Rum - Rhum - Ron
The spelling of Rum, Rhum or Ron indicated in many cases the origin, respectively is a vestige of former colonial power.
Rum - was British
Rhum - was French
Ron - was Spanish or Portuguese
The rum we know and appreciate today, is a product of the Caribbean and of the northern coast of South America. It is assumed that the name rum originated from English sailors. The history of the sugarcane spirit is closely connected with the history of seafaring. Buccaneers and pirates, smugglers and slave traders, who roamed the Caribbean, had a penchant for this liquor. On the occasion of the capture of Jamaica by the English crown in 1655, sailors of Her Majesty encountered this high percentage alcohol for the first time.
As diversified the final product may be, there is one thing which is common to all sorts of rum – the source material sugarcane, a by-product of sugar production. Rum may be white or have a golden tint. The colour of relatively high-grade rum is acquired during its long years of barrel ripening. Most rum sorts available in Europe are blends of many rum varieties. These spirits are of a bad quality, and they are coloured by caramel to achieve their tint, since barrel ripening of only 3 years or less cannot yield a strong tint. If the rum is to stay colourless, it is purified over active carbon.