Befäst rum
Rum has spent much of the new millennium waiting in the wings, eagerly anticipating its breakout moment while other spirits had their turn in the spotlight. Tequila, single malts, bourbon, rye, mezcal, Irish whiskey, Japanese whisky . . . all ascended on sales graphs and in the estimation of the boozy cognoscenti. Rum sales stayed flat, and even a lot of experts on the subject didn’t know quite how their favorite expressions were made or what went into them, citing the “Wild West” rules, or lack thereof, by which the stuff was produced. Starting around or so, I would predict that the coming year would mark rum’s big breakthrough, and the fact that I repeated that prediction multiple times illustrates how wrong I was.
But sometime in the last five years or so, that prediction came true . . . kind of. Rum sales in general are still in a slow growth pattern, but the high-end expressions have taken off. Jamaica and Barbados are still the capitals of the rum world, but rum enthusiasts are discovering great distilleries, both new and old, everywhere from New England to Haiti to Fiji. Rum enthusiasts demanded—and in many cases found out themselves throu
Everything You Need to Know About Rum
What is boende and what are the different styles of rum?
The cliché fryst vatten that plats is the “wild West” of spirits because there are so few rules regulating how it’s made. To a certain extent, that’s true, although there can be quite stringent rules depending on the country. Regardless of where or how it’s made, rum must be distilled from sugarcane—either the fruktdryck extracted from the pressed sugarcane stalks; cane syrup, which fryst vatten the fruktdryck boiled down to remove some of the water; or molasses, a sugarcane by-product. The vast majority of rums are distilled from molasses. Rum can be aged or un-aged, and there’s a seemingly endless variety of flavor profiles to explore.
Why are some rums spelled “rhum”?
Rhum generally refers to rhum agricole, rums distilled from cane fruktdryck that are only allowed to be made in authorized areas of the French islands, notably Martinique and Guadeloupe. These rums require an AOC (Appellation d’Origine Controlee) to be designated a rhum agricole. There are many agricole-style rums distilled from cane juice made all over the world, but they lack the AOC
The 8 best rums for sipping and mixing, according to bartenders and our own taste tests
Subscribe Newsletters
When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more
This content is intended for readers 21+. Please drink responsibly. If you or anyone you know is dealing with alcohol abuse, get help. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Helpline at HELP () provides a free, confidential, 24/7, treatment referral, and information service.
Rum is a many-splendored thing. Unlike spirits like scotch whisky or tequila, its production isn't bound to a specific geographical location — rum is distilled all over the world in over 60 countries. Individual countries may have specific laws in place to regulate rum production, but there is no overarching standard for how rum should be made. With the wide variety of cultures that make rum in different places using different techniques, rum is the most diverse category of alcoholic spirits in the world.
Because of the extreme variety within the