Welcome to the
Fire Drinker Flight Education Program
To become a MASTER FIRE DRINKER, one must learn the origins of our fire, and its many forms. Our fire is rum, and we drink it with respect to its history, craft, and abundance.
We can only learn through the full pour how each rum speaks for itself... though some ice to fan the flames may be desired.
Only after we have tasted 50 of its forms may we truly understand the joy of rum, and shall become fully vested members of of the LOYAL ORDER OF FIRE DRINKERS.
Present your guide to the Fire Bringers (our staff) at Hale Pele, so that we may guide and track your progress. Once your guide is complete, you will be recognized as a MASTER FIRE DRINKER of the LOYAL ORDER OF FIRE DRINKERS and counted among its ranks.
Your acolyte’s guide has brought you through the islands of history, on a tour of the amazing world of rum. Now before you lies great challenge, and even greater reward. The over 300 rums at Hale Pele represent some of the finest sugar cane spirits known to man. Should you choose to continue down the path of rum mastery, your rewards shall be as follows…
Flight Index
FLIGHT 1: Barbados
FLIGHT 2: Jamaica
FLIGHT 3: Guyana
FLIGHT 4: Puerto Rico
FLIGHT 5: Martinique
FLIGHT 6: United States
FLIGHT 7: Mexico
FLIGHT 8: Brazil
FLIGHT 9: Haiti
FLIGHT 10: India
FLIGHT 11: Overproof
FLIGHT 12: Regional Blends/Merchant Bottling
FLIGHT 13: Navy Style Rum
FLIGHT 14: Sweetened Rum
FLIGHT 15: Flavored
FLIGHT 16: Finishes
Click a link above and jump to that section
FLIGHT 1: Barbados
Possibly as early as the Sixteenth century, there was distillation of fermented cane juice in Brazil (known today as cachaça – you’ll learn about and taste cachaça in FLIGHT 8), and perhaps even earlier in India (you’ll learn more about Indian rum in FLIGHT 10).
However, molasses-based rum has its earliest known origins in the Caribbean, with mid-Seventeenth century documentation showing rum production in Barbados.
This early rum would have originally been distilled in a simple alembic copper pot still, probably holding less than one hundred gallons. The rum produced would have been heavy and full-bodied with many impurities.
A pot still is in essence a large kettle, and because alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, the spirit vapors rise and are condensed and collected.
Double distillation was soon introduced in Barbados which produced a stronger and less toxic product.
In 1832, an Irishman named Aeneas Coffey patented his column (continuous) still, which allowed the production of a lighter bodied, more highly rectified spirit.
In the mid-Twentieth Century, following the lead of the Scottish, who had discovered the benefits of marrying pot and column distillates to produce blended Scotch whisky nearly a century earlier, some rum producers took to producing blended rums and created a new medium-bodied style of rum.
These medium-bodied rums have the flavor and body of the pot still rum lengthened with the more efficiently-produced column still rum, and it is this blended style of rum which is now dominant in Barbados.
Blended rums offer many advantages. By adjusting ratios in the blends, a wide range of products can be produced that have multiple profiles and applications. A little pot still rum can go a long way in a blended rum and also allows a blended rum to be smoother on the palate at a younger age, just as the blended Scotch makers discovered years before.
In some instances, the pot and column rums are blended prior to aging, and in others they are aged separately, then blended.
Tasting: $?
Mount Gay XO Triple Cask - blended rum from Barbados aged 5-17 years in three types of casks (American whiskey, bourbon, and cognac)
R.L. Seale 12 - blended rum distilled at Foursquare Distillery and aged in oak barrels for a minimum of 12 years
Planteray Barbados 5 - blended rum distilled at West Indies Rum Distillery (WIRD). Rum is aged for 3 years in ex-bourbon casks in the tropical climate of Barbados, followed by 2 years of aging in ex-Cognac Ferrand French oak casks in France. This is an expression from Planteray in which they add sugar. Planteray rums are part of the larger Cognac House, Pierre Ferrand, so their rums are blended and bottled in Cognac, France. Their use of sugar in some of their products is based on the tradition of adding sugar to cognac, called dosage. Planteray believes that their own blends of distillates, finished in Cognac with the gradual addition of dosage over time, benefit from the sugar to accent the flavors of some of their products. We will explore other rums with added sugar in the Sweetened Rum Flight (FLIGHT 14).
