Rum is one of the world’s great spirits and one of the toughest to understand. Its heritage is both romantic – the sailor or pirate’s drink – and troubling – the links between sugarcane plantations and slavery cannot be ignored. Because of its historical, social, and cultural importance, it has been called the world’s spirit, but its roots lie in the Caribbean. If you’ve ever traveled to that area, you are bound to have noticed how integral it is to each island’s culture, how it features in all local celebrations, and how the way it is consumed varies significantly.
Because of its 400+ year history and the solid links between locals and ‘their’ rum, it is probably the most diverse spirit you’ll likely find. Production methods, taste profile, styles, uses… It is truly mind-boggling. You might have heard that rum’s problem and/or opportunity is that it is not regulated – it’s the spirit of the Wild West Indies, so to speak. While that is not strictly true – many countries, including Cuba, do regulate rum’s production – rum does indeed lack a single unifying regulatory standard. But how could it be any different for a spirit that is now produced from Peru
(Cartavio) to Mauritius (Chamarel) and Scotland (Sea Wolf), of all places! Interestingly, the world’s biggest-selling rums are technically local brands in India (Mcdowell’s) and The Philippines (Tanduay).
That’s why this crash course on rum in general and Cuban rum in particular might come in handy. We’re not here to single out the good from the bad or the ugly. We want you to have a better idea of what type of rum you can find on the market and, of course, we want you to understand where Cuban rum fits in this picture and why it’s in a category of its own, one no self-respecting bartender should overlook.
As you know, there are traditionally two ways to categorize rum. The first one is according to its colour. The Cuban regulation actually differentiates between blanco (white), dorado (golden) or oscuro (dark). With honest producers, some meaning can be attached to rum’s colour. Truth is, however, that white rum can mean unaged rum or aged rum that has been stripped of its colour through carbon-filtration. Dark rum may very well have matured for years in oak barrels or may have just been coloured with lots of caramel. Rum cannot be taken at face value, which is why we chose the second traditional approach of categorizing rum in these sessions: grouping rum-producing countries according to the Empire they belonged to when they set off on their rum adventure.
Basically, rum-producing countries in the Caribbean used to be either British, French or Spanish colonies. Different drinking cultures of course thrived in each of those European countries and they had an influence on the spirits their colonies produced – it’s like food: it’s not prepared the same way in Cuba or Martinique, although many of the ingredients are similar. Of course, the political and economic course history took in each of these colonies also impacted rum evolution. Production methods can and do overlap across the old colonial territories. For the purpose of simplicity, I will refer to British, French, and Spanish rum styles here.
First, we’ll cover these three styles and then tell you why Cuban rum stands in its own category. And you can be sure Havana Club will get a special mention!
