Why does a rum from the Dominican Republic develop this aromatic profile? Let’s go from the bottle to the cane to find out.<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rhumfestparis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/repdom.jpg\")
<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Your footsteps lead you by chance (my goodness!) to your favorite stall: your rum cellar<\/strong>. You decide to cross the threshold, it would be too stupid not to take advantage of this stroke of destiny (but of course…).<\/p>\n“Hello, Mr. Cellarman, I just happened to be passing by, so I thought I’d pop in.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nYour wine merchant greets you with a knowing smile, and asks you straight out if you know anything about Dominican Republic rums<\/strong>. Not being the case, you show your curiosity.<\/p>\nHe then mentions large production volumes, different raw materials<\/strong>, molasses that is exported (to Barbados, among others<\/a>) and a special aging method…<\/strong><\/p>\nKnowing him, you anticipate having to take several bottles home with you, but you’re wrong (yes, it happens a lot, and it’s normal). He points you to a single bottle, explaining that it’s enough to capture the most common profile of Dominican Republic rums.<\/strong><\/p>\nOnce you’re home (again, by chance, of course…), you make yourself comfortable and take out a tulip-shaped glass to pour in two or three centilitres<\/strong> of your new acquisition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
This rum profile is not unfamiliar to you: caramel, vanilla, light oak, a little coconut and some nuts. You associate these aromas with a classic Hispanic-style rum.<\/strong><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
Your nose and palate have not deceived you: rums from the Dominican Republic<\/strong> are very similar to Cuban rums<\/a>, and sometimes even to Central American rums<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe one in your glass is light<\/strong>, but with little – if any – sweetening.<\/p>\nYour wine merchant mentioned rums that can be made from a variety of raw materials; yes, he knows a thing or two. Indeed, while most of the island’s distilleries use only molasses<\/strong>, one of the two largest uses only cane juice<\/strong>. So why didn’t your purveyor of delicious liquids encourage you to buy a bottle of each?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The reason is simple: rums from the Dominican Republic are produced in such a way that the raw material preferred by the distiller cannot be felt in the bottle.
<\/strong><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
How do you do it, you might ask (and, if we were teasing, we might add “why?”)?<\/p>\n
Nothing could be easier (well, you’d need a big factory, anyway). First of all, you need to carry out very short fermentations<\/strong>, during which the aromas have very little time to appear and develop.<\/p>\nThen, in the second stage, distillation on a multi-column system<\/strong> produces a distillate flirting with 96%, approaching aromatic neutrality.<\/strong><\/p>\nWith this rum production process, the choice of raw material<\/strong> is of little importance, since organoleptic characteristics are virtually erased at the column outlet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The resulting “rum” is a blank page on which the barrel can write whatever it wants – or rather, whatever the cellar master decides.
<\/strong><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
Ageing is at the heart of the aromatic profile of these rums<\/strong>. As the casks used are traditionally ex-bourbon<\/strong>, the classic aromas of caramel, vanilla and coconut take precedence.<\/p>\nAlthough the rum you taste appears to be free of added sugar, it’s worth mentioning that, depending on the brand and vintage, sweetening can be significant<\/strong>, until the sweetness is very perceptible on the palate. In fact, it’s not uncommon for the amount of added sugar to be greater on older references – which may seem surprising.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Another practice is adopted by some producers in the Dominican Republic – but also by many Latin rum brands in general. A system of “dynamic aging”, known as the solera method.
<\/strong><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This technique has its origins in sherry<\/strong> production in Spain. It allows blending to take place throughout the ageing process.<\/p>\nA solera is made up of several rows of casks stacked one on top of the other. Each row contains eaux-de-vie of the same average age, the youngest at the top, the oldest at the bottom. This last row is called solera<\/strong>, while the others are called criadera.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe bottles are filled with the liquid from the lower barrels (the solera<\/strong>).<\/p>\nThe barrels, never completely emptied, are then topped up with the contents of the top row (the oldest criadera).<\/strong> The space thus freed is then filled with juice from the barrels above, and so on. The space occupied by the rum (in this case) contained in the barrels on the highest level is replaced by freshly poured distillate.<\/p>\nIt is said – by users of this method – that the older juices “educate” the younger ones, ensuring consistency in the rums produced.
