Of all the spirit categories, rum is one of the most misunderstood and maligned. But with the help of premiumization, new books, and an influx of brands that challenge the traditional tropes, it seems like the spirit is finally being taken seriously.
We took a look at some of the misconceptions surrounding rum and explored ways the on-premise industry can set the record straight on rum—and increase sales.
Defining Rum Categories & Types
Part of the misunderstanding around rum is it’s a complicated spirit viewed through a simplified lens. For so many consumers, there are light rums and there are dark rums—and that’s it. But this basic categorization couldn’t be further from the truth, and its confusion like this that drove Matt Pietrek to write his Spirited Award-winning book, Modern Caribbean Rum: A Contemporary Reference to the Region’s Essential Spirit.
Pietrek says there was a lack of thought leaders methodically and thoroughly looking into rum in the way they do for other spirits categories. “There’s tons of books on Scotch whiskey, and nobody had really done that for rum,” he says, noting that he made the decision to write the book himself.
Pietrek is also known for his site Cocktail Wonk, which has covered everything from distillation to cocktails to spirit regulations and history for over 15 years. Rum is a topic he’s covered on the site extensively, and by 2016, he felt like he knew enough to put together a reference guide to the spirit. Fast forward six years and 850 pages later, and Pietrek realized he had learned 10 times the amount he knew before writing the book.
“Part of the motivation and drive was that rum hasn’t gotten the respect it needs. People essentially think of rum as a single category,” he says. “There’s bourbon, there’s scotch whiskey, there’s Irish whiskey—those are all types of whiskey, but they treat them as distinct categories. And with rum, they think, ‘oh it’s just rum.’ No, Jamaican rum is its own category. Martinique AOC agricole is its own. So much of my education is about how we need to think about this differently. We need to treat Jamaican rum the same way we treat bourbon. Or Cuban rum the way we treat Irish whiskey.”
Many rums actually have Geographical Indications (GI) (or an AOC in the case of Martinique), protecting the way the rum is made and its quality. However, these designations don’t extend beyond the particular country, and the category has been hard pressed to get the designations recognized and followed by other countries in the way a category like Scotch has. Part of the issue is just how many designations/rules there are and how far-flung rum production is—you’ll be hard pressed to get a large group behind one designation. “Rum is blessed that it has so many different locales, but it’s hindered because you’re not going to get them all together singing the same song,” says Pietrek.
And yet, Pietrek cautions that location is not the only way to define rum. “The notion of a place defines a style actually itself is antiquated,” says Pietrek, who notes distillers are continually challenging the concept of what defines a location’s rum. “These sort of ideas of the place defines the flavor profile or the style is falling apart.”
So how should rum be defined? It’s a question without a definitive answer at the moment given all of the complexity mentioned above and the fact that so much can go into a bottle of rum and affect the final result.
“I think rum globally has some of the most varied and idiosyncratic offerings of any category, and I think the diversity in production method is shaped as much by tradition as it is by considerations of industrial practicality,” says Don Papa Rum Brand Ambassador Ben Rojo. “Provenance of materials, strains of yeast used for fermentation, juice/honey/molasses bases, conditions, and duration of aging all assert themselves on the liquid that reaches the bottle. And with all this variety, I truly believe there’s a rum for all palates.”
Combating Rum's Sugary Standing
Pietrek also aims to combat the idea that rum itself is sweet. “It’s not. No distilled spirit is sweet coming off the still. Sugar does not pass through the still,” he says, noting that it’s the additives (sweet wines, sugar, etc.) that add the sweetness.
Historically, adulteration was common when making spirits, and it’s only recently that certain spirit categories have begun to focus on removing these additives (i.e., tequila). “Rum has not had its moment to collectively elevate themselves, and so these old traditions are still being used,” says Pietrek.
Premiumization Primes the Rum Category
Additives aside, consumers’ interest in quality, premium rums has been growing, and premiumization has helped to buoy the higher-end of the rum market.
“Over the last five years, the premiumization trend in the U.S. rum category has strengthened. Despite an overall decline of rum volumes by -0.08%, the super-premium price segment has experienced a significant surge with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of +20%,” says Diplomático Rum Brand Ambassador Jose Luis Ballesteros. “This trend indicates that consumers are increasingly interested in exploring more premium offerings, particularly aged rums like Diplomático. However, it is worth noting that super-premium and above price segments still only account for 2.8% of total rum volume and 8.8% of total rum value in the U.S. This leaves substantial room for continued double-digit growth as consumers gain a better understanding of rum's quality credentials.
