Rum

Rum, alcoholic beverage produced by the distillation of various fermented cane sugar products. The most common mixtures used in making rum consist of molasses and water or sugar and water. Another type of rum is made by fermenting a mixture of the scum formed when the raw juice of the sugarcane is heated with molasses, water, and “dunder,” the residue left after the refining of sugar. When distilled, rum is a white or straw-colored spirit varying in strength from 80 to 150 proof (40 to 75 percent alcohol). Dark rums are made by adding a small amount of caramel or by aging in special wooden casks. The flavor depends upon ethyl butyrate, an organic ester. Most rum for export is made in Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.