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| Richard Seale |
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".
- 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.
