The Rum Festival – Newcastle Saturday 5th May 2018

Recently there was a debate at Tales of the Cocktail.  The debate centered around “When is rum not a rum?”.

Basically it was a discussion between those who add sugar (and/or other additives) and those who are very much against the practice.  This got me thinking about a subject which is very close to my heart.

The overall standard and practices used by professional and non-professional spirits writers.

Reasons for “Blogging”

When I set up this blog back in 2014 I did it for a few reasons.

My first reason was a way of documenting and remembering my experiences with rum.  It would be for my own enjoyment and reflection in years to come.  It was a way of keeping those bottles of rums safe somewhere.  Without actually physically having to keep them all.  Much to my wife’s relief.

My second reason was the lack of regularly updated or dedicated Rum Review websites.  Compared to Whisky – Rum really does have very little presence on the net.  I felt that if I produced a website, it would actually get looked at.  Rather than become one of many thousands that are largely ignored in the Whisky world.

My third and final reason was linked to my second reason.  I felt as a consumer first and foremost, some of the advice and guidance being handed out on some of these websites was questionable.  That is being kind.  I also noticed a lot of positive reviews and very few negative ones.

One of the first things I noticed about the Rum Community when I “joined up” and published the site back in 2014, was the friendliness.  A number of other bloggers were keen to welcome me.  The mantra “rum is fun” was very much in place.

This may not seem a bad thing and in many ways it’s not.  Unfortunately it is this very mantra which continues to drag the category down.  It is partly why rum continues to be a bit of a joke in the spirits world.  It’s a party mixer to get drunk with.  With everyone being friendly and welcoming it seemed no questions were being asked.  On any level.  No one seemed to want to rock the boat.

The Rum world suffers, as most spirits do from global multi nationals marketing and pricing strategies.  These multi nationals can pay to enter all manner of competitions (even set some up theselves).  Then market their rums quite freely as Gold Medal winning rum etc.  Some brands have become so intrinsically linked to certain Rumfests that it is difficult to take the awards seriously.  They can also demand premium shelf space in stores and even prevent competitors rums from being sold or displayed in stores or bars.

Industry Samples

These companies are also free to give out samples to the industry.  Now bloggers receiving samples and their impartiality is a private matter.  I personally don’t think it is possible to be 100% impartial.  Others have suggested they can.  What is clear though once you start scratching beneath the surface of all these reviews, is how bad some of the sample led ones are.

Take for example Papa’s Pilar Dark 24.  I slammed this as it has little resemblance to rum. Run a quick google search and it will draw up a whole host of positive reviews.  Read and compare the notes.  Ask yourself – how many of these “experts” are really knowledgeable about rum?

Which may sound rather big-headed of me.  Who the hell am I to be calling out bad reviews? Well, I don’t even believe I am calling out bad reviews.  I’m calling out marketing.  A lot of these so called reviews are not reviews.  The reviewer hasn’t spent much time with their promotional bottle.  They’ve been given some marketing blurb to re-gurgitate and they have set about their task.  Most of the time they don’t even score the rum. They just give a whole host of nice sounding tasting notes.  Which to be fair you could easily do with most rum – good or bad.

The practice stinks and the average consumer deserves a lot better than to be duped by such nonsense.

Hydrometer Tests

Despite the very real situation back in 2014 that rum was being altered and adulterated very few website owners acknowledged the fact.  Even fewer had adopted the Hydrometer Test Method, as advocated by Johnny Drejer of Drecon.dk.

Personally, once I realised how simple and inexpensive these tests were it struck me as a no brainer to test all the rums I reviewed.  Why? Because you can never know enough about rum and you will rarely be told by the industry.

It makes sense to me to understand as much about the spirit of rum as possible.  Granted the Hydrometer Tests do not tell everything but they do offer an invaluable insight.

Now some had spoke out about his adulteration.  Perhaps the most (in)famous of these is Capn Jimbo of the Rum Project.  Unfortunately the Capn was overzealous and rather repetitive in his criticisms of the practice.  Rather than influence or engage he basically just pissed a lot of people off.  He did and continues to make a lot of very good points.  Unfortunately he has influenced too few people.  In many respects he has probably caused more people to dig their heels in against his opinions.

As I write, now in 2016 more Rum Reviewers are commenting on added sugar and conducting Hydrometer Tests on their collections.  However, a lot remain very quiet on the subject.

So you might well still be wondering “When is rum not a rum?”.  Well it’s certainly a very difficult and contentious question.

From my viewpoint. I am someone who wants to help people make good choices when buying rum. So perhaps to answer the question of “When is rum not a rum?” we need to approach it from a slightly different angle.

What is Good Rum?

Rum is a distillate derived from sugar cane or sugar cane juice.  It is distilled in either pot or column stills.  To remain a rum it should not be distilled to the point whereby it becomes ethyl alcohol or neutral spirit.  Typically this is at around 95% but many have suggested it should be lower to maintain the character of the spirit – around 85% maximum.

Once the rum comes off the still it should be aged in good quality, empty (not unwashed) oak barrels.  It can be matured in a variety of barrels and a “finish” can be applied – again in barrels which do not contain other spirits or alcohols.

Once aged for the necessary period deemed by the distiller the rum should be bottled and/or blended with other rum.

If you have distilled and aged the rum in this manner you will have a good quality spirit called Rum.

It really should be that simple.  Any flavour beyond the original distillate will be provided by the maturation period in the oak. Simple.

