Make hay while rum shines

Aging is done in oak casks from one to 30 years. [Photo/China Daily]

The partners blame rum's cheap reputation today on "the curse of Bacardi" but they admit that Bacardi White is not a bad mixer for its low price.

"The perception of a product is driven by the brand with the highest profile," Stuart says. "With whiskey, people know Johnny Walker Black, which is not cheap, but for rum, it is sad that the biggest name markets itself as a cheap product."

Before blaming everything on the present day marketing of Bacardi, a history of rum in the Caribbean colonies unveils the reason for low prices and their very distinct flavors.

"Rum is one of the very few products where taste and price were driven by colonisers or the mother countries. They really wanted a spirit that they could sell and distribute cheaply. Navy rum for the UK is an example," explains Stuart.

"Rum was always produced by colonies while whiskey, sherry and cognac were made by the colonisers on the mainland. Because the market demanded only cheap rum, the great and expensive rum stayed locally in the Caribbean until only recently."

Colonisers also discouraged the importation of quality spirits fearing the threat to their own industries.

"Aside from sugar, another product of the free trade between the Caribbean and their colonisers were old, used barrels that stored and aged sherry in Spain, cognac in France, whiskey in England and bourbon in America," Carey adds. "They were cheaper because they were used but a benefit was that they carried a lot of flavors. Certain distilleries used barrels from specific countries because of colonial ties and it has become part of their taste profiles."

Former English colonies like Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana will have a heavy molasses flavor while those from former Spanish colonies like Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and parts of Central America will have a lighter molasses flavor and those known as rum agricole from French colonies like Haiti, Guadeloupe and Martinique will have a floral bouquet, very close to fresh sugar cane.

Related: Enjoying scent and flavors of this spirit