The Debate Over Converting Industrial Rum to High Quality Rum is Not a New One

Richard Seale

     The conversion of industrial rum into a "high quality" rum by the addition of sugar and other Rapfael Arroyo, Rum Specialist at the University of Puerto wrote an article in the Journal of Sugar on the subject back in 1942.   Thanks to Richard Seale,  some very interesting aspects of this paper are available for you to read.
flavors is not a new idea.   It seams that

     "The idea of producing industrial alcohol first and trying to artificially convert it into high quality rum is absolutely erroneous and has given rise to the innumerable poor representatives of true rum now on the American Market".

Among the "artificial" methods described by Arroyo included :

- adding sugars of various kinds
- natural or artificial vanilla
- and "recently" the use of "various sweet wines" including "moscatels of Spanish origin".

     Arroyo bemoaned that a "clearer realization of the fundamental difference existing (or that should exist) in the methods of industrial alcohol and rum manufacture would improve matters a great deal".

     In a further article in SUGAR dated July 1942, entitled "Genuine and Spurious Rums" Arroyo described the method so many rum enthusiasts now use today whereby extract is measured by comparing 'apparent proof' (as measured by hyrometer/density meter) and 'true proof' (taken from the label).   Arroyo showed that for genuine rums, extract ("entirely derived from the staves of the barrel") would be about 2 to 3 g/l.

However for "spurious rums; that is, rums whose aroma and flavor, and the whole or a great part of the extract content have been artificially imparted" a much larger extract (5g/l to over 20g/l) would be found.

73 years on, the fight against "spurious rums" made from industrial alcohol and "artificially" enhanced continues.   

From Richard Seale's Facebook Page.

     I found this to be very interesting and well worth passing on.   I really had no idea that this debate has been going on for so long.