Rum

Overview

Rum is the term for a distilled alcoholic beverage derived from Sugarcane, most commonly found in the West and Southwest of Creation, and in the Southern Blessed Isle.

Theology

The god of rum, and all cane sugar liquors, is Tuchekkan, a god of the Bureau of Heaven serving under Burning Feather Lady of Intoxicants. Tuchekkan’s greatest rivalry in Heaven is over dominant liquor on the Blessed Isle, his greatest opponents being the twin gods of grape wine Harvest of Bliss & Ferment of Madness, and Kakuchi the god of rice wine, with whom he spars constantly to expand the distilling and distribution of rum.

Rum Types

Silver Rums

Silver rums (also known as ‘white rums’) are light in colour, running clear or slightly yellowed, with less flavor than their brethren and a harsher punch. They are young, spending little time aging, and are most common in the Southwest. They are rarely consumed straight, instead being mixed, with water to create Grog or with other liquids such as fruit juices and syrups.

An Teng Silver

An Teng Silver is a silver rum produced in An Teng, and is typical of white rums from across the Southwest... it carries little flavor itself, with perhaps a touch of sweetness, its alcohol added to water and other drinks to ward away illness.

Wavecrest Spiced

Wavecrest Spiced is a silver rum produced in the island realm of Wavecrest, though its colour is tinted slightly golden from the addition of spices, particularly cinnamon bark, which imparts intense flavor to the drink.

Bushan New Spring

Bushan New Spring is a silver rum, though its colour is tinted amber from a wine barrel finish and ,the infusion of fruits and spices, including dried grapes, cinnamon, and citrus peel. The rum is a new production, the result of Bushanese nobles attempting to revive a stripped distillery formerly held by House Peleps in order to satisfy demand for Grog at the local port. House V’neef, which controls the satrapy, opposed the effort due to their own interests in grape Wine, but in the past decade has finally permitted it to proceed, albeit subject to export duties.

Amber Rums

Amber rums, also known as ‘gold rums’, take their name for their colour, ranging from golden to deep amber. This colour comes from the process they undergo after distillation, where they are aged in barrels much like wines… the preferred barrels are Oak, sometimes expertly charred to impart deeper colour and flavor. Many sweet distilleries (rum distilleries) in Arjuf Dominion finish their rums in wine barrels which have carried grape wine from the north and central Isle to Arjuf, that can then be filled with rum to take the return journey northward (where they are often sold in their turn to brewers of Beer). Amber rums are most common in the southern Blessed Isle, and the best-aged examples of this type are considered the finest sugar cane liquors in Creation.

Arjuf 5-Year

The standard amber rum found in taverns and cellars across the Blessed Isle, and exported to the states across the Inner Sea. Regulation by the Thousand Scales and House Ledaal. Aged five years and briefly finished in emptied wine barrels. The rum has a light golden colour and a sweet taste, with hints of citrus and molasses. While most Arjuf rums are comparable in flavor, various sweet distilleries compete over whose is the finest.

Arjuf 10-Year

The colour of the 10-Year deepens into darker amber, and its bouquet adds elements of toasted oak and more distinct vanilla flavours.

Arjuf 20-Year

The colour of the 20-year becomes deeper bronzes and coppers, and its flavor becomes more powerful, with notes of wood and nutmeg well developed. Its finish becomes more dry with age, though in the hands of an expert distiller it does not abandon its sweetness, this seeming contradiction the sign of a well-aged Arjuf rum.

Arjuf 100-Year

The oldest Arjuf rum generally available, though older barrels and bottles do exist in small quantities. By this age, the colour has deepened to rich mahogany, and the flavor of oak is deep and distinct, vanilla prominent and some speaking of a hint of maple on the palate.

Arjuf 2-Year

Arjuf 2-Year is a controversial rum from Arjuf Dominion, with argument over whether the light gold-touched colour gained from its short aging makes it a silver rum or an amber. The classification is important for avoiding the duties levied by House Ledaal on the production and import of non-amber rums, and Arjuf 2-Year sees its most common use filling the holds of ships docking at the port of Arjuf and needing supplies for Grog when they set sail once more.

Glorious Necessity Anise-Spiced

This rum is produced from the Sweet Distillery of Glorious Necessity in Arjuf Dominion. Aged 5 years with a blend of spices, particularly star anise, to create a varied and complex bouquet. While some look down on spiced rums, Glorious Necessity is well regarded even in Dynastic circles.

Constant Devotion Wine-Aged

While most Arjuf-style amber rums are finished in wine barrels, the Sweet Distillery of Constant Devotion makes greater use of the medium, putting its rum through its entire 5-year aging process in barrels formerly containing red wine. This produces a rum with the deep red-bronze tones and a unique flavor… grape and spice are prominent in both taste and aroma, seeming closer to a Brandy than a traditional rum, though the rum asserts its presence by the finish.

An-Teng Vanilla-Clove

While much of the rum from the South is silver in style, a sweet distillery in An-Teng produces a spiced rum aged for four years with local spices including orange peel, vanilla, nutmeg, and clove, to satisfy the thirsts of its own princes and their Dynastic visitors.

Chiaroscuro Fire Rum

The local rum of Chiaroscuro, most often seen in angular bottles of colored glass, is heavily spiced, and may be served silver or aged up to three years. The favoured spices for the rum are cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves, as well as hot red peppers for a surprising but much-applauded burn.

Onyx Rums

Onyx rums, also known as ‘dark rums’, are created when molasses is mixed directly into the rum after distillation. This produces a very deep colour and sweetness, and grants the rum more body. As these rums carry both liquor and sweet sustenance, they are favoured by ships whose cargo space is limited, allowing sailors to be hydrated, fed, and relaxed with from the same mug of Grog. They are found most commonly in the Western Threshold.

Wavecrest Black Seal

Wavecrest Black Seal is a strong onyx rum from the islands of Wavecrest, one of the major sources of Sugarcane in the West. While the bulk of this rum is sold in barrels, its name comes from the manner in which individual bottles or jugs of the rum are supplied, a format favoured by those seeking trade goods for island tribes or offerings to difficult spirits due to their smaller size. These containers are sealed with wax that has been mixed with volcanic ash, rendering it black in colour, thus the term 'black seal'.

Sushima Deep Wood

Bushan Deep Wood is an onyx rum originally produced on the island of Bushan, in a distillery established by House Peleps to supply the Imperial naval station there. Typical of Navy rums, it was not considered of particular quality. When House V’neef too control of the Bushan satrapy, House Peleps transplanted the distillery to neighbouring Sushima, and some say in so doing the rum lost a touch of mellow sweetness in exchange for a hint of orange peel.

Coral Black Spiced

The rums of Coral are perhaps the blackest in the West, heavily sweetened with molasses that gives them a bouquet of toffee and caramel through which the added spices can only be glimpsed. Dynastic gourmands often dismiss the rum for being cloying and syrupy, but amongst the weathered sailors of the West it has significant popularity.

Kakushin Allspice-Peppercorn

A very spicy rum from the Kakushin Islands of the far Southwest, Kakushin spiced rum is a sweet onyx rum (or sometimes silver with added sugar) macerated with allspice berries and peppercorns, creating a thick drink with incredible spice and a noticeable touch of burning heat.

Spiced Rums

Some (particularly purists favouring long-aged amber rums), consider spiced rums to be a debased category of rum, distinct from the types above, but in essence a spice rum takes the natural hints of spice flavor found in rums and adds actual spices to add to or amplify those tastes. As each spiced rum uses another type of rum as its base, the various spiced rums are listed amongst the categories above.