<\/strong><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
Beware, however, of the practice by some brands of indicating on the bottle the age of the oldest rum in the blend. In Europe, however, this is now forbidden, as it is the age of the youngest component that must be apparent on the label<\/strong> (when an age is indicated, of course).<\/p>\nIn order to adapt to more discerning palates, distilleries in the western part of Hispaniola are beginning to raise certain alcohol percentages slightly<\/strong>, and to introduce a few innovations<\/strong>. For the time being, these only concern the ageing stage<\/strong>, with, for example, barrels that are more or less “bousin\u00e9”, finishing touches and even roasting of local ingredients in the barrels before the white rum is tapped.<\/p>\nWe’ll see what the future holds.<\/p>\n
That’s it for this little tour of Dominican soil<\/strong>, at the end of which you’ll have enough information to understand and appreciate<\/strong> the rums that originate there.<\/p>\nYou’re welcome.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dominican Republic rum, get to the bottom of the bottle Why does a rum from the Dominican Republic develop this aromatic profile? Let’s go from the bottle to the cane […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13664,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"
Il est temps de rendre visite \u00e0 votre boutique pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9e. Il y a tout un pan d\u2019\u00e9tag\u00e8re sur lequel vous ne vous \u00e9tiez jamais attard\u00e9, o\u00f9 sont assorties des bouteilles aux noms bien connus, surtout lorsque l\u2019on appr\u00e9cie les punchs planteurs ou les ti-punchs. Mais vous vous rendez compte qu\u2019il y a aussi \u00e9norm\u00e9ment de rhums vieux.<\/p>\r\n
Votre caviste, pas avare d\u2019informations et de bons conseils, vous encourage \u00e0 repartir avec, ce qu\u2019il appelle, un VSOP, terme que vous pensiez r\u00e9serv\u00e9 au cognac (vous en savez des choses\u00a0!). Il vous parle aussi d\u2019AOC, de rhum agricole, de cahier des charges, rhum vieux, de r\u00e8glementation, de meilleur rhum du monde (oui, son avis est peut-\u00eatre un peu biais\u00e9). Bref, il vous abreuve d\u2019informations, \u00e0 d\u00e9faut de rhum. Vous suivez son conseil, et c\u2019est une bouteille de rhum AOC Martinique VSOP, qui rejoint votre armoire \u00e0 merveilles liquides.<\/p>\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rhumfestparis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/canne-a-sucre-rhum.jpg\")
\r\n
La patience n\u2019\u00e9tant pas votre fort, votre flacon nouvellement acquis voit son bouchon sauter le soir-m\u00eame. Vous ne vous rappelez pas tout ce que votre expert es-rhum vous a dit mais, vous avez gard\u00e9 en t\u00eate que votre nouveau rhum r\u00e9pond au qualificatif de rhum agricole et qu\u2019il est donc issu de la fermentation de jus de canne fraichement press\u00e9 (quand je vous dit que vous en savez d\u00e9j\u00e0 beaucoup).<\/p>\r\n
Et pourtant, lorsque vous mettez le nez au-dessus de votre verre \u00e0 d\u00e9gustation, tout juste rempli de 2 ou 3 cl, vous ne d\u00e9tectez pas ces ar\u00f4mes de canne fraiche auxquels vous vous attendiez.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\r\nCe sont des \u00e9pices, du bois\u00e9, un zeste d\u2019orange, des fruits secs, des ar\u00f4mes torr\u00e9fi\u00e9s et une note p\u00e2tissi\u00e8re qui le caract\u00e9risent.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n
Le vieillissement d\u2019une dur\u00e9e minimum de 4 ans (c\u2019est ce que VSOP donne comme indication) a donc profond\u00e9ment modifi\u00e9 le profil organoleptique du rhum. Cependant, il se distingue aussi d\u2019autres rhums vieux que vous avez pu croiser sur votre \u00e9pop\u00e9e rhumesque<\/i> et poss\u00e8de une identit\u00e9 particuli\u00e8re et marqu\u00e9e.<\/p>\r\n
