...but JaRiMi recently said it quite well in the Appleton 30 thread:
I responded there:"Oddly consumers and collectors alike enjoy top quality old Malt Whiskies and Bourbons, with no expectation to find them sweet - and they even pay much, much more for old single malts than for rums. Same actually for Cognacs - the older the cognac, the less likely you are to find any sugar added...and yet it is loved, adored, respected - and bought at very high prices. Go figure..
The only reasons today's "rum fans" expect old rum to be a sweet, glycerine-smooth liqueur are A) cause they know nothing much about what Rum actually is like, and B) because the market is filled with this overpriced garbage they have the audacity to call "rum".
Now my friends, there is nothing - nothing - like seeing this horrific fact revealed in the actual tests. Here are the rums scoring from 20 to 44 grams of sugar - a truly amazing amount of phony sweetening:"...my recent review of our now 510 sugar tests reveal - not surprisingly - that it is the premiumized rums that tend to be most frequent sugared, and with more sugar to boot. It begins to appear that the primary use of sugar is to produce an extra sweet, rich, and smooth bodied concoction designed to justify its high price and marketing stories."
Grams. . . . . Rum
- 20 Abuelo Anejo 7 yr: 20
20 Bacardi 8 yr: 20/20
20 Bielle 2003: 20
20 Plantation Belize 7 Single Cask: 20
20 Plantation Grenada 1998 Old Reserve: 20
20 Plantation Guatemala Gran Anejo: 20/20
20 Pusser's Blue 54.5%: 20
20 Ron Barco 15: 20
20 Ron Barco: 20
20 Ron Zacapa Centenario 23: 20/23
20 Rum Nation Panama 21y: 20
20 Zaya (Trinidad): 20
21 Captain Morgan Spiced Gold: 21-22
21 Diplomatico Single Vintage: 21
21 Ron Zacapa 23 Sistema Solera: 20.5
21 Rum Nation Demerara No. 14: 21
22 Bacardi Spice: 22
22 Cubaney Centenario: 22
22 El Dorado 21 Year Old: 22
22 El Dorado Spiced: 22
22 Havana Club Especial: 22
22 Noble Selected: 22
22 Plantation Barbados Grand Reserve: 22/0
22 Plantation Gran Reserve Barbados: 22
22 Ron Zacapa Gran Reserva: 22
23 Ocean's 7 Mellow: 23
23 Puntacana Club XOX 50 Anniversary: 23
24 Diplomatico Single Vintage 2000: 24
24 Diplomatico Single Vintage 2001: 24
24 Dzama Nosy-be Prestige: 24
24 Kaniche XO: 24
24 M&S Gingerbread: 24 (“likely from Cognac Ferrand”)
24 Marks & Spencer Gingerbread: 24
24 Plantation Grenada 1996 Single Cask: 24
24 Plantation Grenada 1998 Old Reserve: 24
24 Plantation Jamaica - Guyana 1991 Single Cask: 24
24 Plantation XO 20th Anniversary: 24
24 Pyrat XO Reserve: 24
24 Pyrat XO Reserve: 24
24 Pyrat XO Reserve: 24
26 Atlantico Private Cask: 26
26 Bermudez1852 Aniversario 12 Anos: 26
26 Diplomatico Ambassador: 26
26 Don Papa: 26-29
26 Kraken Spiced: 26
26 Reimonenq RQL: 26
26 Ron Zacapa Centenario XO: 26
26 Ron Zacapa XO (newer wide bottle, taper to top): 26
26 Ron Zacapa XO: 26
26 Ron Zacapa XO: 26
26 Rum Company 10 yr: 26
26 Selvarey Cacao: 26
27 Abuelo Anejo: 27
27 Abuelo Centuria: 27
27 Pusser's 15 yr: 27
28 Ron Zacapa Centenario Etiqueta Negra: 28
28 Vizcaya VXOP “21” (not years): 28
29 Abuelo Anejo 12 yr: 29
29 Opthimus 15 OportO: 29
29 Plantation 20th Anniversary: 29
29 Plantation 20th Anniversary: 29/0
29 Professor Cornelius Ampleforth's Rumbullion: 29
29 Pusser's 15 yr: 29
29 Pyrat Pistol: 29
29 Pyrat XO Reserve: 29
30 Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva: 30
31 El Dorado 15 Year Old Finest Demerara Rum: 31
31 El Dorado 15 Years: 31
32 Angostura No. 1: 32
33 El Dorado 21 yr: 33
34 Origenes 25 Malt Whisky finish (Tomatin): 34
34 Ron Quorhum 30 yr: 34
35 El Dorado 12 yr: 35
35 El Dorado 12 yr: 35/39
35 El Dorado 15 yr: 35/0
36 Dos Maderas PX 5+5: 36
38 El Dorado 15 yr: 38
38 Ron Zacapa (old, woven straw band only): 38
38 Ron Zacapa Centenario Sistema Solera 23: 38
39 Dos Maderas Luxus: 39
39 El Dorado 12 Year Old Finest Demerara Rum: 39
39 El Dorado 25 1986: 39
39 Plantation Trinidad 1989 Single Cask Abel: 39
41 Chairman's Reserve Spiced: 41
41 Diplomatico Exclusiva: 41/0
41 Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva: 41
41 Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva: 41
41 Ron Zacapa Centenario XO Premio Platino: 41
41 Ron Zacapa Gran Reserva: 41
41 Ron Zacapa Gran Reserva: 41/0
41 Ron Zacapa XO (old wide bottle, bottom taper): 41
42 Ron Millonario Solera 15 yr: 42
43 Pusser's Decanter John Paul Jones: 43!
44 Diplomatico Exclusiva: 44
44 Ron Centenario 30 yr: 44
44 Ron Millonario XO: 44
The more sugar. The point:
"Premiumization" IS sugaring. To make things even worse this doesn't even address the addition of flavoring extracts (like Matusalem 15-18-21), glycerol or actual cheap shite sherry.
Until now, we just suspected this. Now we KNOW it.
*******
A new additional list is here, not alphabetical, but by sugar in grams. It is breathtaking and a must see. Please, please, please scan it and post what you find and conclude. Thanks...
http://rumproject.com/rumforum//viewtopic.php?t=1663