FLIGHT 2: Jamaica
During fermentation, yeast converts the sugars into alcohol to create a wine. The type of yeast used and the duration of the fermentation will affect the final flavor and aroma of the rum.
Fermentation may be as little as 24 hours or as long as 2 weeks. The longer the fermentation, the more congeners (parent term for flavor and aroma compounds that include esters, tannins, aldehydes, etc.) are created. You’ll often taste the effect of long fermentation in high-ester rums from Jamaica which gives those rums their distinctive “funky” flavor and aromas.
Historically Jamaica produced rum using a pot still which, when distilling long-fermented wash, results in heavy-bodied and full-flavored rums. These were often exported to Europe for inclusion in rum blends, such as for the British Royal Navy (more on merchant bottling in FLIGHT 12 and more on Navy Style Rum in FLIGHT 13)
After Prohibition brought more exposure, especially in the United States, to lighter, more neutral column still rum (more information on column stills in FLIGHT 3), consumers’ changing tastes contributed to many Jamaican producers moving to the medium-bodied blended rums (discussed in FLIGHT 1)
that have the flavor and body of the pot still rum lengthened with the more efficiently-produced column still rum.
However, today there is once again widespread appreciation for the bigger flavors of pot still Jamaican rums, so several Jamaican producers are now choosing not to blend that rum but to bottle it on its own. There are also as well as several Independent Bottlers who bottle pot still Jamaican rums whose customers appreciate those bold flavors.
Tasting: $?
Hampden Estate 1753 - Hampden Estate is a historic distillery established in the 18th Century. In 2018 they began bottling and selling their rum as their own brand. This expression is a high ester pot still rum that has been aged 3 years
Worthy Park Single Estate - another pot still rum from Jamaica aged 6-10 years. Notice how the extra time in a barrel softens and rounds out some of those big, pot still flavors
Appleton Estate Reserve 8 Year - a molasses-based blended rum made using both pot and continuous stills, with rums from each being married after aging for 8 years
FLIGHT 3: Puerto Rico
In 1764, rum making became legal in Cuba and by the 1780s Cuba was exporting both molasses and rum to the newly formed United States.
In 1832, an Irishman named Aeneas Coffey patented his column (continuous) still, which allowed the production of a lighter bodied, more highly rectified spirit.
With the invention of the Coffey still, rum producers in Cuba and elsewhere could now more efficiently produce an even lighter-bodied rum, and by the early twentieth century producers like Bacardi in Cuba had switched entirely to column still production.
When Prohibition hit America, thirsty American travelers flooded to Cuba and discovered and fell in love with the lighter column still rums and the cocktails that featured them, like the world-famous daiquiri.
After Prohibition, other distillers in Cuba, and then Puerto Rico, quickly followed Bacardi’s lead to meet the increased demand of consumers for column distilled “Cuban rum.”
In the 1930s and early 1940s, Puerto Rico enjoyed favorable tax status as a territory of the United States, and soon they had surpassed Cuban imports, moving from about ten thousand gallons in 1934 to 2.4 million by 1941
Puerto Rico, the largest exporter of rum to the United States spent the late 1940s and 1950s investing in improving quality through instituting minimum aging requirements and establishing the Rum Pilot Plant, government-sponsored rum research program administered by the University of Puerto Rico, that scientifically explored all aspects of rum production
In 1948 the government of Puerto Rico established the Rums of Puerto Rico organization under their Department of Economic Development and Commerce to enforce laws to ensure that all rums under its umbrella meet high quality standards – high quality molasses, column still (continuous) distillation, and aging in an oak barrel.
As demand for this style of rum grew, so did the column stills – taller with more plates. Soon some producers would replace their one- and two-column stills with multicolumn facilities to ultimately increase production efficiency and yield an ever-lighter distillate with fewer congeners, in some cases so neutral as to be virtually indistinguishable from ethyl alcohol.
