The 100% Solution

For centuries, Rums have been produced from either fresh-pressed sugarcane juice, as is the case in French-controlled nations that make Rum (rhum in French), or molasses, the dark brown, viscous spinoff material from sugar refining that is utilized around the world. The disparity in use is startling, since sugarcane juice Rums (rhum agricole) account for a mere 3-percent of all Rums while molasses-based Rums comprise a whopping 97-percent.

Of course, when such wide margins of difference exist, that supplies fertile grounds for controversy, often with one side claiming that they produce the better Rum. Arguments of this nature tend to be born of parochial viewpoints, however. It can positively be stated that both sugarcane juice and molasses produce exemplary Rums that are simply different in attributes. Sugarcane juice Rums are typically earthy, grassy or mineral-like in nature while molasses-based Rums run the gamut of character from floral to spicy to delicately sweet.

Contemporary Rum Production

Contemporary Rum production involves many moving parts of which all must be mastered when utilizing either sugarcane juice or molasses. To flatly state that one style is better than another is like saying that red is better than blue when, in fact, they are both primary colors that have unique characteristics.