Flavored Rums vs. Rum-based Liqueurs
With the increasing number of coconut, mango, vanilla, coffee, pineapple, etc., flavored rums even tasting like rum, I'm left thinking that consumers interested in these products are not really going after the flavor of rum but rather after the illusions associated with the particular flavoring agents. When is a "Coconut Rum" real? When the predominant taste is rum or coconut? If the dominant flavor is coconut, and there is not perceivable trace of "aged" rum on the base alcohol, perhaps the product should be referred to as a "Coconut-flavored rum liqueur" or, more precisely, a "Coconut-flavored sugarcane spirit".
Should a person who drinks flavored rums consider himself/herself a rum drinker? What do you think?