Column stills remain very expensive, but their upside (compared to the pot still) is that the actual production is much more efficient. If you wanted to create a light-bodied, more neutral rum with a pot still, it would take several passes, and a great deal more energy and labor.
Tasting: $?
Bacardi Ocho - column still rum from Puerto Rico aged a minimum of 8 years
Don Q Gran Reserva - column still rum from Puerto Rico aged 9-12 years
Ron Del Barrilito 2 or 3 star - column still rum from Puerto Rico aged 3-5 years in Oloroso sherry casks with added flavors (6-10 years if using 3 star)
FLIGHT 4: Guyana
Distilling in Guyana began in 1670
At one point there were 380 sugar refineries in Guyana, most with rum stills
With increased taxation, consolidation began. By the early 1800s, there were 180 distilleries. By 1908 there were 44 distilleries, many very small, and by late 1950s, there were just eight remaining
Today only 1 distillery remains active in Guyana. All distillation in Guyana is done at Diamond Distillery for Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL). What makes DDL unique and special is that all the previous consolidation of various distilleries over the years has resulted in DDL having the largest collection of stills of any Caribbean distillery. The collection at DDL includes various pot and column stills, and a historic wooden vat still and the only wooden coffey still in existence. Such a diverse set of stills and ways of operating those stills allows DDL to produce a wide variety of styles of rum.
DDL launched its own product line in 1992 - the El Dorado range.
60% of the rum DDL produces is for bulk sale to other brands as well as many Independent Bottlers.
Beginning in the 19th Century there were rum merchants such as E&A Scheer that bought rum in bulk, aged it, and blended it for resale to brands to bottle and sell as their own.
It was through these rum merchants that the tradition of Independent Bottling was also born. Independent bottlers buy a single cask or blend of casks of rum from a company like Scheer or directly from a producer, and then often do their own aging and finishing before bottling (more on finishes in FLIGHT 16).
Independent bottlers often have a range of products from a variety of countries with a country of origin and year on the label (e.g. Panama 1998, Barbados 2000, and Guyana 2002).
Any Guyana rum you’ve had that is less than 25 years old has been distilled at Diamond.
All rum distilled at DDL today is molasses-based
Tasting: $?
El Dorado 8 - a blend of molasses-based rums from the historic wooden coffey still, a metal coffey still, and a 4-column still, aged 8 years
Hamilton 86 - a blend of pot and column still rum from DDL aged up to five years and bottled for American Independent Bottler, Ed Hamilton, but as an ongoing product (more on merchant bottling in FLIGHT 12)
Mezan Guyana 2005 - a lightly aged rum from the wooden vat still at DDL bottled for Mezan – an Independent Bottler in the United Kingdom.
FLIGHT 5: Martinique
Besides the broad category of molasses-based rums explored in other chapters, there are rums produced from fresh pressed cane juice and made primarily in French Caribbean islands and Brazil (see FLIGHT 8), though several are also made in Mexico (see FLIGHT 7) and are now coming to the United States
Fresh sugarcane juice may be distilled in a pot still or in a column still. A prominent style of column still rum made from sugarcane juice is rhum agricole.
In Martinique, there is a designation for rhum agricole as an Appelation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) product just like champagne and cognac.
To earn this designation, the rum must be made from the fresh juice of sugarcane and adhere to strict rules about when and how the cane is harvested and pressed, and how the sugarcane juice is fermented and distilled, including that it must be distilled using a single-column still often referred to as a Creole Column.
Because there is so little variation in how rhum agricole with an AOC designation is produced, it’s perhaps the best style in which to appreciate terroir in rum ( how soil quality, climatic conditions, and availability of water impact the rums aroma and flavor). The north and south of Martinique have both different soil conditions and annual rainfall totals which yields perceptible differences in the final products.
Rhum Agricole Blanc is the youngest style, which is either bottled immediately or within a few months after distillation, and is traditionally bottled at 100-120 proof
Important Notes: Not all agricole-style rum has an AOC designation, as it applies only to Martinique, and all Martinique rum is not rhum agricole. Also, rhum spelled with an “h” simply means it is produced in a French-speaking country, and does not mean it is made with sugarcane juice. There are “rhums” made from molasses as well, referred to as rhum traditionnel.