If you are reviewing rum then you should be able to identify rum which has been produced in this way.  You should be familiar with the “true spirit” you are writing about.  You should over time be able to identify tastes, flavours and smells that have perhaps been added.  This is the very tricky part.

Benchmarks

I always use benchmarks of good rums for the majority of  rum styles.  These might not necessarily be the best rum in the style but they are all of a certain standard.  They represent a spirit which is at the very least “good”.

For Jamaican and Bajan rum this has proved a very uncomplicated choice.  Pretty much anything from Appleton Estate and Foursquare are good starters.  For more “funky” Jamaican rums then J Wray and Nephews White Overproof offers a good example of that “niche”.  At the same time Hampden Gold or Smith & Cross offer  an introduction to high ester Jamaican rum.

For Bajan rum I can also call upon Mount Gay Extra Old and Cockspur Fine Rum as solid examples of the style.  One a sipper one an inexpensive mixer.

For Navy Rum it’s fairly straightforward and all must be judged against the standards set by Pusser’s Gunpowder proof (54.5% ABV).

As examples of white rum I use Don Q Cristal, Charman’s Reserve White Label and Appleton White.

Unfortunately due to the amount of adulteration and unspoken of practices in rum it gets rather tricky after this.

Demerara Rum – It’s quite difficult to get unsweetened Demerara especially at the lower mixing end of things.  As a result my standards for Demerara include both sweetened and unsweetened.  El Dorado 8 and 15 for sweetened rums.  Woods Navy Rum (it is purely Demerara despite being sold as Navy rum) and Cadenheads Classic Rum for the unsweetened rums.  If I am reviewing an expensive Demerara around the £100 mark for example then Velier’s rums will set the benchmark.

Cuban/Spanish Style Rum – I tend to use Havana Club 7 and Seleccion de Maestro as benchmarks for this style.

Premium Rum – I use Premium rum as an example of a style but in reality it is more adultered rum than anything else.  I’m not keen on this “style” of rum.  Ron Zacapa and Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva are examples of this style.  It’s difficult really to see these kinds of spirit as rum.

As you can see it does get difficult and confusing.  I can’t even go into every style of rum as I would be on all day!  It’s bit of minefield really.

Will I downscore a rum solely based on added sugar (or other suspected additives?

My answer is that I won’t mark the rum down solely because it has added sugar.  However if the added sugar detracts from what would have been the original spirit in a negative way.  The best example I can think of is Plantation Jamaica 2001.  In that the original taste, flavour and texture of the distillate has been lost – then yes, I will down score it.

Likewise if a rum is obscured so much by added sugar and additives that it displays no or little resemblance to rum – it won’t score well as a rum.  I’m reviewing rum not liqueurs.

Which brings me round to my final point.  I mentioned already that when reviewing rum you can never know enough about the spirit.  Knowledge of the spirit of rum and how it should taste is key.  It’s vital to understand and at least try to determine when a rum has been adulterated.

It Tastes Nice…..

In my opinion it is simply not acceptable to review rum based solely on something tasting nice.  To many this may sound a little strange.  Surely reviewers should review based on how they enjoy the rum?

I would say yes undoubtedly reviewers should base their opinions on how much they enjoy the rum.  If however they cannot taste or determine any rum in the bottle then they should make this abundantly clear.  As mentioned already rum is a very diverse spirit.  Some of this diversity is due to production methods, climate, ageing, blending etc and some of this diversity is due to additives to the base spirit.  If these additives detract from the original base spirit – it should be noted.

This is a very tricky area for a rum reviewer.  I will state now that I cannot 100% vouch that I could identify every rum which has been altered.  I doubt I could even vouch 90%.  However, what I am trying to do is learn and understand the true spirit of rum.  I can’t test for additives such as glycerine but I am learning how it feels in the mouth.

What I can do however is recognise what should be present in certain rums.  If a rum has been aged for any prolonged period then it should exhibit some oak, particularly on the nose.  It then comes down to understanding the various styles a Jamaican rum should be more punchy and funky – big notes of bruised banana and other overripe fruits.

A Bajan rum when done well should be nicely balanced with vanilla and gentle oaked notes.  Rums of a Spanish origin (Cuban rums for example) should be lighter more delicate with often a tobacco’ed note.  Unfortunately many Spanish style rums do have wine/vermouth etc added to them.  Cuban rum by law is permitted to have 20 g/L of sugar added.  Which again makes things more difficult.  No one ever said it was easy.

If rum continues to be heralded because it is sweet and tastes nice – step forward Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva, Ron Zacapa, Pyrat XO and Ron Millonario XO then the category will not move forward.

The whole “smooth and sweet” basis of reviewing rum needs to stop.  Rum is not sweet because it is distilled from sugar cane.  It is exactly the same as any other spirit.  The sugar turns to alcohol.  Didn’t anyone pay attention to Dennis Leary’s 1990’s Holsten Pils adverts?

If a rum is smooth and sweet – then I want to know why.  Rum can be sweet.  When finishes are applied to rum – in the case of Foursquare’s Port Cask Finish.  It can also be relatively smooth.  However you are drinking (at least) 37.5% ABV liquor – if it doesn’t give you at least a little kick – there’s something up.

Ron Millonario XO for example is not a smooth and sweet rum.  It is a sweetened and highly doctored “rum”.  The rum in this product is non-existent.  It’s been masked beyond all recognition.

Any reviewer worth their salt should recognise this.  Unfortunately many either cannot or more worryingly choose not to.  I do not have anywhere near as much knowledge as I would like but I will continue to seek out information and improve, wherever possible.