Some rum producers add sugar to their rums to highlight some flavors in the rum. Others add sugar to hide flavors or critical errors in the distillate. This is the essence of the sugar addiction problem - in some cases the sugar addiction is used in a well-meaning cause and in other cases it is used as smoke and mirrors. At Alta Gama Rum, we are completely open about the addition of sugar to our different rums. Our base blend holds no added sugar and is in itself superbly balanced, with a beautifully integrated alcohol and great taste - an extremely well-composed rum blend. With this blend we demonstrate the basic quality of our rum, and additionally offer versions with a gradually higher sweetness. We do not hide a badly produced product with sugar, we just support an already tasty blend with different sugar levels.
We offer three different versions of Alta Gama Rum, where the added sugar from bottle to bottle plays a bigger and bigger role. We don’t think it’s bad to add sugar to rum, although it is often being criticized by spirits purists. We do not think it's a problem if you're honest about the addition - especially in our case when you can taste the starting point of the rum without sugar added, as in the case of Alta Gama Rum Brut Nature.
Sugar addiction is used in many other categories in the industry of alcohol. Both within the production of cognac and champagne, which are considered by many to the finest in the market, additives such as sugar is common. Why is the use of sugar addiction inside the rum category a taboo? The cane sugar is inseparable with rum, as rum are made of sugar cane. We believe that the addition of sugar in rum makes more sense than in any other alcoholic category.
But why is the addition of sugar in rum considered a big no-no? In the production of the sparkling wine champagne, you add sugar to some of the world's most expensive and most prestigious wines. You even show the amount of added sugar, called "dosage", in the label. The dose is found on the champagne labels, and there are even several dosage terms that divide the sugar levels. It makes sense to inform the consumer about the level of sweetness on the label, and for the same reason, it is also something that we do at Alta Gama Rum. We use the same terms as in the Champagne category – these terms are shown below:
- Brut Nature (0 grams of sugar)
- Extra Brut (0-6 grams of sugar)
- Brut (Under 12 grams of sugar)
- Extra Sec (12 grams - 17 grams of sugar)
- Sec (17 grams - 32 grams of sugar)
- Demi Sec (32-50 grams of sugar)
- Doux (More than 50 grams of sugar)
It is perfectly natural for us to place the sugar content on the label, as it is an incredibly large part of the taste experience. It allows consumers to navigate between our products and helps them find the right rum. In all versions of Alta Gama Rum you will find the dosage mark on the label as well as the exact sugar content in grams per gram. liter rum. We are very proud to be able to do this as one of the first rum bottlers ever.