As with molasses-based rums, rums made from sugarcane juice can also be aged. Rhum Agricole is classified by the AOC into categories comparable to the blanco, reposado, and añejo categories of tequila:
Blanc is the unaged version of rhum agricole. The second age category is élevé sous bois, meaning rested under wood. These rhums are typically aged between one and two years in a combination of French and American oak casks and traditionally bottled around 100 proof. Rhum Agricole Vieux, the third AOC category, is aged a minimum of three years in French and/or American oak casks and traditionally bottled at 90 proof.
Tasting: $?
J.M Blanc 110 - an unaged AOC Rhum Agricole Blanc at 110 proof (55% ABV) from sugar cane grown in the more volcanic soil on the rainier north side of the island at the J.M distillery
Trois Rivieres Cuvee de L'Ocean - an unaged AOC Rhum Agricole Blanc at 42% made from sugar cane grown in the drier south of Martinique near the ocean adding a note of salinity which can be contrasted with the J.M from the north
Rhum Clément Cuvée Homère - a blend of AOC Agricole rhums aged 7-15 years in ex-Bourbon barrels
FLIGHT 6: United States
Early settlers to Colonial America generally drank beer and hard cider. However, early ties between Barbados and other British colonies in North America meant that in the 17th Century, when rum was being produced in Barbados, it naturally made its way North.
During the 1660s, having tasted this Barbados rum, New England colonists soon began distilling rum themselves, sourcing molasses from the Caribbean.
By the mid-1700s, there were distilleries throughout New England. The New England style of rum that emerged at the time was not as refined or desirable as its Caribbean counterpart, but rum production and consumption grew throughout Colonial America.
Most rum was consumed in taverns that that sprang up throughout New England. Because the rum was fairly coarse, it was often diluted with water, and flavored with molasses, sugar, spices, lime, mint, or mixed into early cocktails such as the bounce, flip, or calibogus. However, the most common and popular way to consume rum in Colonial America was most certainly the communal punch.
Rum also played a role in the American Revolution. New England distillers began turning to the French islands instead of the British West Indies for their molasses because it was cheaper. This led to the British Crown passing implementing strict tariffs that hurt the distillers. The colonists argued their case to Parliament and got the tariffs lowered, but the experience got them thinking about revolution. Much of the revolution was discussed and planned in the taverns, and Paul Revere stopped at a rum distillery before heading on his famous ride.
After the Revolution, the new United States saw a sharp decline in the production of and preference for rum in lieu of whiskey. Whiskey production rose as Scots-Irish colonists moved south and west, where corn and rye grew easily, and had no ties to the Crown. And, in the second half of the nineteenth century, when the temperance movement began to take hold and unite against distilled spirits, all spirits were referred to as “Demon Rum,” further hurting its reputation.
During Prohibition, many Americans traveled to Cuba and discovered rum again, but this was a much different rum that what had been made in the centuries before – it was much lighter in body and flavor. They continued to want this style of rum into the 1950s and 1960s when the desire for light body and more neutral flavor was met by vodka.
In the last few decades, we’ve seen a welcome resurgence in rum in the United States. The rise of the craft distillery in the United States in the last few decades has meant an exciting renaissance in domestic rum production. The craft distiller almost always uses the more affordable and smaller pot still rather than the large and expensive column still. However, they are also being creative in their source ingredients, fermentation and distillation techniques, and how they age and finish their rums, leading to a wide variety of products.
Tasting: $?
Deadman Pass Rum? - Lorem Ipsum
New Deal Distiller’s Cut? - Lorem Ipsum
First City Rum? - Lorem Ipsum
Prichard’s Crystal? - Lorem Ipsum
Richland - Lorem Ipsum
Privateer - Lorem Ipsum
FLIGHT 7: Mexico
Aguardiente is the term used in Spanish & Portuguese speaking countries that translates to “Firewater.” Aguardiente can be made from fruit, potato, beet and, of course, sugar cane. Not all aguardiente is rum (since aguardiente can be made from raw material other than sugar cane), but all rum made in Latin America is technically aguardiente – specifically aguardiente de Caña. Rum made in Mexico is often labeled aguardiente de caña , and is often referred to as aguardiente by locals.
