“But why is all the rum gone?!” –Captain Jack Sparrow
– Mortica’s Kiss –
Rum
Words about rum… the idea alone conjures images Earnest Hemmingway brooding over one of his namesake daiquiris in the drenching heat of a hot Florida afternoon. Rum is a world unto itself, and that world is decidedly tropical.
We have a 17th century naval officer to thank for what we now know as the daiquiri. He was merely trying to keep his sailors free of scurvy with a crude concoction of rum, citrus and sugar. Proof that not all medicine tastes bad.
Like Whisky, styles of Rum vary largely depending on their geographic origins. There are white rums, golden rums, dark and even black rums. Dark rums from Jamaica are famous for their funk, while dark rums from Barbados will have a spicy warm finish like that of a bourbon. Spiced and flavored rums are a category entirely unto themselves, and be careful not to offend the ABV gods by calling a rum flavored liqueur “Rum”. They might send Blackbeard’s ghost after you.
