Additives used to boost a rum's flavour include prune wine, chaptalized fruit juice, boisse, sugar, spice and flavourings. As for age statements, in many cases they are just that, statement and not fact. In the case of the best producers and regulated markets, these age statements (rightly) represent the age of the youngest rum in the blend. Others portray the average age of the rums in the blend and some are simply meaningless. Bottling rum

In general, heavily-bodied rums are those with more congeners and they tend to be made in pot (alembic) stills. Pot (alembic) still rum production Rum is produced from Genus Saccharum officinarun, the giant grass that’s better known as sugar cane. The plant takes between ten months and two years to reach sufficient maturity to harvest and extract its sugars. There are many different varieties of sugar cane and the variety and the region where it’s grown significantly affect the profile of the rum produced from it. Harvesting This authentic, handcrafted rum exists to subvert the Status Quo when it comes to the bloodline of this spirit. Distilled in the world’s first triple-bubble still, after a five-day fermentation it is then double-pot distilled to create a white rum rich in flavour of tropical fruit and dark berries. A mentioned above the distiller must judge when to make the cuts during distillation so controlling what congeners are retained and discarded. Some stills are very simple, while others have devices which allow the distiller more control.Next follows the desirable part of the run, 'the cut', as the alcohol level of the distillate collected starts to fall, and the 'low wines' or 'tails' arrive and are set aside. As in Cognac and Scotland it is usual for pot still rums to be double distilled - put through the pot still twice with the distillate collected from the first distillation producing a distillate with an alcohol strength in the low twenties and the second distillation typically being over 70% alc./vol.. The heaviest compounds, the 'high wines' (those with a high boiling point) come off the still last. Some of these heavier congeners are oily and are referred to as fusel oils. The lightest of these, the 'low wines' (those with a low boiling point) will be given off first and many of these most volatile compounds are harmful. The sugar and molasses produced by the first process are termed A-grade and the second B-grade. The third batch of sugar produced by this process is known as Low-grade sugar and this is used to mix with the next batch of syrup to start the process again. Whatever sugar cane derivative base ingredient is chosen (molasses, cane juice or cane syrup) this is fermented with water and cultured (almost always) or naturally occurring yeast to produce a beer like 'wash' of 5-10% alc./vol.. The resulting 'wash' can then be distilled to make rum.

The fact that ageing in oak barrels improves the raw rum was discovered when ships carried rum on the long passage to Europe, it arrived darker in colour and with an improved flavour. Losses in volume to due evaporation are also more exaggerated in hotter climates (around 6% per year as opposed to 3% in Scotland) and high humidity can mean an almost equal loss between alcohol and water, meaning that although the volume is lost the strength remains fairly constant. To prevent casks destined for extended ageing from gradually emptying over the years, it is common for casks to be topped up with rum from other casks in same batch. Thus, you might start with ten casks of rum from a particular batch and ten years later be left with only five casks. Charcoal filtration of rum Like all distillates, regardless of whether they are distilled in pot or column stills, all rums are clear when they condense after distillation. Colour in rum is the result of ageing in oak casks (and also the possible addition of caramel colour). White rum can simply be a sugar cane distillate watered down and bottled. The team say it is "deliciously smooth and creamy. Notes of vanilla, caramel, butterscotch and citrus, with a long and spicy finish." Light rums tend to originate from countries originally colonised by the Spanish, such as Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Heavy rums traditionally come from former French and English colonies, including Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Barbados, Guyana and the Virgin Islands. Distillation of rumAberdeen-based Ardent Spirits, an independent bottling company, recently launched an exclusive ‘Sea Shanty rum’ with proceeds going to Aberdeen RNLI. Simple column stills (like that designed by Aeneas Coffey) consist of two tall columns, one called an 'analyzer column' and the other the 'rectifying column'. Perforated copper trays or 'plates' sit horizontally in each, like the floors in an skyscraper. Put simply steam is introduced at the bottom of the still and the wash mid way up. The hot steam rises through the still with each floor or plate acting to distil the wash with heavier compounds unable to rise to the next floor so falling while lighter compounds vaporise and ascend the still. The two columns are linked, the second further purifying the vapours from the first while at the same time heating the wash that will charge the first (analyzer) colum. Blending is the final process available to the distiller to alter a rum's character. Many rums are blends of light and dark rums of different ages. Rums may be 95% column still with just 5% or even less pot still to add character and flavour.

The BrewDog Distilling Co team then infuse a combination of this white rum with Tonka beans, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and spices; the remainder is pot-distilled with an abundance of fresh orange peel, Schezuan peppercorn, green cardamom and cloves. The result is a full-flavoured blended botanical rum that is real in every sense. Free from artificial ingredients, full of spice and citrus zest; it is a product of meticulous craft. Ideal for those that enjoy a sweeter style of rum, Matugga Golden Rum (42% ABV) and Matugga Spiced Rum (42% ABV) are currently available via Craft56. J. Gow Revenge rum The Matugga distillery was established in 2018 by husband and wife team Jacine and Paul Rutasikwa, who had been selling their range of rums since 2015. Column stills are also known as 'continuous stills' because, as their name suggests, they can be run continuously without the need to stop and start between batches as in pot stills. This, coupled with the higher concentration of alcohol in the final distillate, makes column stills much more economical to operate than pot stills. They also allow the production of lighter, cleaner rums.In the Caribbean the cane is usually cut once a year, while in South American sub-tropical climates it is possible to crop twice a year. Like most grass varieties, sugar cane thrives on being cut and simply starts growing again after cutting, this cycle only needs to be interrupted due to diminishing nutriments in the soil. After six years or so it was common to plant another crop to reinvigorate the soil but modern fertilisers are now often used to stretch a few more years of cane growth. Whether a cask is a 'first re-fill', meaning the cask was previously used to age another spirit and this is its first time it has been used to age rum. Or it is a second or third re-fill will make a huge difference to the effect the cask has on the maturing spirit. Pot stills are the simplest and the original type of still. Extensively they are glorified copper kettles - indeed in some countries such as the Netherlands even call them 'kettles' rather than stills. These are the kind of stills used in Scotland to make malt whisky and France to make cognac.