Sugarcane grows in Mexico year-round, making rum a natural product to be distilled there. Mexico has produced rum for centuries, but a variety of factors have gotten in its way to prevent early widespread adoption. When Mexico was under control of Spain, Spain forbid the production of aguardiente, insisting on the drinking of Spanish brandies and wines. This meant that while other countries were seeing innovations in production, Mexico lagged behind. When North American trade with Mexico increased and more big-brand imported spirits appeared in Mexico that could be sold cheaply, Mexican aguardiente producers couldn’t compete. It remained in the hands of small, family-run distilleries in the hills. These forces resulted in an association of aguardiente as less refined – the “moonshine” of rum.
Fortunately, these small craft aguardiente producers are now getting the attention they deserve, and we are fortunate that in the last few years more and more Mexican rum is making its way north to the United States.
Charanda is a type of aguardiente made specifically within 16 municipalities in the western Mexican state of Michoacan. Charanda is the only cane spirit in Mexico recognized and protected as a Protected Designation of Origin. The 16 municipalities have a characteristic red soil called “Charanda” by the Purchpecha, the indigenous people of the region. This soil of the region is volcanic rather than clay. Charanda can be made from cane juice, molasses, or piloncillo, but the raw material must be grown within the 16 municipalities. 80 years ago, there were over 100 producers of Charanda – now there are only about six. Other crops are more profitable – 80% of Mexico’s avocados are grown in Michoacan.
Tasting: $?
Paranubes aguardiente - an unaged aguardiente made in Oaxaca from fresh sugar cane juice using a pot still
Camazotz - an unaged aguardiente made in Oaxaca from fresh sugar cane juice using a pot still
Uruapan Single Blended Charanda - an unaged aguardiente made on a pot still from a blend of molasses and sugar cane juice – a rare opportunity to taste rum that is a blend of the two raw materials
FLIGHT 8: Brazil
Certainly, both planters and slaves drank fermented cane juice during the earliest days of sugar cultivation and production, and history suggests that there may have been distillation of this fermented cane juice in Brazil as early as the early sixteenth century, a spirit we know today as cachaça.
While it was in Barbados that rum was first refined and commercialized in the seventeenth century, cachaça continued to be the drink of workers. Exportation was not permitted, and cachaça was even made illegal in Brazil at various points in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Today, cachaça is the national spirit of Brazil. Fermentation and distillation varies widely across Brazil as it is made in thousands of locations. A small amount of sugar may legally be added.
Cachaça can be poorly made industrial distillate, a hand-crafted artisanal product, and everything in between. Cachaça is produced in enormous quantities, with 1.5 billion liters consumed annually in Brazil.
Cachaça is now recognized by the US as a spirit category distinct from rum.
While most are commonly sold unaged or rested, there are also cachaças that are aged. To be labeled aged, a cachaça must be aged a minimum of 1 year in wood (“premium”) or a minimum of 3 years in wood (“Extra premium”).
Cachaça is often rested or aged in various native Brazilian woods which adds unique aromas and flavors.
Tasting: $?
Avua Prata - unaged cachaça that is rested in stainless steel vats before bottling
Novo Fogo Barrel-Aged - pot still organic cachaça that has been aged 2 years in ex-bourbon barrels
Novo Fogo Colibri - pot still organic cachaça that has been aged in both ex-bourbon barrels and barrels made from Brazilian teak known as amburana.
FLIGHT 9: Haiti
Haitian rum is a good example of a rum produced in a French-speaking country, from sugarcane juice, that is labeled rhum (the French word for rum) but is not referred to as rhum agricole and, because it is not produced in Martinique, does not adhere to the same production methods required for an AOC Martinique designation (see FLIGHT 5).
The largest producer of Haitian rum (Rhum Barbancourt) produces a rum from sugarcane juice distilled using a two-column Coffey still as opposed to the single-column still that must be used to make AOC Martinique rhum agricole.