Plusieurs facteurs expliquent cette signature gustative.<\/p>\r\n
Certes, comme vous l\u2019avez remarqu\u00e9, l\u2019\u00e9levage (dur\u00e9e pass\u00e9e au contact du bois dans le f\u00fbt) joue un r\u00f4le pr\u00e9pond\u00e9rant au travers des ar\u00f4mes qui en sont issus, mais il n\u2019est pas le seul. Le distillat a \u00e9galement son mot \u00e0 dire \u2013 et quand il s\u2019agit de rhum pur jus de canne, il a beaucoup \u00e0 raconter, a fortiori au sein de l\u2019AOC Martinique.<\/p>\r\n
Attention, je vais incorporer un petit peu de technique dans votre verre de rhum.<\/p>\r\n
Comme toute Appellation d\u2019Origine Contr\u00f4l\u00e9e, celle-ci est fond\u00e9e sur la notion de terroir. Pour faire simple, gardons \u00e0 l\u2019esprit l\u2019importance du savoir-faire reconnu selon lequel sont r\u00e9alis\u00e9es toutes les \u00e9tapes de production au sein d\u2019une aire g\u00e9ographique pr\u00e9cise.<\/p>\r\n
L\u2019AOC Martinique, qui a \u00e9t\u00e9 adopt\u00e9e en 1996 avait comme objectif principal de prot\u00e9ger les rhums produits sur l\u2019\u00eele des contrefa\u00e7ons. Bien s\u00fbr, c\u2019est un point important pour le consommateur, qui est assur\u00e9 de la qualit\u00e9 des produits arborant cette indication, mais ce qui l\u2019est tout autant, r\u00e9side dans le cahier des charges de l\u2019AOC. Les producteurs de rhums AOC Martinique doivent suivre \u00e0 la lettre un certain nombre de r\u00e8gles tout au long de l\u2019\u00e9laboration du pr\u00e9cieux liquide.<\/p>\r\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Your footsteps lead you by chance (my goodness!) to your favorite stall: your rum cellar<\/strong>. You decide to cross the threshold, it would be too stupid not to take advantage of this stroke of destiny (but of course…).<\/p>\n “Hello, Mr. Cellarman, I just happened to be passing by, so I thought I’d pop in.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Your wine merchant greets you with a knowing smile, and asks you straight out if you know anything about Dominican Republic rums<\/strong>. Not being the case, you show your curiosity.<\/p>\n He then mentions large production volumes, different raw materials<\/strong>, molasses that is exported (to Barbados, among others<\/a>) and a special aging method…<\/strong><\/p>\n Knowing him, you anticipate having to take several bottles home with you, but you’re wrong (yes, it happens a lot, and it’s normal). He points you to a single bottle, explaining that it’s enough to capture the most common profile of Dominican Republic rums.<\/strong><\/p>\n Once you’re home (again, by chance, of course…), you make yourself comfortable and take out a tulip-shaped glass to pour in two or three centilitres<\/strong> of your new acquisition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Your nose and palate have not deceived you: rums from the Dominican Republic<\/strong> are very similar to Cuban rums<\/a>, and sometimes even to Central American rums<\/a>.<\/p>\n The one in your glass is light<\/strong>, but with little – if any – sweetening.<\/p>\n Your wine merchant mentioned rums that can be made from a variety of raw materials; yes, he knows a thing or two. Indeed, while most of the island’s distilleries use only molasses<\/strong>, one of the two largest uses only cane juice<\/strong>. So why didn’t your purveyor of delicious liquids encourage you to buy a bottle of each?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n How do you do it, you might ask (and, if we were teasing, we might add “why?”)?<\/p>\n Nothing could be easier (well, you’d need a big factory, anyway). First of all, you need to carry out very short fermentations<\/strong>, during which the aromas have very little time to appear and develop.<\/p>\n Then, in the second stage, distillation on a multi-column system<\/strong> produces a distillate flirting with 96%, approaching aromatic neutrality.