Blind Tasting No. 16 Recap
Rum, anyone?
On July 24th we had our first ever rum tasting and it was a blast! Most who joined the tasting were self-proclaimed whiskey drinkers with preconceived notions about rums. One of those assumptions was that rum is always sweet. This is a common misconception, but rum (that hasn’t been sweetened) isn’t any sweeter than whiskey or brandy. Unfortunately, a lot of rums that we’ve been exposed to (especially during our college years) are spiced rums, which have lots of added flavors and sugar. Many premium rums are also sweetened in order to edge off the alcohol heat and create something that tastes decadent. But if you’re like me and prefer the flavors of spirits to come directly from the fermentation, distillation & maturation process (note: this is my personal preference, not what is “best” or what it “should be”) rather than it being flavored, then there are endless rum options for us to choose from. And this tasting definitely helped to prove that not all rums are sweet.
Before we dive into the rums that we tasted, let’s define what rum actually is! Rum is a distilled spirit derived from fermented sugarcane juice, molasses or other sugarcane byproducts, but molasses and cane juice are most common. In the US and most other countries rum must be bottled at no less than 40% ABV and, unlike whiskey in most countries, it doesn’t have to be aged. Much like whiskey vs. whisky, rum is spelled differently depending on its country of origin. Rum, rhum and ron are the English, French and Spanish spellings, respectively.
There are also different rum categories, but unlike whiskey, the differentiations are not recognized by the TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau), which makes for a lot of confusion. It’s easy to understand the difference between “Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey” and “single malt scotch whisky” because those are clearly defined. However, the TTB doesn’t define “white overproof Jamaican rum” or “VSOP rhum agricole”, so how are we to know what makes them different?
As consumers, we don’t typically read TTB regulations and definitions, however we do use Google. And the articles about rum categories just add to the confusion. Many classify rums based on their color: silver, gold and dark. That’s how a lot of liquor stores organize rum as well. But this is like organizing produce in the grocery store by color. Do the grapes and purple potatoes belong together? How about the oranges and carrots? Similarly to produce, rums of the same color don’t always taste the same, so they shouldn’t be grouped together.
I will note that there are many regulations outside of the US for various rum types. For example, Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) clearly defines, regulates and protects rhum agricole produced in Martinique, Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) defines Cuban rum and Jamaica, Brazil, Venezuela & Puerto Rico have Geographical Indication (GI) for rum/ron produced in their countries. Out of all of these, only Brazil’s GI for cachaca is recognized in the US (that was a 12 year process).
How to properly categorize rums is a hot topic that many rum people are trying to tackle. Matt Pietrek (aka Cocktail Wonk) is a rum writer and in his latest book, Minimalist Tiki, he suggests 7 rum categories: lightly aged/filtered rum, moderately aged rum, aged Jamaican rum, unaged Jamaican overproof (63%) rum, aged demerara rum, overproof (75.5%) demerara rum and aged agricole rhum. For all you visual learners out there, here’s his flowchart mapping this out. He created these categories based on similar flavor profiles, which is extremely useful especially when making rum cocktails.
But I like to think about rum in a similar way to how I approach whiskey. I will focus more on how it’s made and anticipate the flavor profile based on that. It’s not a fool proof method, but it’s how my chemical engineering brain works. Different countries, especially those with GIs, will tend to produce their rums in a similar manner. So below I’ve outlined the production process and generalized flavor profiles of rums based on their country of origin. Please note that I’m generalizing and there are obviously a lot of rum producing countries missing from my list.
Jamaica
Process: molasses based, long fermentations & pot distilled
Flavor profile: “funky” aka over-ripened fruits
Demerara/Guyana
Process: molasses based, distilled with vat/greenheart wood stills
Flavor profile: smokey and earthy
Cuba
Process: molasses based, column distilled, aged & then charcoal filtered
Flavor profile: light with some oak impact
Martinique/Guadeloupe
Process: can juice based, short fermentation, column distilled
Flavor profile: grassy and “funky”
Using this generalization, I’m able to extrapolate other rum flavor profiles based on the production method. For example, cane juice rums (agricoles) tend to have that grassy character that’s found in Martinique rhum agricoles. And longer fermentations tend to add more funky-fruity characteristics that shine through even more if the rum is pot distilled.
Anyways, what three rums did we try during the blind tasting? I chose three different aged rums that would show a wide range of flavor profiles. None of them were sweetened. And I chose aged rums rather than unaged because, as I mentioned, everyone joining was a whiskey drinker, therefore more accustomed to aged spirits. In other words, I wanted to ease everyone into rum.
Appleton Estate 8 year old Jamaican rum
Appleton Estate is located in Nassau Valley, Jamaica and their 8 year old rum is produced from fermented molasses. It’s a combination of pot and column distilled rums aged in No. 1 American oak barrels for at least 8 years. It is not known for being a super funky jamaican rum, but the members were picking up some funky notes on the nose along with fruity, orange, tropical, roses, caramel, cereal, banana and apricot aromas. On the palate it was mouth coating with smoky oak, spice, raspberries, banana and cantaloupe flavors.
Lost Spirits Navy style rum
Lost Spirits is located in Vernon, CA (and soon Las Vegas, NV) and their Navy Style rum is produced from fermented molasses. It’s double pot distilled and aged using toasted & charred American oak staves using their rapid maturation technology. On the nose, the rum was woody with smoky char, heavy spice, nutmeg, lighter fluid and reminded one person of Trader Vics. Those notes carried over to the palate with funky flavors like charcoal, gasoline, chocolate and pepper.
Rhum J.M Gold Rum Rhum Agricole ESB
This rhum agricole is produced by Distillerie de Fonds-Preville in Macouba, Martinique following the AOC regulations. This means it is column distilled from fermented cane juice. It’s then aged for 12 months in new toasted oak & ex-bourbon barrels. The nose was light and had notes of anise, pineapple, fruity, creme brulee and candy corn. The palate had surprising funkiness with underripe pineapple, melon and black licorice flavors.
Remember, everyone tasted these rums blind. Because each rum had a relatively distinctive flavor profile, everyone was able to correctly guess at least one of the rums and 60% correctly guessed all three! I am always impressed by the member’s palates, but this tasting proved that their whiskey palates are extremely versatile!
