More than any other alcoholic drink, rum was associated with pirates (yo ho ho and a bottle of rum, anyone?). This initially started when English privateers began trading it. As some of these men eventually became pirates (aim high, kids), they carried with them their liking of rum. Works of literature that coupled rum and piracy perpetuated this notion.
Rum was also associated with the British Royal Navy, an association that began in 1655 when Jamaica was captured by British sailors. Once ashore, rum was so available that the seamen began drinking it instead of the brandy to which they were accustomed.
The refinement of rum began in the place it all started, the Caribbean. Prior to the late 1800s, rums were dark and heavy. The Spanish Royal Development Board set out to make rum more appealing to the general public and offered a reward for anyone who could improve its quality. And so enters Don Facundo Bacardi Masso.
After moving to Cuba from Spain in 1843, Masso began to refine his rumming techniques. He improved distillation, filtering, and aging in casks made of American oak. This all worked together to produce a rum that was light and smooth, a spirit that today we have come to love, to drink, and one that makes our senses rum…ble.
Article comments
1 - Me
Hi,
Most sources that I've read claim rum had it bebut in Barbados and that Appleton Estates is the second oldest ditillery. I don't know were you got your sources, but I think you may need to do a little more research. Good article though, thanks.
2 - STM
Jennifer,
I live in a country where rum was once the main currency, and nearly caused a revolution.
This place is full of sugar cane, we still make the stuff here today, and it's still drunk in vast quantity.
My tip: don't go near the stuff unless you like watching situations go slowly pear-shaped, out of control and into the realm of the surreal.
Like a camping trip I went on once, where overproof rum was consumed and one of our comrades decided it would be fun to make us all dance.
Luckily, we were able to get the gun off the bloke before we tied him up for the night to a tree.
3 - Shelly
Jamaican rum is the best