Pure cane juice rum
Although more than 90% of the rums officially sold on the market are made from molasses, rums made from pure cane juice are a very popular style among enthusiasts. This category is also quite broad, as traditions and methods vary according to their geography.
These rums have in common a plant that was first domesticated in Indonesia. Saccharum Officinarum then spread to Asia, the Middle East and Europe. It then became established throughout the world through colonisation.
The first traces of distillation of pure cane juice were found in Brazil, with cachaça. Some small distilleries still produce traditional cane spirits today. They can be found in Brazil or anywhere else in the world. Examples include Cape Verde, South Africa, Mexico, Haiti...
A great style has emerged from this practice: agricultural rum. Primarily from the French West Indies, it is also produced in Guyana, Reunion and Madeira.
Rum made from pure cane juice is undoubtedly the one that most reflects the terroir in which it was produced. The variety of the cane, the climate, the exposure, the humidity... Everything has an influence on the vesou and therefore on the rum that is produced. To find out more about this, read our article on the importance of the cane and the terroir in the production of rum.
The different styles of pure cane juice rums
Rums made from pure cane juice can have many different names depending on where they are produced. Cachaça, clairin, grogue, aguardiente or aguardente de cana, agricultural rum... All these spirits are sugarcane juice spirits.
Agricultural rum
Exclusively produced in the overseas departments (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Reunion, Guyana), and in Madeira (the regulation of agricultural rum is governed by Europe, to which this island is attached). Within this category, we naturally find the AOC Martinique rums.
La cachaça
A cane brandy from Brazil. It can be produced in the traditional way (in a still) or in a more industrial way (with short fermentations and distillation columns).
The clarion
A rum made from pure Haitian cane juice. Most of its production is very traditional. It is still made as in the early days of rum. It can be the result of fermentation of pure juice or syrup.
The toddy
This is the name of the Cape Verdean sugarcane brandy. It was the Jews expelled from Portugal in the 16th century who imported their stills and distilled the pure sugarcane juice. Today, production remains very small-scale, even though the Cape Verdean authorities introduced a grogue charter at the beginning of the 21st century.
Aguardiente de caña
Latin America is largely dominated by molasses rum production. But almost every country has its own brandy made from pure cane juice. In Mexico, sugarcane is grown and distilled among agaves, and there is even an appellation of origin: Charanda.
Aguardientes can also be found in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, etc etc.
And all the others...
Rums made from pure cane juice can be found all over the world, from Tahiti to Thailand, via South Africa and Mauritius. Official distilleries such as Manutea, Issan, Mhoba or Chamarel coexist with thousands of small distillers on all continents, but also in the Caribbean where "moonshine" (clandestine distillation) remains common practice. Read less
