Sugar was introduced to the New World in the late 15th century. It flourished, and within decades it was being used to create that distinctly tropical spirit: rum.
This Caribbean upstart quickly became the most popular spirit drink in America, holding that title throughout the 18th century. Rum became a staple ration in the Royal Navy and remained so until 1970.
Rum is distilled using molasses, the dark syrup extracted from sugar cane. Light bodied rum is usually produced using efficient column stills. Most full-bodied, darker rums come from a traditional pot still. For many years rum distilleries were built alongside sugar refineries to help meet the voracious demand for both products.
Just like blended whisky (Johnnie Walker, for example) the best-known rum brands are made from a variety of individual rums. Each brings its own distinct flavour to the blend and the resulting rum will carry a flavour all its own.
Today Diageo offers some of the worlds most distinctive, popular and delicious rums. Captain Morgan is our most well known rum brand, capturing the spirit of buccaneer Henry Morgan with a range of dark, spiced and coconut rums.
Captain Morgan Original Spiced is the most popular variant. After blending from several column still rums (each of them either creamy or fruity in flavour), the rum is ‘spiced’ with fruit, including figs and apricot. This adds complexity to the flavour.
Diageo produces several other great rum brands in South America, the Caribbean and Australia. Down under, Bundaberg rum is an icon of Australian culture, made using the molasses from Queensland’s extensive sugar cane fields. From Latin America we offer the distinctive Cacique, and Jamaica’s Myers rum is renowned as one of the world’s greats, aged for four years in white oak and in production since 1879.