Rum Aging Regulations - A Tale of 14 Rum GIs

Oct 23, 2024

Today I’m following up on my recent story about the October 2024 revisions to the Jamaica Rum Geographical Indication (GI.) Two changes dominated the online conversation:

Aging must occur only in Jamaica
Aging vessels must not exceed 250 liters in size

Where the original GI wording may have been open to interpretation on where aging was allowed, that ambiguity is now gone. However, it raises questions for brands like Myers’s as well as independent bottlers that buy unaged bulk Jamaican rum to age elsewhere. It will be interesting to see how the affected brands respond.

As for limiting aging vessels to 250 liters or less, many observers, me included, were puzzled about why this relatively small size was chosen.

These discussions made me ponder how Jamaica’s revised GI now compares to other rum GIs. While most GI discussions focus on the steps leading up to and including distillation, less attention is paid to the post-distillation steps. Despite having summarized over a dozen GIs rum while writing Modern Caribbean Rum, I felt there was even more to learn by comparing the post-distillation requirements for all available rum GIs.

Below are my observations, followed by the specific post-distillation requirements of each GI.

Essential Context

Fundamentally, a GI is a national regulation and is only relevant within the country enacting it. By itself, a GI isn’t automatically enforceable anywhere else. However, due to international agreements, the requirements of many GIs are recognized by certain other countries or trading blocs, e.g., the European Union. As for the US, cachaca is the only distinct cane spirit it recognizes. The nuances of where a rum GI is enforceable often lead to confusion between rum enthusiasts from different regions.

Most of the GIs I reviewed would be considered Caribbean rum; Madeira and Reunion are the two outliers. I omitted two of France’s seven(!) rum GIs because they span geographical regions. Of the 14 rum GIs I examined, the first ten are registered with or in the process of registration with the European Union:

Martinique (AOC and Le Galion)
Guadeloupe
Reunion
French Guiana
Guyana
Guatemala
Madeira
Cuba
Venezuela
Jamaica
Saint Lucia
The Dominican Republic (aka, The DR)
Haiti (Technically a certification mark, not a GI)

While there is much online discussion about the Barbados GI, the country currently has no GI for rum.

Given the GIs listed above, will someone please tell us again that “rum has no rules?” It’s patent nonsense. I assert that cane spirits have more GIs than any other spirit class, e.g., whiskey, brandy, and agave spirits. Ignorance of rum’s geographical indications doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Chapter 17 (“Rum Regulations”) of Modern Caribbean Rum contains detailed summaries of most of the above-listed GIs.

Broad Observation – GI Scope

Before presenting the technical synopsis of each GI’s post-distillation requirements, here are some big-picture thoughts:

Fundamentally, a GI’s requirements embody what matters most to the country’s rum producers, and economics often influences things. If a country grows a lot of sugarcane, its rum producers will likely require local sugarcane in their GI. Likewise, countries like Jamaica which have needed to import molasses for decades won’t require using local sugarcane in their GI.

Tradition also plays an important role in shaping a GI’s requirements beyond “Made where we said it was made.” For example, Cuba’s maestro roneros are masters of a complex, multistep aging process at the core of Cuban rum’s identity. Thus, Cuba’s GI is quite detailed in this area, while the fermentation requirements are drive-by at best. Compare that to the Martinique AOC, which specifies fermentation requirements down to vat size and Brix level of the sugarcane juice but spends far less attention on aging than Cuba’s GI does.

Broad Observation – Product Tiers

Many GIs divide covered rums into different tiers, with aging duration as the typical differentiator. Think“good,” “better,” and “best.” The higher-end tiers are subject to stricter requirements like aging locale and cask size than the more price-conscious tiers.

This isn’t a point to quickly skim past. Tiers enable producers with different business models to participate in the same GI.

Lest you think GI tiers cripple its effectiveness, consider Scotch Whisky. Its GI defines five categories, with Single Malt Scotch whisky as the top tier. Both bespoke, Single Malt Scotch Whisky and column-distilled Grain Scotch Whisky coexist within the same GI. The Scotch Whisky GI is often cited for its effectiveness in protecting Scotch whisky’s value around the globe.

An example closer to rum is Reunion, which allows the island’s wildly different grand arôme and agricole rums to live harmoniously under the same GI designation. A well-written GI ideally enables all of a region’s longtime producers to benefit from its protections.

Technical Observations

Switching to the specific GI criteria I examined, there’s a long history of rum being distilled in the tropics and shipped overseas soon after that for aging and bottling—it still happens today. However, as rum has elevated its perception and status, many producers feel strongly that they should also receive the economic benefits that derive from aging. As such, most rum GIs require aging to occur where it was distilled.

Unsurprisingly, most GIs have either a minimum aging duration or defined phrases like reserve or XO for various aging durations. Misrepresenting a rum’s true age is an age-old practice that today’s GIs try to shut down. Thus, you can’t label an 18-month-aged rum as XO, Grand Reserve, or Solera Gran Reserve Especiale per today’s GIs.

I was a bit surprised at how many GIs require oak. While well-known as the most common type of wood used for aging, non-oak aging is gaining popularity as producers look to differentiate their premium products.

Regarding aging vessel size requirements, all but one GI have little in the way of real-world constraints.

The most surprising thing I learned while reviewing all the GIs was the in-country bottling requirements. As a whole, the 14 GIs are far less strict than I’d have thought. More on this later!

Summary of technical criteria for the 14 GIs examined. See the relevant sections below for more specific details.

Technical Criteria Examined

One of my goals when comparing the technical criteria of over a dozen rum GIs was to show the data in a simple, granular, and easy-to-compare manner. It’s much harder than it might seem!

