Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaica Rum

Proprietary, heavy Jamaican pot still rum, modestly barrel-aged and bottled at “Navy Strength”, probably caramel-colored. Combines unaged and briefly-aged rums. Loaded with funk and flavor. Despite being labeled “traditional”, this rum is a bit of an oddity, but a highly useful one, for it can stand in for overproof black jamaican rum, and also blend well with amber jamaican rums. “Dark rum” is generic for aged, strong-flavored sugarcane spirit of various styles. Most very dark rums get much of their coloration from the addition of caramel coloring. Taken to extreme, the result is a so-called “black rum”. Beneath the caramel color lurks a rum that could be young or well-aged, heavy- or light-bodied, and can be produced anywhere. For example, dark rums from Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Guyana will be dissimilar in body and flavor. Generally speaking, however, dark rum is wood aged less than brown rum, and this is often reflected in relative price (and dark rums seldom claim an age statement). If a recipe simply specifies “dark rum” without providing any additional context, the choice is left up to you.