Popular Mechanics - USA (2019-09)

FUNKIEST

SMOOTHEST

POT STILL / Time,

not volume, is the most

important factor of pot-

still distillation. “A pot

still gives you more f lex-

ibility but lower production,” says

Hamilton. “It’s a nice, romantic

thing. But pot stills have to be in

the hands of a good distiller. The

ingoing juice has to be good or you

end up with some funky thing.”

Which is essentially the point.

What makes rum or any brown

liquor taste the way it does is, in

large part, due to congeners—impu-

rities from fermentation which are

more easily filtered out with a col-

umn still. You can only get pot-still

liquor to a certain level of purity.

(Column stills can make things

ultra-pure; virtually all vodka is

distilled using a column still.)

“When we ferment rum, we end

up with 12 different kinds of alco-

hol that are readily discernible, and

the lightest ones,

acetaldehydes,

give things light,

bright fruity f la-

vors,” Hamilton

says. “And then we get into ethanol

and down into the heavier things—

the dark, spicy, fruity f lavors like

overripe plantain.”

As time goes by in the pot still,

the rum changes from the light and

fruity to the dark and rich. It’s the

distiller’s job to tinker and find the

perfect balance.

The congeners produce more

character—more funkiness or

“hogo” (derived from a French-ish

term that means “high taste”). It’s

the equivalent of an expensive dry-

aged steak having a rich, barnyard

quality. For a long time, rum makers

sought to get rid of that f lavor—

through distilling methods and

aging. But now, for many drinkers,

funky is a good thing.

BUT NOW,

FOR A LOT

OF DRINKERS,

FUNKY IS A

GOOD THING.

W H E R E D I D

IT COME

FROM?

“Who distilled

it? Do they list

the name of

the distillery

on the label?

If they don’t

tell you who

distilled the

product on

the label, they

don’t want

you to know.

That weeds

out a lot of

varieties.”

Ask yourself the questions that rum expert Ed Hamilton does

when he’s considering a new bottle.

HOW TO KNOW IF THAT RUM IS (PROBABLY) GOOD

HOW MUCH

IS IT?

“It’s rare that

I’ll get a bottle

for under

$18,” Hamil-

ton says. “The

maximum I

usually pay for

non-rare rum

is about $30.”

Above that,

proceed at

your own

(sometimes

worth it,

sometimes

not) risk.

WHO’S THE

IMPORTER?

“I look up that

importer and

see what else

they are doing.

Are they seri-

ous about

rum, or are

they a small

company

that’s doing

a tequila, a

whiskey, and a

gin, and, ‘Oh,

we got a rum

too’? That’ll

tell you quite

a bit.”

WHAT

I N F O R M A T I O N

IS ONLINE?

“Is there a

website on the

label? Can you

look it up and

see pictures,

or is it some

fanciful story?

There’s a slew

of sites that

talk about the

beautiful heri-

tage of the

family, but you

never can get

the real family

name.”

HAMPDEN RUM

FIRE JAMAICAN

WHITE OVER-

PROOF RUM / $30

About as funky as it

gets. Spoiled-tasting,

almost. And, at 126

proof, you’ll want

to dilute it yourself.

Either with rocks

and water, or the

lime juice and simple

syrup that goes into

a daiquiri. Work your

way up, no matter how

you drink it.

PL ANTATI O N

XAYMACA SPECIAL

DRY / $37

The Plantation com-

pany is a bottler and

“finisher” of various

rums from around

the Caribbean. They

acquire the rum and

then age it for a short

period of time in their

own casks. This Jamai-

can rum is funky but

not too funky.

EL DORADO

15 YEAR OLD

DEMERARA

GUYANA RUM / $45

The rum sweet spot.

Complex but fruity and

syrupy. About as rich

as rum gets.

HAMILTON

JAMAICAN POT

S T I L L B L A C K

RUM / $28

A blend of light and

heavier, pot-still rums.

Not too funky, just like

Ed Hamilton likes it.

DIPLOMATICO

RESERVA

EXCLUSIVA RUM

/ $40

Distilled from sugar-

cane and honey, this

Venezuelan rum (a pot-

and column-still blend)

works well as the first

step on your journey to

rum’s weirder frontier.

A guide to pot-still rums, from traditional

to a little weird.

The

Funkiness

Matrix

“

COURTESY

September 2019 23