<\/strong><\/p>\n With this rum production process, the choice of raw material<\/strong> is of little importance, since organoleptic characteristics are virtually erased at the column outlet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ageing is at the heart of the aromatic profile of these rums<\/strong>. As the casks used are traditionally ex-bourbon<\/strong>, the classic aromas of caramel, vanilla and coconut take precedence.<\/p>\n Although the rum you taste appears to be free of added sugar, it’s worth mentioning that, depending on the brand and vintage, sweetening can be significant<\/strong>, until the sweetness is very perceptible on the palate. In fact, it’s not uncommon for the amount of added sugar to be greater on older references – which may seem surprising.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This technique has its origins in sherry<\/strong> production in Spain. It allows blending to take place throughout the ageing process.<\/p>\n A solera is made up of several rows of casks stacked one on top of the other. Each row contains eaux-de-vie of the same average age, the youngest at the top, the oldest at the bottom. This last row is called solera<\/strong>, while the others are called criadera.<\/strong><\/p>\n The bottles are filled with the liquid from the lower barrels (the solera<\/strong>).<\/p>\n The barrels, never completely emptied, are then topped up with the contents of the top row (the oldest criadera).<\/strong> The space thus freed is then filled with juice from the barrels above, and so on. The space occupied by the rum (in this case) contained in the barrels on the highest level is replaced by freshly poured distillate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Beware, however, of the practice by some brands of indicating on the bottle the age of the oldest rum in the blend. In Europe, however, this is now forbidden, as it is the age of the youngest component that must be apparent on the label<\/strong> (when an age is indicated, of course).<\/p>\n In order to adapt to more discerning palates, distilleries in the western part of Hispaniola are beginning to raise certain alcohol percentages slightly<\/strong>, and to introduce a few innovations<\/strong>. For the time being, these only concern the ageing stage<\/strong>, with, for example, barrels that are more or less “bousin\u00e9”, finishing touches and even roasting of local ingredients in the barrels before the white rum is tapped.<\/p>\n We’ll see what the future holds.<\/p>\n That’s it for this little tour of Dominican soil<\/strong>, at the end of which you’ll have enough information to understand and appreciate<\/strong> the rums that originate there.<\/p>\n You’re welcome.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dominican Republic rum, get to the bottom of the bottle Why does a rum from the Dominican Republic develop this aromatic profile? Let’s go from the bottle to the cane […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13664,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" Il est temps de rendre visite \u00e0 votre boutique pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9e. Il y a tout un pan d\u2019\u00e9tag\u00e8re sur lequel vous ne vous \u00e9tiez jamais attard\u00e9, o\u00f9 sont assorties des bouteilles aux noms bien connus, surtout lorsque l\u2019on appr\u00e9cie les punchs planteurs ou les ti-punchs. Mais vous vous rendez compte qu\u2019il y a aussi \u00e9norm\u00e9ment de rhums vieux.<\/p>\r\n Votre caviste, pas avare d\u2019informations et de bons conseils, vous encourage \u00e0 repartir avec, ce qu\u2019il appelle, un VSOP, terme que vous pensiez r\u00e9serv\u00e9 au cognac (vous en savez des choses\u00a0!). Il vous parle aussi d\u2019AOC, de rhum agricole, de cahier des charges, rhum vieux, de r\u00e8glementation, de meilleur rhum du monde (oui, son avis est peut-\u00eatre un peu biais\u00e9). Bref, il vous abreuve d\u2019informations, \u00e0 d\u00e9faut de rhum. Vous suivez son conseil, et c\u2019est une bouteille de rhum AOC Martinique VSOP, qui rejoint votre armoire \u00e0 merveilles liquides.