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The origins of people making rum dates back at least 3,000 years ago.  The fermented juice of sugarcane was produced first in Asia, made its way through North Africa to Spain and finally Christopher Columbus brought the technique it to the New World. It was a barter commodity that helped drive the slave trade and much of world commerce in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  The majority of rum is of the clear or white variety.  It is the fuel for a host of fun cocktails that starts with rum and cola, moves on through Daiquiris, Planter’s Punch and Pina Coladas,  and  ends  with  mixtures  of  just  about  any  fruit juice known to man. Rum is the ultimate mixable.

                But in recent years, the world has discovered what Caribbean people have known for centuries: dark, aged rum offers the same enjoyment and smooth character as an aged Cognac, single malt Scotch or Bourbon.  After about five years of aging in  oak barrels, the natural sprits turn amber and the flavors of maturity—vanilla, nuts and spices—come out on the palate.   Rum is produced all over the world including Mexico, Australia and India; however, the majority of today’s commercial rum is produced around the Caribbean.

                Most rum begins as molasses, i.e., the by-product that remains after the crystallized sugar has been removed from the sugar cane stalk.  Other methods  use  sugarcane  juice,  such  as rums from the

French Caribbean countries like Haiti and Martinique to produce a more refined sprit.  The fact that rum is produced from molasses and sugarcane puts it one step ahead of whisky or vodka makers; in these grain-based products, starches from the grains must first be transformed into sugar and than fermented. The range of fermentation and distillation techniques that follows are remarkably diverse.  Some rum makers use a natural, slow fermentation of up to 12 days;  others use a controlled fermentation with a secret yeast that produces results in a couple of days.  Some use traditional copper pot stills, much like Cognac stills, to refine their raw spirits; others use modern column stills that tend to produce cleaner (with less natural color and flavor), more neutral spirits.    Pusser’s  in  the  British  West  Indies  uses  a  200  year  old  wooden   pot  still  in  lieu  of  metal.  

After distillation—like fine wine or Cognac—rum is then wood aged in a variety of ways depending on the manufacture. For example, Barbancourt from Haiti is aged in Limousine oak similar to that used in the production of Cognac;  St. Croix’s Cruzan Single Barrel is oak aged, and Angustra 1824 is aged in charred once-used American oak bourbon barrels. Wood aging adds color and flavor to the rum via tannins and complex oxidative changes; It also mellows the flavors to mature the bouquet (aromas) and taste.  The length of aging is determined by the maker’s taste preferences.  Almost all of the so-called aged or dark rums are blends of rums of different ages. The rich,  full-bodied    sipping     rums    are    typically   slow-

fermented,  distilled in pot stills and aged 7 or more “tropical years” in oak like Appleton and Myers rum from Jamaica. (1 tropical year roughly equals 2-3 cool climate years). However, unlike wine rum stops aging when it’s sealed in the bottle. The only number that matters is the number of years aged in the wooden cast.  Like wine, there is no single global standard for categorizing rum.  Instead, rum is defined by the varying rules and laws of the nations that produce the spirit.  For example, the sprit proof and minimum aging depends on its origin.  Martinique is widely considered one of the finest producers of aged  rums.  A major exporter to France, the island makes rum under the same exacting government standards—the Appellation d’Origine Controlee—applied to French cheeses and wine.  Clement, established in 1887, produces the Cuvee Special and V.S.O.P that we feature here at Sweet Plantains. These awarding winning rums are highly polished, and flavorsome. Made from free-run sugarcane juice, column-distilled and aged in oak cask for seven years to mellow and mature.   

            Connoisseurs can often identify the country of origin of a rum by taste.  Generally speaking, Spanish Speaking islands such as Puerto Rican (Bacardi Ron) and Cuba (Havana Club Ron), Captain Morgan, rums tend to be medium bodied  with a spicy clean taste. While French Speaking islands such as Haiti (Barbancourt Rhum) and Martinique (Clement Rhum) produces a more dryer Cognac style rum referred to as agricultural rum (rhum agricole): made from sugarcane juice, these fine rums have aromas of fresh cane, with gentle oak and spice flavors

            English Speaking islands rums are generally molasses based, pot distilled and tend to

be the heaviest and darkest rums. Jamaica’s Appleton 21 years (a blend of pot-distilled and continuous-distilled rum aged in American white oak barrels for a minimum of 21 years), Mount Gay Extra Old, Myers’s Legend, Bermuda’s Goslings and  Tortola’s Pusser’s are perfect examples of this style. Now  there are new artisan rum producers that claim to be “Rum’s Redeemer.” For example,  10 Cane Rum from Trinidad is distilled using only the first pressing of the best sugarcane, and aged for a six months in French oak barrels.  (The first pressing yields the richest, tastiest juices.)  10 Cane Rum is made by Moet Hennessy’s master distiller Jean Pinequ using the French high exacting Cognac production standards and methodologies to produce an ultra-premium mixing rum.  Mexico based Porfidio, makers of some of the world’s finest tequila makes a Single-cane rum mixing rum made from the finest freshly pressed sugarcane juice. This rum is aged in new oak, which is very expensive ($30 verses $700); the result is a rum  with pure sugarcane aromas and a spicy clean flavor.

                As with Cognac, Bourbon and Scotch, traditions run deep in the rum-making industry.  Set amidst the ruins of an old plantation in Estate Diamond, St. Croix, the Nelthropp  family, for example, has been making rum in the Virgin Island for seven generations (since 1760), and the family coat-of-arms is embossed on every bottle of Cruzan rum sold.  Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum is  the United States Virgin Island’s top premium rum and a big export brand; its a limited-production rum, made from hand-blending oak-aged, triple-distilled rums, then more oak aging. Cruzan Rum is the recipient of over thirty six prestigious awards including the highest rating for premium rum, dark rum and flavored rums.  

                A once in a lifetime opportunity. . . . We invite you to take a rum flight to taste, compare and contrast a wide variety of highly acclaimed, delicious rums at any time during dinner at Sweet Plantains Restaurant & Rhum Bar.   

In 1740, British Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon, the father of grog, was nicknamed “Old Grog”, because he always wore a waterproof cloak made of grogam - a thick material of silk, mohair, and wool. Vernon was the first to issue an order that the rum rations to his crew would be diluted with water. He wanted to put an end to the straight rum commonly issued to sailors aboard British vessels because it frequently caused displays of drunkenness and discipline problems.

British sailors soon began to call their watered down rum “grog”   as   an   irreverent   tribute  to  their  commander.

Since the middle of the 18th century, the Lieutenant of the Watch would observe the mixing of a quart of water with  a  half-pint  of  rum,  which  the  sailors  would enjoy

twice a day. Limes were added to prevent scurvy and the daily ration of grog continued as a British Naval tradition until 1970.In 1758, George Washington campaigned using 75 gallons of free rum distributed to the voters of Virginia, who elected him to the House.

Pusser’s Ships Decanter “Nelson’s Blood.  Following the battle at Trafalgar in 1805,the beloved general Lord Nelson’s body was placed in a full barrel of rum for preservation. Once the sailor’s learned of this unusual resting place, they drank the contents of the barrel leading to rum’s new nickname "Nelson's Blood."

A Classic British  Naval Toast:

Monday: Our ships at sea. Tuesday: Our men.  Wednesday: Ourselves.  Thursday: A bloody war and quick promotion. Friday: A willing soul and sea room. Saturday: Sweethearts and wives, may they never meet. Sunday: Absent friends and those at sea.

© 2005 Prince Adams

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