The addition of the second column in its rum production results in a Haitian rum that is lighter-bodied than a typical AOC Martinique rhum agricole.
There are also hundreds of very small distilleries on Haiti that produce a local, unaged rum from sugarcane juice using pot stills that is called Clairin.
Tasting: $?
Barbancourt 5 Star - two-column Coffey still rum aged 8 years
Clairin Communal - a blend of pot still clairins from 4 different small producers
Providence First Drops - a pot still rum made from a blend of sugarcane syrup and fresh sugarcane juice from a new craft distillery that began producing rum in 2019
FLIGHT 10: India
The history of sugar in India goes back many centuries with the evaporation of cane juice or date palm sap to create jaggery, a golden or dark brown sugar. The Portuguese established sugar mills in the 1400s, but rum was not produced.
Fermentation and distillation had been going on for centuries in several Indian states, resulting in many traditional alcoholic beverages still produced today, including feni (a coconut or cashew based liquor originating in Goa), and arrack (a beverage of fermented rice and other ingredients such as sap or sugarcane).
When the British arrived in the 19th Century, more industrial distilleries were established, initially to satisfy the cravings of the officers stationed there for beer and spirits beyond their whisky ration. The British established a distillery and brewery in 1855 with copper pot stills brought from England and Scotland.
The British also greatly expanded the cultivation of sugar in India through large-scale irrigation projects that allowed more sugar cane to be grown. In the 20th Century, this expansion of more modern sugar production also resulted in the creation of excess molasses as a by-product. In addition to the production of rum, this excess molasses was also increasingly used to make neutral spirit.
Indian-made foreign Liquor (IMFL) is the parent term for all spirits made in India outside of the traditional beverages like feni and arrack mentioned above. IMFL is usually made from molasses-based neutral spirit even if it is then flavored or blended with other spirits to create non-rum products like whisky.
Today India is the second largest producer of sugarcane.
The people of India are also the number one consumers of rum, to the tune of 250 million liters globally. Like other countries, India is also seeing a demand by some for more premium rums, as well as emerging brands making rum from fresh cane juice.
Tasting: $?
Old Monk XXX Very Old Vatted - a molasses-based column still rum aged for a minimum of 7 years.
Amrut Old Port - a blend of molasses-based pot still rums aged in new and used oak barrels
Camikara 8 Year - Camikara is India’s only cane-juice rum brand. This expression is aged for 8 years in ex-bourbon cask.
Flight 11: Overproof
There is a long history of attempts to measure the amount of alcohol in spirits, including rum, largely to ensure they were taxed at the appropriate rate. In fact, the term “proof” dates back to the 1500s in England when crude proof testing involved whether or not the spirit would burn, with those that would be considered “above proof.”
There were a series of revisions to measurement based on specific gravity and in 1816 the agreed upon measurement was established that, in today’s terms, results in a measurement of 57.15% alcohol by volume being a proof spirit, and anything above as overproof.
In addition to this British proof system, the United States introduced its own proof definition based on the % of alcohol by volume (ABV) in which 100 proof was equal to 50% ABV. Based on this system, some people think of overproof as anything above 100 proof.
Many will also be familiar with rums labeled 151 – a common overproof strength. This may stem back to the export strength of many British Guiana rums, starting in the 1930s to Canada and the United States. There isn’t anything magical about 151 proof, but it somehow stuck.
Cask strength rums have not been further diluted by water, and are therefore at the % of alcohol they were in the cask, which, depending on the strength of the rum off the still and how long they have been aging, may be anywhere from 50-80% ABV.
Rums at higher ABV may exhibit particular aromas and flavors that are not present once they’ve been diluted down. If the strong alcohol is too overwhelming to notice these notes, adding an ice cube or a few drops of water can often open up these flavors.
Tasting: $?
Hampden Estate Rum Fire 126 proof - an unaged overproof molasses-based Jamaican rum.
Lemon Hart 151 - though the recipe has changed over the years, the rum is still a blend of overproof rums from Guyana bottled at 151 proof.
