Rum Glossary

Rum matured in oak casks, which softens the spirit and adds vanilla, caramel, and spice. Terms like añejo, reserva, and XO are loosely used and, in most countries, not legally defined.

The rum lost to evaporation during aging. In the tropical Caribbean heat it runs high — often 6–10% a year, several times the rate in Scotland or Kentucky.

Rum from Barbados, widely regarded as the most balanced and elegant style — typically a blend of pot- and column-still rum, refined and versatile. Barbados is often called the birthplace of rum.

The darkest, most concentrated grade of molasses, used to make deeply flavoured, near-black rums. Intense notes of burnt sugar, coffee, and licorice.

Rum combining pot- and column-still (and often multiple ages or islands) for a balanced, consistent profile. Most aged sipping rums are blends.

Brazil's national spirit, distilled from fresh sugarcane juice. Legally its own category rather than rum, though closely related — the base of the Caipirinha.

Fresh-pressed juice of the sugarcane plant, the base for agricole and cachaça (as opposed to molasses). Gives grassy, vegetal, vibrant flavours.

Rum from a continuous column still — lighter, cleaner, and higher-proof than pot-still rum. The backbone of most blended and Spanish-style rums.

Rich, dark rum from Guyana, named for the Demerara River. Famous for being distilled on the world's last heritage wooden stills, giving deep molasses and dried-fruit intensity.

Sugar added to rum after distillation. Common in Spanish/Latin-style sipping rums, undisclosed and unregulated in most markets. It softens and sweetens — and hides youth and rough edges.

The leftover liquid from a previous distillation, added back into the next fermentation in Jamaican rum-making. It builds the funky, high-ester character — rum's answer to sourdough starter.

Esters are aromatic compounds created in fermentation and distillation that give rum its fruity, funky character. High-ester rums (especially Jamaican) are intensely aromatic — banana, pineapple, and glue-like funk.

The savoury, fruity, faintly funky character of Jamaican and other high-ester rums &mdash; 'hogo' comes from the French <em>haut goût</em> ('high taste'). Overripe fruit, varnish, and earthy depth.

Rum from Jamaica, famous for pot-still production and bold, funky, high-ester character. Ranges from the refined to the wild.

The thick, dark byproduct of refining sugarcane into sugar, and the base for the vast majority of the world's rum. Gives brown-sugar, caramel, and dark-fruit depth.

High-proof rum, traditionally 57% ABV (100 British proof) or above. 'Navy strength' recalls rations that would still let gunpowder ignite if spilled. Intense, concentrated, and cocktail-transforming.

Rum from a batch pot still &mdash; heavier, oilier, and more flavourful than column-still rum, and the source of most funk and ester character.

The three spellings signal three broad traditions: English-style <em>rum</em> (pot-rich, funky), Spanish-style <em>ron</em> (column-light, often sweetened, Latin America), and French-style <em>rhum</em> (agricole, cane-juice).

Rum distilled from fresh-pressed sugarcane juice rather than molasses, associated with Martinique and the French Caribbean (where it carries an AOC). Grassy, vegetal, and vibrant.

A fractional-blending aging system (borrowed from sherry) where older and younger rums are progressively mixed. Common in Spanish-style rums.

Rum flavoured with spices, vanilla, and often added sugar and colour. A flavoured category (usually mass-market) rather than a style prized by rum enthusiasts.

Where the rum matures. Tropical aging (in the Caribbean heat) is fast and intense with a high angel's share; continental aging (in cooler Europe) is slow and gentle. A '10-year tropical' rum is very different from a '10-year continental' one.

Traditional Jamaican classifications for medium- and high-ester rums &mdash; a shorthand for how much funk a rum carries. Plummer is rich; Wedderburn is richer still.

Unaged or lightly aged rum, usually filtered clear. Ranges from clean, light column-still cocktail rums to funky, characterful white pot-still Jamaicans.