A Case for Truth in Labeling

Rum is a spirit distilled from sugar cane juice or molasses, but should cane spirits that are dosed with sugar after distillation still be considered rum? It may sound like an arcane debate, but it’s a question that can have a direct impact on the ability of bartenders to craft well-balanced cocktails.

Just as Bourbon County, Kentucky, has strict rules about what can be labeled bourbon and the Cognac region of France closely regulates production of that particular iteration of brandy, traditional producers of rum— Barbados, Jamaica, and the islands of the French Caribbean—prohibit most adulteration of rum, including the addition of sugar. The same, however, is not true for rums produced in other countries.

“Visit Jamaica, and you will see a pot still at your favorite brand on a site that might have been making spirits there since the late 1600s,” says RichardSeale, master distiller and blender at R. L. Seale and Foursquare Distillery in Barbados. “Visit Central America and you will find amodern large-scale industrial plant that makes neutral alcohol for sale for a myriad of purposes. A product labeled ‘rum’ from this kind of producer is no more a rum by our standards than their product labeled ‘whisky’ is a whisky by American standards.”

Adam Kanter, former owner of Philadelphia’s Rum Bar and currently a chef instructor at the JNA Institute of Culinary Arts, says it’s important for good bartenders to know what’s in the rums they pour.

“Sadly, most brands don’t divulge added sugars,” he says. “Knowing if a product has been sweetened is critical in making cocktails. Since some drinks require a delicate balance of sweet, sour, bitter, and strong, precise measurements will fail if the rum is sweeter than expected.”

Adding sugar to rum is one of several factors that can alter the ABV of spirits. While not definitive, hydrometer testing of various rum brands—which measures the difference in the ABV listed on the bottle and what’s actually inside—suggests that many popular, premiumlevel rums have been dosed with sugar.

“The covertly sweetened rum creates the illusion of drinking a straight spirit,” says Seale. “When we drink that sweetened spirit, complete with its premium package and misleading age claim, we are convinced we have acquired good taste. No one is adding sugar to a low-end product because there is no illusion to sell.”

Seale is currently fighting attempts to loosen the rum regulations in his home country while simultaneously calling for greater disclosure in other parts of the world. In fact, he contends that dosed rum isn’t actually rum at all.

“A sweetened spirit has been known for over 100 years as a liqueur,” he says. “It is against the Jamaica law to adulterate Jamaican rum, yet you can sell adulterated Jamaica rum in the United States with impunity.”

Bailey Pryor, founder and CEO of The Real McCoy Rum company, says he is unconcerned about his premium, undosed product competing with sweetened rums. “The real rum producers should not be valued similarly to the candy rum producers, just as the single malt producers are not valued on the same scale as flavored moonshine,” he says.

Even rum advocates like Seale and Kanter acknowledge that dosed rums have their place in the market. “I have always considered sweeter rums a gateway to new (younger) rum drinkers,” says Kanter. “That’s how I fell in love with rum. While my palate has evolved, I will still drink those sweet rums today.”

“Truth in labeling is the only real issue,” says Rob Burr, founder of the annual Miami Rum Renaissance Festival and author of Rob’s Rum Guide, who says that in some countries, like Cuba, it is just as traditional to add sugar to rum as it is to leave rum untouched in Jamaica and Barbados. “The market decides. Give out good information: let the public decide.”

“Of course, you only should drink what you like,” says Seale. “But what you pay for it is not subjective. If you are paying a top price for a product that is flavored neutral alcohol with a bogus age statement, you are being duped, and I think you should care.”

“Drink what you like; know what you are drinking,” he advises.

By Bob Curley