Rum

Rum is a distilled alcoholic drink made from sugarcane byproducts, such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice. Unlike some other spirits, rum has no defined production methods. Instead, production is based on traditional styles that vary between locations and distillers.

The origin of the word "rum" is unclear, but there are many theories:

• From the British slang term for "the best", as in "having a rum time"
• From the last syllable of the Latin word for sugar, saccharum
• From the Turkish name for Greeks, Rum, as some of the earliest rum spirits were distilled by Greek Christians in the eastern Mediterranean
• From the Romani word rum, meaning "strong" or "potent"
• From ramboozle or rumfustian, both popular British drinks in the mid-17th century. However, neither was made with rum
• From the large drinking glasses used by Dutch seamen known as rummers
• As a truncated version of rumbullion or rumbustion. Both words surfaced in English about the same time as rum did, and were slang terms for "tumult" or "uproar"

For rums from Spanish-speaking locales, the word ron is used. A ron añejo ("old rum") indicates a rum that has been significantly aged.

Rhum is made from fresh sugar cane juice rather than molasses in French-speaking locales like Martinique. A rhum vieux ("old rum") is an aged French rum.

Some of the many other names for rum are Nelson's blood, kill-devil, demon water, pirate's drink, navy neaters, and Barbados water. A version of rum from Newfoundland is referred to by the name screech, while some low-grade West Indies rums are called tafia.

The first distillation of rum in the Caribbean took place on the sugarcane plantations there in the 17th century. Plantation slaves discovered that molasses, a byproduct of the sugar refining process, could be fermented into alcohol. Later, distillation of these alcoholic byproducts concentrated the alcohol and removed impurities, producing the first modern rums. Tradition suggests this type of rum first originated on the island of Barbados. However, in the decade of the 1620s, rum production was also recorded in Brazil. A liquid identified as rum has been found in a tin bottle found on the Swedish warship Vasa, which sank in 1628.

After rum's birth in the Caribbean, the drink became popular in North America. To support the demand the first rum distillery in the British colonies was set up in 1664 on Staten Island. Boston had a distillery three years later. The manufacture of rum became early Colonial New England's largest and most prosperous industry. Rhode Island rum joined gold as an accepted currency in Europe for a period of time.

Legend says that Horatio Nelson, following his death at the Battle of Trafalgar, was preserved in a cask of rum to allow transportation back to England. Upon arrival the cask was opened and found to be empty. The pickled body was removed and upon inspection it was discovered that the sailors had drilled a hole in the bottom of the cask and drunk the rum, hence the term "Nelson's blood" being used to describe rum. It is also the basis for the term "tapping the admiral" used to describe sucking liquor from a cask through a straw.

The Royal Navy gave its sailors a daily rum ration, known as a "tot", until the practice was abolished after 1970.

Dividing rum into meaningful groupings is complicated because no single standard exists for what constitutes rum. Instead, rum is defined by the varying rules and laws of the nations producing the spirit. The differences in definitions include issues such as spirit proof, minimum ageing, and even naming standards.

Within the Caribbean, each island or production area has a unique style. For the most part, these styles can be grouped by the language traditionally spoken:

• English-speaking islands and countries are known for darker rums with a fuller molasses flavor. These include Antigua, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Belize, Bermuda, Saint Kitts, the Demerara region of Guyana, and Jamaica. In Jamaica a version called "Rude Rum" or "John Crow Batty" is served in some places and it is reportedly much stronger.
• French-speaking islands are best known for their agricultural rums (rhum agricole). These rums, being produced exclusively from sugar cane juice, retain a greater amount of the original flavor of the sugar cane and are generally more expensive than molasses-based rums. Rums from Haiti, Guadeloupe and Martinique are typical of this style.
• States and territories formerly of the Spanish Empire traditionally produce añejo rums, including Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Rum from the U.S. Virgin Islands is also of this style.