<\/p>\r\n La patience n\u2019\u00e9tant pas votre fort, votre flacon nouvellement acquis voit son bouchon sauter le soir-m\u00eame. Vous ne vous rappelez pas tout ce que votre expert es-rhum vous a dit mais, vous avez gard\u00e9 en t\u00eate que votre nouveau rhum r\u00e9pond au qualificatif de rhum agricole et qu\u2019il est donc issu de la fermentation de jus de canne fraichement press\u00e9 (quand je vous dit que vous en savez d\u00e9j\u00e0 beaucoup).<\/p>\r\n Et pourtant, lorsque vous mettez le nez au-dessus de votre verre \u00e0 d\u00e9gustation, tout juste rempli de 2 ou 3 cl, vous ne d\u00e9tectez pas ces ar\u00f4mes de canne fraiche auxquels vous vous attendiez.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Ce sont des \u00e9pices, du bois\u00e9, un zeste d\u2019orange, des fruits secs, des ar\u00f4mes torr\u00e9fi\u00e9s et une note p\u00e2tissi\u00e8re qui le caract\u00e9risent.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n Le vieillissement d\u2019une dur\u00e9e minimum de 4 ans (c\u2019est ce que VSOP donne comme indication) a donc profond\u00e9ment modifi\u00e9 le profil organoleptique du rhum. Cependant, il se distingue aussi d\u2019autres rhums vieux que vous avez pu croiser sur votre \u00e9pop\u00e9e rhumesque<\/i> et poss\u00e8de une identit\u00e9 particuli\u00e8re et marqu\u00e9e.<\/p>\r\n Plusieurs facteurs expliquent cette signature gustative.<\/p>\r\n Certes, comme vous l\u2019avez remarqu\u00e9, l\u2019\u00e9levage (dur\u00e9e pass\u00e9e au contact du bois dans le f\u00fbt) joue un r\u00f4le pr\u00e9pond\u00e9rant au travers des ar\u00f4mes qui en sont issus, mais il n\u2019est pas le seul. Le distillat a \u00e9galement son mot \u00e0 dire \u2013 et quand il s\u2019agit de rhum pur jus de canne, il a beaucoup \u00e0 raconter, a fortiori au sein de l\u2019AOC Martinique.<\/p>\r\n Attention, je vais incorporer un petit peu de technique dans votre verre de rhum.<\/p>\r\n Comme toute Appellation d\u2019Origine Contr\u00f4l\u00e9e, celle-ci est fond\u00e9e sur la notion de terroir. Pour faire simple, gardons \u00e0 l\u2019esprit l\u2019importance du savoir-faire reconnu selon lequel sont r\u00e9alis\u00e9es toutes les \u00e9tapes de production au sein d\u2019une aire g\u00e9ographique pr\u00e9cise.<\/p>\r\n L\u2019AOC Martinique, qui a \u00e9t\u00e9 adopt\u00e9e en 1996 avait comme objectif principal de prot\u00e9ger les rhums produits sur l\u2019\u00eele des contrefa\u00e7ons. Bien s\u00fbr, c\u2019est un point important pour le consommateur, qui est assur\u00e9 de la qualit\u00e9 des produits arborant cette indication, mais ce qui l\u2019est tout autant, r\u00e9side dans le cahier des charges de l\u2019AOC. Les producteurs de rhums AOC Martinique doivent suivre \u00e0 la lettre un certain nombre de r\u00e8gles tout au long de l\u2019\u00e9laboration du pr\u00e9cieux liquide.<\/p>\r\nThis rum profile is not unfamiliar to you: caramel, vanilla, light oak, a little coconut and some nuts. You associate these aromas with a classic Hispanic-style rum.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The reason is simple: rums from the Dominican Republic are produced in such a way that the raw material preferred by the distiller cannot be felt in the bottle.
<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe resulting “rum” is a blank page on which the barrel can write whatever it wants – or rather, whatever the cellar master decides.
<\/strong><\/h3>\nAnother practice is adopted by some producers in the Dominican Republic – but also by many Latin rum brands in general. A system of “dynamic aging”, known as the solera method.
<\/strong><\/h3>\nIt is said – by users of this method – that the older juices “educate” the younger ones, ensuring consistency in the rums produced.
<\/strong><\/h3>\n\r\n\r\n