“I believe the super-premium rum category, which has already enjoyed double digit growth over the last 10 years, will continue and even accelerate its growth as consumers discover super-premium rum’s amazing quality and versatility.”
Pietrek agrees that this growing realization among consumers about premium rum offerings is what’s driving the market. “It’s not that the rum is getting better, it’s that consumer perception of what rum can be and what they’re choosing is better,” he says. “Fifty years ago, consumer taste shifted toward light rum and rum was almost interchangeable with vodka or gin. We had dumbed down the expectation of what rum could be. It wasn’t a serious thing. You wouldn’t pour it into a snifter and drink it like you would Scotch. In that regard, premiumization is getting more and more consumers to realize that there are good rums out there.”
Ballesteros says this will lead to more availability and variety, "The category is still at an early stage of premiumization, so we also anticipate a growing demand for innovation as new generations of drinkers drive change around flavor and occasion preferences."
Some of that variety will come in the form of more rum imports and offerings to the U.S. market. “As a rum lover, I think the U.S. is a bit behind the curve when it comes to rum consumption, especially compared to Europe and Latin America,” says Don Papa Rum’s Rojo. “I suspect this is largely due to the limitation of premium offerings we’ve had available here, but that seems to be changing year after year.
“I think the funk and forwardness of sugarcane-based agricoles and rhums have definitely seen an explosion in popularity at American bars since the cocktail renaissance of the 2000s, and I think that as American consumers continue to expand their horizons beyond the supermarket brands they grew up with, we’ll continue to see more and more diversity available.”
Also fueling the growth of premium rums is the continued influence of cocktail culture. “Many bartenders have incorporated premium rums into their beverage programs, elevating traditional rum cocktails such as the mojito and reimagining classic cocktails traditionally made with whiskey, gin, and bourbon to incorporate rum twists,” says Ballesteros.
Thanks to the influx of high-proof, premium offerings, rum can now stand up in a classic cocktail such as an old fashioned. “We’re seeing more and more cocktails where rum is essentially treated as an equivalent to a whiskey in terms of a base spirit,” says Pietrek. “When all the readily available rums were 40%, they were getting watered down. Now more and more rum makers are seeing the demand for higher-proof rums. You can get 50% ABV rum, you can get cask-strength rums. So we’re starting to see that these can now go head-to-head in stirred cocktails.”
The rise of Tiki cocktails is also spurring on this trend. “In those Tiki cocktails, you need a higher strength because you’re competing with lime juice and passionfruit and a lot of strong flavors. You need a rum with enough flavor that’s going to stand up to it,” says Pietrek.
Fans of brown spirits like bourbon and Scotch are also looking to expand their horizons into something new—leading to a crossover interest in premium rums. “Fueled by this trend in the on-premise as well as parallels in taste profile across categories such as bourbon, cognac and tequila, we see a great opportunity to develop Diplomático among fans of super-premium brown spirits who are looking for new tasting experiences and quality distillates,” says Ballesteros.
Retelling the Story of Rum
The on-premise has a big role to play in rum's resurgence through the education of its staff and guests.
“These consumers are primed to appreciate what premium rum has to offer, and recruiting them will largely fall on leading brands and industry gatekeepers to educate and shake off historical rum category stereotypes,"says Ballesteros.
Rojo agrees, “I think the best way to share a love of rum with someone else is to help expand their idea of what rum can be. Bar operators have the opportunity to help staff and guests alike by stocking a variety of white and aged rums, agricoles alongside molasses-based, some dry, some sweet, and some overproof. Three well-chosen bottles are all you need to facilitate a eureka moment of what’s out there.”
That “aha” moment can also come through interesting cocktails. “Over the past decade and now more than ever, I’ve seen bars realizing the synergy between aged rums and fortified wines,” says Rojo. “As someone who’s put a Fino Colada on multiple drink menus, I think the interplay of sherry’s oxidative notes and acidity paired with the richness and depth of an aged rum is sublime.”
Ballesteros says substituting the whiskey in an old fashioned for a premium or aged rum can also make a great impression on a guest. “This substitution of the base spirit results in a delightful blend of rich, bitter, and citrus notes that can introduce whiskey drinkers to the richness and diversity of aged rum,” he says. “Creating a menu of well-crafted cocktails that showcase the versatility of rum beyond the traditional sugary concoctions allows on-premise operators to change the perception and appeal to consumers with various palates.”
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