That Caribbean Spirit

By Craig R. Carey

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Synonymous for many with images of marauding Caribbean pirates or lazy days spent on the beaches of Puerto Rico or Jamaica, rum is a sweet distilled spirit derived from sugarcane. Its history, inextricably interwoven with that of the Americas, is rooted in the Old World with quite the checkered story. But as with all things American, it continues to adapt and reinvent itself.

Most rum is distilled from fermented molasses and typically contain about the same alcohol by volume as other popular spirits (approximately 40%). Though generally considered a “New World” drink, rum has its roots in ancient times, with fermented sugarcane juice having been served in Asia well over a thousand years ago. Though it is distilled the world over, the majority of the modern rum industry is based in the West Indies and the eastern coasts of Central and South America. The Mount Gay distillery in Barbados is generally considered the oldest operating rum distillery, established in 1663 and officially notarized in 1703.

In the Spirit

Historically, the European and American demand for sugar led to the massive network of sugarcane plantations throughout the colonial holdings in the Caribbean. There, the harvested cane was milled and the juice extracted. The juice was in turn boiled, and what did not crystallize became the molasses that is the base for most rum. The molasses in turn was mixed with water and left to ferment. By the mid- 1600s this side-product of crystallized sugar was being distilled into rum. The rum is then allowed to age in large (usually oak) casks. The process today follows the same basic steps, with different-shaped stills and aging techniques factoring into the complexity of the rums.