Plantation O.F.T.D. - a blend of rums from Guyana, Barbados, and Jamaica bottled at 69% ABV.
FLIGHT 12: Regional Blends/Merchant Bottling
Increased demand for rum and a growing European population in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries meant that more Caribbean-made rum was brought to Europe to mature, which had the added advantage of less evaporation.
In the nineteen century a Dutch wine and spirits company, E&A Scheer, opened an office in London, and began to purchase rum stocks from ED&F Man, the company that supplied the British Royal Navy (See FLIGHT 13 on Navy Style). Companies like Scheer would buy rum in bulk and age it and then sell it to smaller companies to bottle and sell as their brand, and the tradition of merchant bottling began.
By the 1920s, E&A Scheer imported a large variety of rum and had in-house master blenders to craft the flavor profile and maintain consistency. The master blender understands the stocks that E&A has available and how to use them to meet the profile request of the customer.
Rums from multiple countries are often blended to achieve a particular flavor profile for an ongoing product supplied by a merchant bottler
It is with companies like E&A Scheer, which is still going strong today (based in the Netherlands), that new rums come to market already 8 years old from a brand that hasn’t opened a distillery.
Tasting: $?
Planteray 3 Stars - a blend of lightly aged and filtered rums from Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad
Denizen Merchant’s Reserve - a blend of aged Jamaican pot still and a molasses-based rhum traditionnel from Martinique
Hamilton White Stache - aged rum from Trinidad, with sugar cane and molasses distillates from Guyana and Santo Domingo
FLIGHT 13: Navy Style Rum
As Britain colonized parts of the Caribbean in the mid-seventeenth century, there were more frequent and longer voyages by sea. Leaving Britain with just water and beer on board, the water soon turned bad and the beer was soon drunk, creating a demand for more alcohol rations on board.
With several of the British Caribbean islands now producing rum, the Royal Navy had an easy solution, and began to purchase vast quantities of it, typically from Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica and Guyana. Over the decades, rum became an acceptable way to keep up morale and discipline on board, for sailors were often press-ganged into service and subsequently served in terrible conditions.
An alcohol ration became part of official British Naval regulations in 1731, and in 1775 rum became integral to those rations through a parliamentary act.
Though the amount of the ration would continue to be cut, and the proof lowered to a measly 109 (!), the daily tot was part of a formal ritual that continued for centuries on board Royal Navy ships, announced daily by the bosun’s call of “Up Spirits!”
After much heated debate in the British parliament, it was determined that the rum ration should be abolished. The dreaded day arrived July 31, 1970, and was nicknamed Black Tot Day, complete with mock funerals and sailors wearing black armbands.
While the ration may have ended, the style of rum (heavier-bodied, pot-distilled, and higher-proof rums from Caribbean countries that supplied the historic rum rations) remained popular primarily in the UK and eastern Canada, and variations of this style are still sold today as “Navy Style” rums, usually made up a blend of rums produced in countries that originally supplied the Royal Navy.
Tasting: $?
Black Tot - a blend of molasses-based rums from Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica and Guyana
Pusser’s - An adaptation of the formula originally blended under contract for the Royal Navy for 190 years has been reproduced since 1980 as Pusser’s Rum, a blended aged molasses-based rum
Planteray Mister Fogg Sail No. 2 - a blend of rums from Barbados (34%), Trinidad (35%), Guyana (20%), Mauritius (6%) and Jamaica (5%) that then get transported to France and aged further in used oak barrels, as well as oxygenation by the river in open wooden vats to attempt to replicate the Naval docks in London where Royal Navy rum would have been stored
FLIGHT 14: Sweetened Rum
There is a very common misperception that somehow rum is more caloric because its raw material is sugarcane or a sugarcane byproduct. This isn’t true- sugar does not travel through the distillation process. ALL spirits come from sugar of some kind- sugar is what the yeast feeds on to create alcohol. There is as much sugar in rum as there is in bourbon, vodka or tequila.
