OK first off, this is a new sight to me and I'm not really seeing new information. Yet it is nice to see other mostly (WIRSPA is a joke) informed opinions.CAN RUM SURVIVE ITS MOMENT IN THE SUN?
Where Quality Rum Goes Off the Rails
How do rums violate these seemingly common sense production and labeling standards? Here are the major points of contention:
Added sugar: Of all rum’s battlefields, the addition of sugar to rum prior to bottling is the most hotly debated.
Most people respond positively to sugar. As Mary Poppins sang, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” Like salt, sugar can enhance existing flavors, and dissolved sugar adds thickness (or “body”) to a liquid like rum.
Many of the world’s beloved rums are sweetened, often heavily. Prime examples of sweetened rum include certain expressions from Zacapa, Zaya, Diplomatico, El Dorado, and Plantation. These high-end rums like Zacapa 23, Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva and El Dorado 12 are often labeled as “sipping” rums because they’re very “smooth” and are easily consumed in much the same way as a liqueur.
It may surprise some people, but properly distilled rum has essentially zero residual sugar, the same as whiskey, tequila, pisco, cognac, or any other spirit. The sugar in rum mash doesn’t make it through the distillation process. Put another way, rum is not inherently sweet. If you’re drinking a rum and it tastes sweet, it’s almost certain that sugar or some other sweetener was added to it after distillation and before bottling.
Make sure to catch the comments too.
http://cocktailwonk.com/2016/01/can-rum ... #more-1309
