Popular brands: Bacardi, Captain Morgan, Malibu
Popular brands: Bacardi, Captain Morgan, Malibu.
Modern rum is believed to have originated more than 400 years ago in the Caribbean. Rum is made from water, yeast, and sugar derived from sugar cane, cane syrup, molasses, or other cane byproducts.
Sugar cane is crushed; juice is boiled and spun to crystallize sugar and separate molasses. Molasses is re-boiled, mixed with water and yeast, fermented, then distilled in a pot still or continuous still. Rum is usually bottled at 80 proof; some reach as high as 151 proof.
Styles
Classifications depend on aging and distillation:
- White or light rum must be aged at least one year in oak barrels. Light, dry taste.
- Gold or amber rums age a minimum of three years. Deeper, mellower taste; color from wood and sometimes caramel.
- Añejo rums age four to six years—deeper and mellower still.
- Dark or full-bodied rums age five to seven years with a deep, pungent aroma. Production often adds residue from a previous distillation to the molasses (similar to sour mash) and ferments 5–20 days before double distillation.
Some experts group white, gold, and añejo as light-bodied, and dark rum as full-bodied. Light-bodied rums are produced primarily in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands—nearly 80% of rum consumed in the United States is made in Puerto Rico. Dark rums are found extensively in Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Martinique, and Trinidad.