When you taste a really well-distilled rum, (and this is regardless of raw material or distillation method), there should be a perceptible sweetness to the product. Just as you would still taste the vegetal agave flavor in young tequila, or a grain flavor in genever, you will taste fresh pressed cane in an unaged agricole, or molasses in an unaged pot still rum.
Having said all that…it is a fact that several rum producers on the market today do willingly add sugar to their final product after distillation. There are many reasons for this decision, some noble, some not so noble.
The danger of the addition of sugar is twofold: 1) It can mask a very young rum, making it seem more “premium” than it is and 2) Because some high-end rum producers add sugar to their expensive rums, it is beginning to shape consumer taste to equate sweetness with “smoothness,” such that they only think sweet rums are good rums.
However, there are several brands that are honest that they add a bit of sugar at some point in their process post-distillation. Many countries in South America, for example, have added sugar to rum as both cultural tradition and local preference to enhance flavor. In FLIGHT 1 we described the process the brand Planteray uses to add sugar that is part of its tradition as a Cognac producer.
It’s important that brands are truthful about the addition of sugar, so the consumer knows what they’re drinking (and paying for!)
Tasting:$?
Brugal 1888 - a molasses-based column still rum produced in the Dominican Republic and aged in used bourbon as well as sherry casks
Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva - a molasses-based blended rum (pot + column still) produced in Venezuela aged up to 12 years
Angostura 1919 - an aged molasses based column still rum made in Trinidad and aged 5-14 years
FLIGHT 15: Flavored
Spices have been added to rum since its birth, and when you travel in the Caribbean you will find all kinds of rums in street markets that have been infused with local spices. Early on it was done to cover up the harshness of poorly made spirit, but the tradition has continued.
The 1980s brought spiced rum to the U.S. market, and the introduction of coconut, orange, and other flavored rums, many of which were simply cane-neutral spirit with chemical additives, and hadn’t seen anything resembling actual spices, coconut, or fruit. Despite their artificial nature, flavored rums became popular, particularly with younger drinkers.
With the rise of the cocktail renaissance starting in the early 2000s, professional and home enthusiast bartenders and mixologists wanted to have the choice of a wider flavor palette to play a more significant role in their cocktails. There is also an increased desire among contemporary mixologists for honest products that, if flavored or spiced, are done so by adding real flavors and real spices.
Luckily, distillers are here to meet the moment, and there is an increasing availability of quality flavored rums on the market.
Tasting: $?
Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum - a spiced version of the original Chairman’s Reserve blended (pot + coffey column still) molasses-based rum from St. Lucia with local spices and fruits such as cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, allspice, lemon and orange peels
Planteray Stiggins Pineapple Rum - blended rum from Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad infused and redistilled with the barks of pineapple and added to Trinidad rum infused with pineapple fruit.
Ron Colon Salvadoreno Coffee Infused Rum - a blend of column still rum from El Salvador and aged and unaged pot still rum from Jamaica that is then infused for 48 hours with El Salvadoran coffee beans
FLIGHT 16: Finishes
Finishing refers to aging done in used barrels that previously held other wine, spirits, or even beer. The aging of rum in these used barrels imparts not only the influence of the wood but also some of the flavors and character of the liquid previously in the barrel, making for some truly unique and interesting rums.
Beginning in the 19th Century there were rum merchants such as E&A Scheer that bought rum in bulk, aged it, and blended it for resale to brands to bottle and sell as their own.
It was through these rum merchants that the tradition of Independent Bottling was also born. Independent bottlers buy a single cask or blend of casks of rum from a company like Scheer or directly from a producer, and then often do their own aging and finishing before bottling.
Tasting: $?
Santa Teresa 1796 Arabica Coffee Cask - aged molasses-based rum from Venezuela that is finished for 3 months in a rum-based cold brew coffee cask
Dos Maderas 5+5 - a blend of rums aged for 5 years in the Caribbean before being finished for 3 years in Palo Cortado sherry and then 2 more years in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks.
Plantation Hale Pele Trinidad Tokaj Wine Finish - a Hale Pele cask selection from Planteray (formerly Plantation) as part of their Independent Bottling program, this is a 13-year rum from Trinidad with a further finish in a used Tokaj wine cask
