THE SPICE OF LIFE

IAN BURRELL IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING RUM EXPERTS. IN THIS COLUMN, HE FOCUSES ON THE GROWING SPICED RUM SEGMENT – THE ENTRY POINT FOR MANY PUNTERS INTO THE WIDER CATEGORY.

I was recently asked by a journalist here in the UK, is rum the new gin? Why? Because rum is expected to break the £1 billion sales barrier later this year – hot on the heels of a certain juniper flavoured vodka, which passed £1 billion in sales last year.

I laughed, because it is one of the oldest commercially produced spirits in the world – thus rum is not the new anything. But within the rum category there is an expression that can certainly claim to be the ‘gin of rum’. And that expression is ‘spiced rums’. Spiced rums, like gin, rely on several key factors to deem them to be a success, such as the variety of spices (as compared to the botanicals in gin), the fact that most are drunk with mixers or in a cocktail, and that they are very rarely drunk neat.

But most importantly, spiced rum’s common theme with gin is that when it is marketed to the public, provenance, age statements and craft are not as important as the story behind the marketing. Some spiced rums technically cannot even call themselves rums as they are unaged, and bottled below the legal alcohol by volume to be legally called a rum.

But there are, what I like to call, rums that are spiced (or ‘real’ spiced rum), where the spices used are purely to enhance the natural rum flavour of the distillate. If sugar is used to sweeten, then it is done to propel flavour and not just added to make a cheap spirit more palatable. Spice and spiced rums in some respects are an important part the rum journey for many people. Not everyone can drink neat rums or enjoy the taste of pure sugarcane distillate, but if your tipple is a spiced rum and coke, or you like it with your favourite soda or fruit juice, then you are more likely to eventually try a real ‘untouched’ rum, as your tastebuds develop.

The biggest-selling spiced rums on offer are not really designed with subtle flavours in mind. Sweetened and infused with popular spices such as cinnamon and cloves, and often a big punch of vanilla, they are consumed by people who like the idea of rum and coke but not necessarily the taste of it – especially the younger drinkers among us. But once the spiced rum drinker has grown up, where do they go from there?

As I mentioned before, spiced rum drinkers tend to gravitate towards ‘real rums’ as their palate develops, but some stay within the flavoured rum category and try more complex or newer styles of spiced rums. This is why we are seeing a new wave of spiced rums that are less sweet, with more complex spices added through maceration, infusion, barrel aging and even ironically some that taste even ‘rummier’ with very subtle spices.

Fruit is also being used in different ways to add even more character to these new rums. Citrus, like orange peel, and tropical fruits, like coconut, are being used to compliment traditional spices as opposed to being the dominant flavour. This has led to many bartenders and mixologists substituting regular rums with full bodied, drier and more complex spiced alternatives within cocktails such as Rum Old Fashioneds, Rum Manhattans and Mai Tais.

Another bar trend that has emerged is for bars to make their own ‘homemade’ spiced rum. In the Caribbean this style of rum infusion has been a way of life for over 200 years. Not only are the popular infusions such as vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, peppers, ginger, allspice, mace and pimento used, but some bartenders are now using indigenous Caribbean herbs and spices such a Bois Bande, Horny Goat Weed and Mauby Bark. These local spices add a uniqueness to a spiced rum much like the individuality of the botanicals used in a craft gin.

My favourite way to drink a spiced rum is to mix it with either ginger beer, ginger ale or fresh apple juice. What better than a long refreshing Rum Highball to cool you down in the hot sun; a good spiced rum mixed with a spicy ginger soda – a match made in heaven. It is even better when combined with a dash of Angostura bitters, a squeeze of fresh lime and plenty of ice. Fresh, cloudy apple juice works slightly different but equally as refreshing with a slice of fresh apple or lime. But with so many different styles of spiced rums on the market, there is no perfect way to drink them… except with a good friend.

This article was originally published in the Winter 2018 edition of BARS&clubs.