Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/581407
october 2015 / the tasting panel / 85 RUM ong one of the world's most popular spirits, rum, the go-to bottle most people grab when dreaming of the tropics, has seen a tremendous surge in new labels over the past decade or so. Yet, with all the gain in popularity and production, rum seems to still be one of the most misunderstood, and to some, the most mis-used spirits in the world, with minimal industry-wide regulations in place. And with so many different varieties available to the consumer, rum remains largely regarded, and marketed, as an overall collective, particularly by retailers. Fueling this generalization, in part, is the simple fact that you can make rum just about anywhere, needing only a supply of molasses or its parent crop, sugarcane, to create the base spirit, from which it's then up to the producer to age and finish to their own personal preference. Whether that is aging in oak, adding flavors like citrus or spice or simply bottling it upon distillation, each distiller uses different techniques to coax their preferred style into existence. As such, rum has, over the years, remained largely a category that plays by little or no rules when it comes to defining its uses, with large companies and small working to claim ownership of various signature cocktails, like the Daiquiri, Dark PHOTO COURTESY OF RHUM CLÉMENT USA PHOTO COURTESY OF RHUM CLÉMENT USA Whether that is aging in oak, adding flavors like citrus or spice or simply bottling it upon distillation, each distiller uses different techniques to coax their pre- ferred style into existence.