Why does your rum cost what it does?
Tropical aging? Vintage rum? Pot still? Premium matured rum?
There's a lot to consider when assessing whether the price of the rum you've fallen in love with is fair. In this post, I'll try to help you understand what producers can reasonably charge high prices for - and where you can be skeptical.
Alcohol strength
Simply put: more alcohol means more rum and less water. So high alcoholic strength is more expensive to produce than low.
Why: Rum (and all other spirits) doesn't naturally land at 40% in production. The classic 40% is achieved by producers watering down their rum. They do this because the typical consumer is used to spirits being bottled at 40%, because it's cheaper in taxes, and because you can get more out of your raw product when you dilute it with water. Even rums with over 50% alcohol strength can be watered down, so it can be difficult to know the ratio of rum to water in the bottle. However, adding water to your rum makes it cheaper to produce, which means more bottles are produced per production run.
The exception: You can find low alcohol rums that have been expensive to produce and have not been watered down. If a rum has been in barrel for a very long time without consolidation, over the years it can end up with a natural alcohol percentage somewhere in the forties. An example is the Motebello rum from Velier's Flora Antillum series, which after 19 years of tropical ageing is bottled with a natural strength of 41.3%.
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Tropical or continental ageing?
In short: Tropical
ageing is
more expensive than continental
ageing
Therefore: It doesn't matter where your rum has been aged. 12 years is not just 12 years. A distinction is often made between whether the rum was aged in a tropical or continental climate. Tropical-aged rums are often stored in the warehouses of the distilleries that produce them, while continental-aged rums are usually bought brand new or quite young from the distilleries and then stored by rum merchants in Europe who sell on to independent bottlers. So what difference does it make where the rum has been aged? You might think that shipping the rum to Europe would be an expensive process, where the cost of warehouses and staff salaries are higher than in many parts of the tropics. But the climate in the tropics means that the rum draws flavor from the barrels more quickly - and evaporation (also known as Angel's share) is somewhat higher there. So if the same rum is put in two barrels for ten years in Jamaica and Europe, there will be significantly more rum left in the European barrel when they are bottled. This also means that a tropically aged rum will achieve a more intense flavor in fewer years, but long aging can sometimes overpower and result in the wood from the barrel overpowering the flavor. Continental ageing allows for a quieter and more elegant development of the rum. A couple of years ago, independent bottlers Velier and Scheer released two sets where you could taste the same Jamaican rum aged for the same amount of time in continental and tropical
conditions.
Whether you like one or the other is a matter of taste, but you can count on the fact that if a producer writes "aged in the tropics" or similar on the bottle, you'll be paying for it. Unfortunately, many producers are not open about where their rums have been aged. If you buy the distilleries' own brands, they will most often be aged in the tropics, while many of the independent bottlers bottle continental-aged rums.
Theexception: aging is more complex than distinguishing between continental and tropical aging. For example, it also depends on the size and wear and tear of the barrel the rum is aged in. If you put the same rum in a small, brand-new barrel in Europe and a large, well-worn bourbon barrel in the tropics, the European rum will take color and flavor from the wood faster than the tropical rum. Even small differences in climate can also affect aging. Velier and Neisson bottled a set of three bottles of the same four-year-old rum aged in the same barrels but in three different warehouses in 2020 to show how this can affect the development.
Age
In short: Gammel rom is more expensive than unaged rum
Why: Few people will drop their jaws in surprise when I write that aging helps to raise the price of rum. Of course, it costs money to have the rum lying around and taking up storage space instead of being on the shelves of retailers, just as the contents of the barrels will slowly disappear over the years. So it's all about finding out if the producer is being honest about the age of the rum. The law states that if a producer writes "10 years old" or "aged for 10 years", the youngest rum in the bottle must be 10 years old. This has affected a number of rum producers - especially from Spanish-speaking countries where the solera method has been widespread. A classic example is Zacapa, who have removed all words about years from their bottle, but have left the number 23. Is that fair? That's up to you to decide, but you should be aware that many producers have a number on the bottle that has as little to do with the content as ordering a 23 at the local pizza parlor. It may refer to the oldest rum in a blend (which will typically be a very small part of the contents), an anniversary of the producer or something else. But it's not an honest expression of what you're getting - and paying for. Does it explicitly state that the rum has been aged for a certain number of years? If not, it probably hasn't. And I'd certainly like to see a rum producer who could make a business out of aging rum for 23 years and selling it for DKK 400 in supermarkets all over the world. So think about whether the price is too good to be true.
While some producers remove the word 'year' from their bottles, others have chosen to remove the number. This is the case with Hampden Pagos, for example, where you have to surf the internet to figure out that the rum must be somewhere between three and four years old. When producers like Hampden choose not to say how old the rum is, one can speculate that they are quite aware that a three-year age statement probably won't do much for the hype of the rum and thus the price they can charge for it.
