Out-of-this-World Rums.
“Houston, weve detected possible signs of life out here.““Interesting, Johnson. Can you get a detailed read on it?““Looks like its own universe, Houston. And it smellssuspiciouslylike… Rum.““Rum, you say? Hold tight, Johnson. Were sending back up.“Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to explore thedepths of the Rum Galaxy. Yourgalactic expeditionwill take you to the far reaches of the Western Hemisphere, where undiscovered worlds of Rum await. Here, Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica, Dominican Republic,Guyana and El Salvador hold court drawing intrepid Rum seekersinto their orbit.Now,its your turn and theres no time to waste. Are you bold enough to seek and savor thesesuperstar Rumsbefore they go supernova? Remember, luck favors the bold.Let the journey begin!Ah,the Rum Galaxy. Truly a wondrous place. But much like our universe, its origins are a bit, uh, murky. Its likelyBig Bang moment: the 17th century.

Caribbean sugar plantations had a serious problem on their hands an oversupply of industrial waste in the form of molasses. Clearly,17th centuryplanters werent up to snuff on their gingerbread cookie recipes. As a result, they were left with more molasses than they knew what to do with. Turns out, slaves on these Caribbean sugar plantations hada solution for all that sludge: fermentation. Through a bit of tinkering, the result of this process yielded the drink you know and love today Rum.Today, the effects of thisCaribbean Big Banghave rippled across the Rum galaxy. One of its biggest stars? Barbados, who lights the dark skies with an absurd amount of brightly shining (and award-winning) Rums. Jamaica and Guyana gently guide Rum seekers to their smooth elixirs with a luminescent glow, and El Salvador, well thats one to watch. Their Rums will suck you in faster than a black hole.But dont take our word for it.The time has come to taste. Were counting down to lift-off! In 321 Cheers!
Smartass Corner:1)Rumsgot tropical blood coursing through its veins. Most of it is produced in the tropics because of how easy it is to grow and cultivate sugarcane in that climate. But to be honest, Rum can be distilled anywhere that you can ferment molasses (or sugarcane juice).2) You might find Rum masquerading itself under other nom de plumes, likeRon,RomandRhum.3) The difference between adark and a light Rumall lies in how its aged. Dark Rums get their brown hue from the barrels and casks theyre fermented in. Steel drums are usually used to produce light Rums, hence the absence of color.4) Technically,NASA astronautsare banned from drinking alcohol in space. In the 1970s, however, they briefly flirted with a “space Wine” (a creamed Sherry) for the astronauts aboard the Skylab space station. The U.S. public was so outraged over the thought of astronauts boozin it up, NASA decided to ban alcohol indefinitely.5)The Russians though? Theyve been known to enjoy Cognac on their space travels. Doctors even recommended Cognac as a remedy to “neutralize the harmful effects of the atmosphere.”6) In 2011,NASA sponsoredan experiment that studied microgravitys effect on Whisky and the charred oak wood that helps age it. They found that after 1,000 days in space, the Whiskys tannins were unchanged, but the wood chips imparted a higher concentration of flavor in space than they did on Earth.7) If the center of our galaxy had a signature scent,it would be Rum. Yup, astronomers studying a giant cloud in the Milky Way found a substance called ethyl formate, a chemical that smells suspiciously like Rum.