Rum

Question 1

What is distilled to make rum?

Answer 1

Fermented sugarcane or molasses

Question 2

Rum

Origin

Answer 2

Caribbean, 17th century

Question 3

4 main styles of rum

Answer 3

• Light rum
• Dark rum
• Demerara rum
  
  • ​Light rum style
  • Unique to Guyana (E Venezuela)
  • Distilled from molasses
  • Sometimes aged for over a decade prior to release
• Rhum agricole
  
  • French style
  • Produced mainly on Martinique
  • Martinique AOC can claim to be the southernmost Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée in France, despite its location in the sunny Caribbean!
  • May only be produced from sugarcane juice
  • Column distillation is mandated in Martinique

Question 4

Demerara rum

Answer 4

Demerara

• Light rum style
• Unique to Guyana (E of Venezuela, N of Brazil)
• Distilled from molasses
• Sometimes aged for over a decade prior to release

Question 5

Cachaça

Answer 5

Cachaça

• Distilled from fermented sugarcane
• Brazil

Question 6

Rhum agricole

Answer 6

Rhum agricole

• French style
• Produced mainly on the island of Martinique
• May only be produced from suagrcane juice
• Column distillation is mandated

Question 7

Light Rum

Answer 7

Light Rum

• Distilled by continuous method
• Filtered with charcoal after a short period of cask aging to remove any color
• Best suited for mixing, as it has little character
• Counter example of common style:
  
  • Mount Gay, from Barbados
  • Golden in color, gained complexity from time in cask

Question 8

Dark Rum

Answer 8

Dark Rum

• Fuller in body, darker in color, dominated by more complex caramel notes, vs. simple suggestion of sweetness in most light rums
• Quality dark rums, such as those produced in Jamaica, may be distilled twice in pot stills and aged for a number of years prior to release; this darkens the spirit but the final color is almost always achieved by adding caramel

Question 9

Light Rum from Puerto Rico

Answer 9

Bacardi

The bat had always been a symbol of good fortune, so when Doña Amalia Bacardí spotted fruit bats in the family’s distillery, she insisted it be used as their symbol. Today it remains on the bottle, helping the family survive whatever fate throws at it.

Question 10

Jamaican Rum

4 Producers

Answer 10

• Plantation
• Smith & Cross
• Myers’s
• Blackwell
• Captain Morgan
• Appleton

Question 11

Rhum Agricole

Producer

Answer 11

Rhum J.M.

Question 12

Cachaça

Producer

Answer 12

Novo Fogo

Question 13

Demerara Rum

Producer

Answer 13

El Dorado