The exception: As rum gains in popularity, producers' stocks of gammel rom are dwindling and more are beginning to see a scam in convincing consumers that unaged rum can also tear your taste buds apart. It certainly can. There are a lot of exciting white rums on the market. Some of them are produced in small quantities, which can make the price of an unaged rum higher than a mass-produced rum that has been around for a few years.
Fancy platitudes
In short: Many producers try to lure you into paying more for their rum with expensive words that have no real meaning.
Therefore: Reserva Exclusiva. Slow aged. Premium rum. All sounds great, but it doesn't add anything of real value that you should pay for. Many rum producers invent their own terms to dress up their rums in the hope that the consumer will think that the content must be something of the highest quality. These three examples are just a few of many - but let's take a closer look. Reserva Exclusiva is on a number of bottles from Spanish-speaking countries - e.g. Diplomatico. There are just no requirements for what an "exclusive reserve" is. And honestly, it probably can't be very exclusive, considering their production volume. Slow aged was "invented" by Flor de Caña from Nicaragua. As far as I know, time doesn't move any slower in Nicaragua than in the rest of the world. And premium rums are usually something that is labeled on bottles that are not really premium. There is no definition of what it takes to be "premium", so it's free to write on the bottle. And that sounds great, right? Just don't pay for it - rather, be a little skeptical about whether the "premium" bottle you're holding in your hands is really worth the price.
The exception: You may come across bottles that are not just embellished with empty adjectives, but which either retailers or manufacturers call rum - without the contents of the bottle meeting the requirements. According to EU legislation, no more than a maximum of 20 grams of sugar per liter may be added if a product is to be marketed as rum. Similarly, no flavor may be added if a product is to be placed on the rum shelf without breaking the law. Brands such as Captain Morgan and A.H. Riise add too much sugar or flavor to their products to be called rum. It may taste good - but it's not rum. Even though they still want you to think it is by using phrases like "superior spirit drink made from premium matured rum".
In this way,
they stay within the law while doing their best to convince you that there is exclusive rum in the bottle, even if there isn't.
Exclusivity and hype
In short: Single barrel bottlings and the reputation of a brand/bottler can push the price higher than the content can actually bear
.
Here's why: When a new bottle is released from Velier, Savanna, The Wild Parrot or other coveted brands, it can make rum enthusiasts forget about rising consumer prices while they break the piggy bank, mortgage the house and justify throwing money at another bottle worth thousands of dollars. Even if you're willing to join the race, bottles can be hard to come by because they're so limited in number. So, are they worth the money? As an investment, the answer will often be 'yes'. And some of the best flavors can be found in that category of bottlings. But are you getting value for money? Not necessarily. You pay a lot, a lot, a lot to get the final flavor percentages. Let's take an example from the Danish bottler Romdeluxe. In their Limited Batch Series, they have launched a 15-year-old Port Mourant from Guyana in their Limited Batch Series for DKK 995. From the same kettle, they have launched a 30-year-old version in their "Wild Series" for 3,000. The latter was snatched up, while the former can still be found around. Is the expensive one three times as good? No, it isn't. It's a little more complex and refined in its expression, and as a collector's item, it will undoubtedly increase in value. But if you want a good glass without fear of getting a call from your bank advisor, you can easily "settle" for the little brother.
T he exception: Sometimes when a rum is released in collaboration with musicians, sports clubs, etc. there is a hype around the product, which is often launched at a price where you can find significantly better rums for the price on the market. These rums are often aimed at collectors or fans who may not care much about the actual contents of the bottle. As an investment, they can be a good business, but if you're going to drink the rum, you'll probably want to spend your money somewhere that isn't so heavily marketed. I don't recall ever seeing an ad or a famous face advertising Velier's bottlings, for example. If the content is good enough, it doesn't need that kind of embellishment.
There are many things that help determine the price of your rum. And as this post illustrates, there's no simple answer to whether a bottle is worth the money. But I hope you feel a little better equipped to make an informed choice about what you're paying for. And if you need a few suggestions on where you can get a lot of rum for your money, here are three suggestions in different price ranges.
Hampden Rum Fire: Lots of flavor, funky Jamaican esters and wildness at a price that everyone can afford. It's great for cocktails like the Daiquiri and Mai Tai, but can also be drunk neat if you're in the mood for a white power rum.
Compagnie des Indes - Guyana 13 sherry finish: A really delicious, high alcohol rum that has been aged for four years in a sherry cask. Four years is at least the same as Hampden Pagos has aged in total, and that bottle was launched at about the same price as you'd pay for this somewhat older bottling. Sherry finishes rarely do anything bad for rum, and if you're going to teach someone to drink cask strength rum, they can probably get on board here without it being too boring for the geeks.
Worthy Park
Single Estate 2006: Here we stay just under DKK 1,000 for a full-blooded pot still Jamaican with 12 years of tropical maturation at an impressive 56% alcohol. The bottle is the first vintage rum from after the distillery restarted production in the mid-2000s and received rave reviews when it was launched. Best of all, you can still get your hands on it at a very reasonable price. Worthy Park
