Rum, especially when mixed with fruit or juice, can be a sweet sip. Better rums are less sweet and best taken straight, perhaps with a little ice.
That was the case with many of the rums at mid-January’s Rum & Food Festival in St. Lucia, where local spirits starred, including popular Chairman’s Reserve and 1931, both rated among the festival’s top three rums. Chairman’s Reserve is the most widely distributed St. Lucian rum in the United States.
“Chairman’s Reserve is right on the edge of rum you can mix or take neat,” says Steven Shaw, a festival judge and publisher of Caribbean Journal. With an almost whiskeylike edge, it has notes of tobacco and chocolate.
1931, named in honor of the 83rd anniversary of rum production in St. Lucia, is mellower than Chairman’s Reserve. It shares tobacco and chocolate notes, characteristic of St. Lucian rums, as well as citrus and raisin flavors.
Admiral Rodney, named after the British naval officer who defeated the French in 1782, is a fave of Patrick Williams, national beverage director at Punch Bowl Social. “The rums within this blend are an average of 12 years old,” Williams explains. “That much time in oak provides complexity: dynamic yet very balanced.”
Plantation Rum, sometimes aged 15 years or more, is slightly fruity and super mellow; you wouldn’t want to blur the complexity by mixing it in a cocktail. “It’s full-bodied with hints of caramelized banana, cinnamon and cloves,” says Paul McGee, partner at Chicago’s Lost Lake and beverage director at Land & Sea Department.
The taste of any given rum depends upon the materials used (molasses or sugar cane), yeasts, distillation (column or pot still, the latter yielding more complexity) and spices. Rums are sometimes perked up with nutmeg, cinnamon and other aromatics; Chairman’s Reserve, for instance, comes in a spiced version, and St. Lucians frequently infuse jugs of rum with local spices.
Straight from the still, rum is not very sweet. So why are some rums sweeter than others? Sugar.
“Some rums are sweet simply because sugar has been added to mask bitter flavors,” says Ian John, distillery manager at St. Lucia Distillers.
OK, you’ve got your rum, maybe on ice — what are you having with that? When pairing with food, the old rule applies: What grows together, goes together. Rum works well with Caribbean salt fish preparations, grilled meat and other dishes of the region.
“Snack on fried plantains and rum,” Williams advises, “and you’ll feel like you’re on the beach under a palm tree.”
David Hammond is a freelance writer.