Rum or Rhum: The Difference Between Rum & Rhum

The Difference Between Rum & Rhum

10/1/2019

Are ‘rum’ and ‘rhum’ two distinct spirits, or just different ways of spelling the same thing?

Actually, the ‘h’ is very significant. Read our guide to find out what makes rhum different, what its origins are, where it is produced, what it tastes like, and suggestions of rhum distilleries and brands to explore.

Rum or Rhum?
‘Rum’ is a catch-all term for every style of the spirit, from white rums and golden rums to dark and spiced varieties. ‘Rhum’, on the other hand, refers to one style of rum only. The term is short for 'rhum agricole' (with 'agricole' meaning 'agricultural' in French), a style of rum originally distilled on French Caribbean islands such as Martinique, Haiti and the Guadeloupe archipelago.

What Makes Rhum Different?
Most rums are produced by distilling fermented molasses, a sticky black treacle which is a by-product of the sugar refining process. Rhum is different. It is distilled from fermented, fresh-pressed juice from sugar cane grown specifically for this purpose.

The juice is rhum’s only ingredient. Depending on how it’s aged, rhum is found in white, golden and dark varieties. In Martinique, Rhum Agricole which has aged for 3 years in oak barrels in often sold as Rhum Vieux or Rhum Vieux Agricole – ‘old rhum’.

The Origin of Rhum
Until the early 1800s, France bought huge amounts of sugar from its Caribbean colonies, making local sugar producers very wealthy. When France found another, cheaper source of sugar – homegrown sugar beets – its reliance on Caribbean sugar dropped. With fields full of sugar cane but falling demand for sugar, plantation owners stopped refining sugar cane and started fermenting its juice instead.

Is Rhum still only made in French-speaking parts of the Caribbean?
Although the French Caribbean remains its spiritual home and the location of most distilleries, rhum is also produced in the Dominican Republic, as well as on the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and Réunion, which both have strong historical connections with France.

What does Rhum taste like?
Rhum has an instantly recognisable earthy and grassy flavour. It is characterised by a distinctive freshness with a less syrupy mouth-feel compared to some big brand molasses-based rums.

Want to try Rhum?
Martinique (pictured below) has a number of famous rhum agricole distilleries and brands include Clément, St James, Depaz, Trois Rivières, J. Bally and Rhum J.M.

Read more
Rum Reviews

5 Comments

ruou ngoai thanh nien link

1/10/2019 08:10:50 am

Beautiful rum. Bought for a present for my partner and she loved it. I don’t usually like rum but this is lovely

Perkeo

26/8/2021 04:54:02 am

What did you get for your partner exactly? Rum or rhum? Which brand?

George link

16/10/2019 01:36:54 pm

thank you for the time you invested in this post. It is really helpful and interesting to read!

Igor Mouro

27/4/2022 08:53:20 pm

Hello,
Im so very sorry but long long before the french "invented" rhum, "rhum" was already made back in the mid-late 1400 in Madeira ,the biggest producer from 1450s to mid late 1500, when production was transfered from Madeira Island to Brasil. It was in Madeira that the process of refining sugar to "white sugar" was invented. Spain, Canarias Islands, were also producing sugar, and also transfered it to the Americas. In both islands already in that time aguardente de cana / rum agricola was destilled and produced.

Other facta:
The first sugar planted in Madeira and Canarias came from the best and biggest european producer at the time, Sicilia.

The caipirinha and mojito can be traced to the traditional drink of Madeira, poncha...the first poncha was, crushed dark sugar with lemon, aguardente de cana and water....and before crossing the atlantic to the Americas.

Columbus was in Madeira as a sugar trader from Genova. He lived in Funchal, then in Porto Santo after marrying Porto Santos Governor daughter. Was also intimate and friend later on with the Portuguese king D.Joao II.

So sorry but the french did not invented the product just invented the name.

Thats facta.

Adrien

13/5/2022 11:27:18 am

France did not stop importing sugar from its Caribbean colonies because of a cheaper source of sugar but because of the British blockade during Napoleonic wars. This forced France to develop beet sugar in mainland and rhum agricole in the colonies. As the beet sugar became cheap, the rhum agricole is still produced but it is not the original cause. Rhum agricole and beet sugar (with an awful taste though) were known well before the early 1800.

Réunion has not only a strong historical connection with France: it is an official part of France and of the European Union. The currency is Euro and all Union citizens can go and live there with just an identity card.

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