Driving west from Kingston towards the
Appleton Estate in the parish of St. Elizabeth, on the island of Jamaica, I
come upon a fire by the side of the road, pouring thick black smoke into the
air. Curious, I stop the car and walk over to where a small crowd has gathered.
What is burning, I learn, is a dead cow. It was in such an advanced state of
decomposition when discovered, it seems, that the local trash removers wouldn't
touch it. The only solution was to set the carcass on fire. I get back into the
car, roll up the windows, and plow through the smoke.
Surprises are common in Jamaica, and you
never quite know what to expect—except that it will most likely be something
unexpected.
With their
often fiery foods, its highly charged reggae, and its bold, proud populace,
Jamaica is a brazen and unsubtle place. It seems only natural, then, that rum,
the country's most famous indigenous alcohol, should be assertive and
uncompromising too. On previous trips to the island, I'd learned something about
other aspects of Jamaican life; finally, I went back for the rum.
Rum, which is
distilled from either fermented sugarcane juice or molasses (the intensely
flavored syrup that is a by-product of sugarcane refining), is manufactured on
almost every Caribbean island where sugarcane is grown. Sugarcane—a tall grass
(Saccharum officinarum) probably native to India—was first brought to
the Caribbean from the Canary Islands by Columbus. By the 17th century, sugar production had
become the dominant industry in the Caribbean. The demand for sugar in Europe
was virtually insatiable for a sweet crop.
Today, the Caribbean is far more renowned for its rum than for its sugar,
and rum is a source of fierce national pride. There are many outstanding rums
in the region, but Jamaican Rums stand alone. Traditionally full-bodied, they have an
unusual, earthy flavor and an almost soothing, hypnotic effect, immediately
evocative of the island itself.
The six rum distilleries operating in
Jamaica, two are owned by Wray & Nephew, a Division of the Campari Group
and the island's principal producer of rum. The other distilleries sell most of
their rum in bulk, for blending and bottling by other companies. Campari Group
bottles its own, under the Appleton Estate label and several others; its rums
account for about 95 percent of that consumed on the island and are exported to
more than 60 countries. In operation
since 1749, the Appleton Estate is the oldest rum-producing facility in the
English-speaking Caribbean. Covering 12,000 acres and turning out as much as 10
million liters a year, it is also the largest.
"We're
in a valley, on the banks of the Black River," he says, "and we use
the river water to make our rum."
Jamaican rum is made exclusively from molasses, diluted into what is
called a wash and then transferred to fermentation tanks. Yeast, taken from the
blossoms of the sugarcane, is added to activate fermentation. The fermented
wash is distilled in either pot or column stills. Appleton's ancient-looking pot stills, some of
which have been in service since 1749, are shaped like large kettles with long,
angled spouts; the sleek, modern column stills are tall, stainless-steel tanks.
Both are used regularly, to produce rums with different characteristics. After
distillation, the rum is stored for aging in charred casks of American and
Canadian oak, in a large warehouse. Most Jamaican rum is aged for at least
three years.
Rum has borne its share of epithets over
the years. It has been known as "demon rum" and
"kill-devil." One critic, back in 1651, described it as "a hot,
hellish and terrible liquor". Rum is
a friendly companion, there are eight categories of rum in Jamaica, classified
according to the amount of esters that they contain. Esters are what give rum most of its flavor
and fragrance.
The best-selling rum in Jamaica by far,
however, is Wray & Nephew's so-called white overproof, a middle-ester rum
at a strength of 126 proof. It's popular partly because it's a good mixer. Some
Jamaicans however like it because they have the idea that dark rum might not be
good for them, that white rum is somehow purer. And tradition imputes to white
rum an almost elixir-like power. Taken with honey and lime, for instance, it is
believed to cure colds. It is used to christen newborns and to purify the dead. It is
even said that if you are building a house and sprinkle white rum around the
foundations, it will keep the duppies, or evil spirits, away. But if you drink
too much overproof, of course, instead of ridding yourself of the duppies, you
just might end up having a conversation with them. 
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