Super Glossary

Rum can be made from 2 different raw materials: it can be distilled directly from the fermented juice of crushed sugar cane, or, once the sugar is extracted, it can be made from the remaining molasses. Some rums contain dunder, which is a residue from the previous distillation and makes for a more pungent product. Three main types of rum are made in the West Indies today. Very light(white or silver) rums hail from the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico. These require little aging and are relatively tasteless and oderless. Golden rum, also known as anejo, though still of the light-bodied type, has more taste and pronounced character. Darker, aromatic, full bodied rums such as Myer's are produced in Jamaica. These are distilled by a slower and different fermentation process, which allows for a fuller richer, molasses like body to develop. All rum is colerless when first distilled, and those that are aged for only a year are often colored with caremel. Even heavy bodied rums that are aged in charred oak casks for as long as twenty years are subject to artificial coloring. Medium and heavy bodied rums are usually aged between two and twenty years.