diez 10 Years Old Rum
Raj Bhakta‘s eponymous spirits line started out as an Armagnac purveyor, but it’s since expanded to whiskey and, now, rum — all of which are designed to showcase these spirits at the peak of their maturity. The product is a blend of two single vintages of Jamaican rum, a 25 year old column still rum…
Read More
Holmes Cay is well known for its aged rums, but lately it has made moves to branch out into unaged expressions. These two new releases are both unaged white rums from Distillerie de Savanna on Reunion Island (in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Madagascar). Neither has previously been available in the U.S. Both…
Read More
2023 was supposed to be a big year for rum, or so said several reputable booze trend analysts. Well, we’re two thirds of the way to 2024, and I still don’t feel like the category has had its moment yet. And I’m honestly not sure why. Rum is as venerable as whiskey or tequila, and…
Read More
While India has a long history of rum-making, Camikara is India’s first cane juice rum made with the sugarcane grown in the country. (Much Indian rum is made from molasses or jaggery, which is a hybrid of cane sugar and other sweeteners.) The name Camikara means “liquid gold” and derives from Sanskrit. After distillation, the…
Read More
Plantation Rum has just dropped six new expressions in its Plantation Rum Vintage Collection, all rare, small batch collections of just a few dozen barrels each, all sourced from single distilleries and none younger than nine years of age. Dubbed the “Under the Sea” collection, we were fortunate to try all six for review. Plantation…
Read More
Started in 2017 by Turner Wathen and Jordan Morris, independent bottler Rolling Fork is named for a famous, but now shuttered, Kentucky bourbon distillery. But Rolling Fork isn’t making whiskey and doesn’t plan to. Instead, the label sources additive-free rums from around the world and finishes them in whiskey casks. They appear to be doing…
Read More
Now in its second year, the Virginia Spirits Expo is expanding to include four different events across the state. I attended the first of these in Charlottesville over the summer where more than two dozen Virginia distillers were on hand to share their labors of love. It was unseasonably warm at Ix Art Park that…
Read More
Martinique’s Rhum J.M is out with a doozy of a new rum, “an homage to the distillery’s micro-climatic tropical milieu and breezy volcanic sugarcane fields” called Terroir Volcanique. The product is a blend of rums of at least 3 years aged in new American oak barrels with “two unique custom heavy toasts charred in the…
Read More
While the 3 Star expression might be the most readily available rum from Puerto Rico’s Ron del Barrilito, the brand actually offers impressively aged 4 and 5 Star offerings, as well as this bottle, the entry level 2 Star. Per Ron del Barrilito, this introductory expression has been aged “at least 3 to 5 years”…
Read More
Ten years after its launch, the Papa’s Pilar rum brand continues to explode with the addition of a fourth permanent expression to the lineup. It’s probably the oddest rum in the lineup, finishing the brand’s Dark Rum (a solera blend of rums from Barbados, Dominican Republic, Panama, Venezuela, and Florida) with once-used straight rye whiskey barrels…
Read More