Added sugar to rum

[Dai]

The sad thing is, DDL could take the sugar out, keep the price the same, and it would be the best value for money out there (15 sells for about $32-35 at my favorite shops). I believe them about the stills, and I believe they are honest about the aging.

If Seale is selling his 10 year at $21 and still making a profit, I can't imagine DDL's costs are that much more, which means they're making even more money.

I to believe them about the aging, wooden stills, etc my point being if you remove the sugar that rum would not be all that good or let's say not as good which means it would not command the price it is now. Not in my opinion, this leads me to believe it is not good VFM so I don't buy it any more.

If the sugar was removed would we be left with a mediocre rum?

Unfortunately there is no way to know this short of going to DDL and sampling directly from the cask.

It would also depend greatly on your definition of what is "good" and what is "mediocre". If you happen to like dry intense rums as opposed to sweet bombs, you would probably find it a vast improvement. The reason they add sugar is not to "improve" the rum but to make it more appealing to the masses - that is an important distinction. And the masses like sweet bombs - just look at the ratings on rumratings.com (I am Scott T there.)

I personally think the El Dorado rums would be fantastic with no added sugar.

I think you are right in this respect Scott. All we can do as consumers is make the best buying decisions available to us after knowing all the available facts. Each of us has to make our own decisions on this and those decisions are based on numerous reasons which can vary from time to time depending on our circumstances etc.

[Capn Jimbo]

Just a thought, since we have a comprehensive list of sugared rums why don't we have a sticky thread listing these rums with sugar in. We do not need to comment on it, it would just be a list to be read.

Good suggestion, the ALDO list has been "stickied". All posters should feel free to add to the list there (top of this section)...

[NCyankee]

I came across some info today that says the average threshold for humans to taste sugar is 1%, or about 8 grams per liter.

http://books.google.com/books?id=_QWbLT ... ld&f=false




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Capn's Log: sorry, link isn't working, but even assuming this is true, sugar is added for more than taste but often as smoother and for its mouthfeel. You can bet your undewear that if the addition didn't have a modifying effect, no distiller would go to the time, trouble and shame to add it.

[jankdc]

This has been a great thread. I became disillusioned with rum after finding out that one of my favorite rums was doctored (Ron Matusalem). Soon after I realized that another of my top favorites was probably doctored (Westerhall Plantation Rum ). It got me thinking that the El Dorado's were also doctored and I just got depressed. I still drink some Seal's, Appleton, and Prichard's, but now won't hesitate to use my Matusalem in mixed drinks. I still love rum, but I'm exploring bourbon, rye (I like rye), scotch these days.