Rum is less of a drink and more of a way of life. No other spirit has such a spread of styles. It can be white, golden or dark. It can be spiced of flavoured. it can be distilled in a column or pot still and produced from molasses or sugar cane. Where cane is grown and sugar is made, rum likely won’t be far away.
The majority of rum is produced in Latin America and the Caribbean, perhaps evoking images of pirate ships. But rum isn’t exclusive to these areas and is now made the world over, from Spain and India and even Scotland. So, although rum started life as a sugar industry by-product, it is now a global premium spirit. Indeed, with so many styles made in so many countries, there is arguably now no such thing as “rum”. Rather, there are a multitude of rums, each with their own distinct characteristics.
