Base Spirits 101: Rum
Next up on our base spirit selection is rum. Whether you are looking for something simple and sweet or something with the complexities of whisky that isn’t whisky, rum might just be the answer. As I sit on my back deck with a welcome, gentle breeze and a glass of rum I get swept away. All foods and drinks offer a sense of place if you let it, and for me I’m imagining a tropical beach, a hammock and a few palm trees swaying in the wind. If that sounds good to you, come along for a journey with me and spend a little time getting to know rum better.
Styles of rum
Rum is a high proof spirit derived from sugarcane. While there are a number of styles of rum produced, their qualities vary drastically. Most of us got our introduction to this spirit with white rum. This is a relatively tame variety in the family and is a good introduction.
As with many spirits you have a range of complexities and nuanced flavours that are derived from production methods, added spices and even locations can put their own spin on each variety. While rum is made around the world the two major categories of rum are Cuban rum and Jamaican rum.
Further dividing this spirit there are white rums, gold rums, spiced rums, aged rums and dark rums. White rums typically see little age, and what age they do receive is from time spent in stainless steel as opposed to wooden casks. While colour can be an indication of age, or at least time spent in cask, it is not always an accurate indicator. Colour can be adulterated with the addition of caramel or other colouring agents to achieve the esthetic without having to take the time to naturally have spirit to wood contact. Spiced rums, as the name suggests, utilize a variety of herbs and spices to reach a desired flavour profile. Aged rums are arguably the most traditional products in the rum market and are the most sought after. These typically spend anywhere from five to fifty years aging in casks and building their complexities the old fashioned way. Casks used can range from whiskey and bourbon to sherry or port. Some rums can also be aged in different styles of barrels at different stages of the maturation process.
The Geography, or Locations of Rum.
With all the talk in the wine world of “terroir” it seems to me as if everything should have a sense of time and place. When you think of rum your mind most likely drifts off to some Carribbean island or other tropical destination. Who wouldn’t like to lounge in a hammock strung between palm trees with a gentle breeze blowing against their skin? While wine speaks to a specific location, rum is more of a general feeling. Rum is made all over the world, and yes there are certain stylistic differences, however terroir as it is, may not be quite the right word to use in the wide world of rum.
While rum may have its origins in the island nations to the south, in today’s global economy it can, and is, made in somewhere around eighty countries around the globe. Regardless of whether the rum came from the islands of Cuba, Jamaica and Barbados or produced in a land much, much colder (here’s looking at you Russia) it will always be refreshing and sweet.
The one place where location is of great importance is on the island nation of Martinique. The rum made from that island is largely regulated through the AOC, or Appellation d’Origine Controlee. The AOC may sound familiar, I have mentioned it on several posts and is most often used in designations of French wines and other agricultural products. Martinique may be a long way from France but ever since 1946 it has been considered a French administered territory. When it comes to the AOC there is no fooling around. They mandate everything from where the sugarcane can be grown to production and distillation practices and even the alcohol percentage. Have you ever been looking for rum and seen rhum printed on the bottle? It is most likely a French made, or heavily French influenced areas. If you see Rhum Agricole, it has come from Martinique.
Distillation and Production Methods of Rum
Distillers the world over have utilized the same process of heating fermented liquids and collecting their concentrated vapours to produce high proof spirits. Within this generic method there are several styles of stills used to condense these liquids. There are pot stills, column stills and hybrids.
Pot stills are the oldest style still that are predominantly used for single batch distillation. These stills can be heated directly from wood, peat or other heat source In this setup a mash or wash is placed in the bottom of the still, heated and the vapours are collected, cooled and condensed back into liquid form through a water or ice chilled tubing.
The column still, or Coffey still is a still style patented in the 1800’s. This style of still allows for a higher concentration of alcohol and is effectively a compound pot still. The column or columns are heated with steam from the bottom and have several perforated plates that allow for greater efficiency in the distillation process. Each time the vapours reach a plate in the still they condense and push up what is wanted while leaving behind more of what is not. Once at the top the gasses are condensed and collected in a similar fashion to the pot still.
Hybrids, as the name suggests, combines the two stills. Typically the mash is first condensed in a pot still and then works its way through a column still for the best of both worlds.
Most large distilleries utilize the efficiency of the column still however the vast majority of small batch or craft distillers prefer the pot still. The major difference is the complexity of the spirit that is being produced. Where vodka can have nearly all the flavour and colour stripped from it a column still is desirable, a complex spirit such as whisky or rum may rely on the pot stills in order to keep more of the subtleties in their finished products.
Aging process of Rum:
Historically the colour of most spirits was used to judge the age at a glance, however nowadays with additions such as caramel and other colouring agents this traditional and simple method is no longer valid. At one point in time the colour of a spirit went hand in hand with how much time the spirit aged in wooden casks. The longer a liquor aged, the deeper the colour.
Rum, like all spirits, has a range of ages available on the shelf. White or silver rum typically is not aged very long, three years at most based on the research I have done. When it comes to this type of rum it is often aged in stainless steel as opposed to the more traditional oak barrels because of the flavour profile desired.
Similar to whisky, bourbon and other more complex spirits rum can be aged for many years. Some of the oldest rums are aged for fifty years or more. The premium price of these rums comes from the intensity of flavours that the oak has impressed upon the initial spirit. Beyond the fact of time and complexity another element that factors into the price is the angel’s share.
The angel’s share is an industry term referring to the percentage of alcohol that is lost to evaporation. The generally accepted percentage for whisky is approximately two percent per year. When in the tropics that number increases due to the environmental factors at play. Evaporation rates of any kind increase with temperature and humidity. The barrel size also plays a role in how much of our nectar the angels get. At first glance you may think that the larger the barrel the more that is lost, and noone would blame you for your assumption. In actuality it is the smaller casks that have higher loss rates. This is due to the percentage of total product that is exposed to the wooden staves and available for evaporation.
Ok, admission time, I have never had much of a rum tooth. When it comes to spirits I much prefer the tastes of whisky and gin as opposed to the sweet nature of rum. Oddly enough however through the course of writing this I have come to appreciate the liquor class and I hope I have shared with you some answers to at least a few of your questions about rum. After this experience, there is a good possibility there might be a bottle of rum in my not too distant future.