Besides the five French GIs, each GI is unique in describing its requirements. There’s no common structure or lexicon to make side-by-side technical comparisons of specific points. The requirements phrasing varies widely across the 14 GIs written in 4 languages – English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Ultimately, I defined five criteria concerning aging and bottling that can be summarized in a few words. Below are my synopses for each criterion.

Aging Locale Requirements

This is whether a rum must be aged entirely within the GI’s defined geographical boundaries. It’s not surprising that all but one GI requires this.

The partial outlier is the Demerara Rum GI from Guyana. It defines five classes of rum, two of which, “Demerara Rum” and “Old Demerara Rum,” can be aged outside Guyana. This enables Demerara Distillers’ customers like Wood’s and O.V.D., who age their rum outside Guyana, to continue selling “Demerara rum.”

Two GIs (Venezuela and the DR) further restrict aging to facilities of producers registered with the regulatory body.

Minimum Aging Duration

This criterion is the minimum age, if any, for a rum to be GI-compliant. Unsurprisingly, this is where most tiers are defined.

Nine GIs define different aging tiers differentiated by the minimum age required. The “Notes” section of each GI below provides the specifics.
Three have a minimum aging period for all rum (Cuba, Venezuela, The DR). This isn’t surprising, given their shared Spanish heritage.
Two GIs have no minimum aging period (Jamaica, Haiti)

Cask Size Requirements

This criterion is whether a GI has minimum or maximum sizes for aging casks.

Six GIs impose no limits on cask size.
Four French GIs (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Reunion, French Guyana, but not Le Galion, limit the cask size for premium rums (vieux, vintage-dated) to 650 liters. The non-premium tiers have no size limit; in practice, some of these rums are aged in vats.
The remaining four GIs (Cuba, Venezuela, The DR, and Jamaica) impose minimum or maximum sizes for casks.

Jamaica’s maximum cask size of 250 liters is the outlier. All other rum GIs have no limit on cask size or a size limit that allows certain common types of wine casks to be utilized.

Cask Wood Requirements

This criterion focuses on the material that the aging vessel, e.g., a cask, is made of.

Eleven GIs require using oak wood, with some being more specific, e.g., “white oak.”
Three GIs (Haiti, Jamaica, and Saint Lucia) specify only wood, leaving open possibilities like Amburana.

Jamaica’s recent GI changes changed the specification from “small wooden oak barrels” to “food-grade wood,” opening the door for more “exotic” casks to be used.

Bottling Locale Requirements

The final criterion relates to whether GI-compliant rum can be bottled outside its country of origin, i.e., where it was fermented and distilled.

Eight GIs allow bottling outside the country of origin.
Two GIs (Madeira, Haiti) require bottling in-country
Two GIs (Martinique AOC, Guyana) require their premium tiers to be bottled in-country, while the remaining tiers can be aged elsewhere.
Two GIs (Venezuela, DR) require bottling in facilities registered with the regulatory body. Although not explicitly stated, bottling outside the country may be allowed. Diplomatico has a bottling facility in Panama.

I was initially surprised by this result. Some producers believe bottling in-country is essential for a strong GI. However, nine of the 14 GIs allow some or all their rum to be bottled elsewhere. Of particular note is that of the five French GIs, only Martinique’s AOC requires in-country bottling and only for its aged/vintage rums. Yes, unaged and élevé sous bois rums can be bottled outside Martinique. (I verified this with an AOC judge.)

While in-country bottling creates economic benefits, it’s not without cost. The Caribbean currently has no provider of premium, locally-made bottles at the scale required, so rum producers import nearly all their bottles. Shipping empty bottles to the Caribbean and then back to major export markets in Europe and the Americas is costly, not to mention the carbon footprint.

With this in mind, it shouldn’t surprise us that Martinique and Guadeloupe producers send substantial amounts of unaged rhum agricole in bulk to mainland France for bottling. Likewise, companies like Wray & Nephew and Bacardi ship rum destined for North American markets in bulk tankers to the US and/or Canada.

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Per-Country GI Aging and Bottling Summaries

The per-country summaries below took many hours to locate, translate in some cases, and closely parse key phrases. I may have overlooked something, so please let me know if you spot something I should reexamine.

Martinique (“Rhum de la Martinique”— EU Registered)

Aging Locale Requirements: Yes
Minimum Aging Duration: Per rum type - see notes.
Cask Size Requirements Per rum type - see notes.
Cask Wood Requirement: oak
Bottling Locale Requirements: Partial. See notes

Notes:

Élevé sous bois: any size container for 12 months minimum.
Vieux rum: containers of 650 liters maximum for three years minimum.
Vintage rum: containers of 650 liters maximum for six years minimum.
Vieux/Vintage rums must be bottled in the designated geographical zones
Unaged rum: resting period.

Martinique (“Rhum Baie du Galion” — EU Registered)

Aging Locale Requirements: Yes
Minimum Aging Duration: Per rum type - see notes.
Cask Size Requirements No
Cask Wood Requirement: Oak
Bottling Locale Requirements: No

Notes:

White and grand arôme rum cannot be aged.
Dark rums: any size container for six months minimum.

Guadeloupe (“Rhum de Guadeloupe” — EU Registered)

Aging Locale Requirements: Yes
Minimum Aging Duration: Per rum type - see notes
Cask Size Requirements: Per rum type - see notes
Cask Wood Requirement: Oak
Bottling Locale Requirements: No

Notes:

Dark rum: any size container for 6 months minimum.
Élevé sous bois rum: any size container for 12 months minimum.
Vieux rum: containers of 650 liters maximum for three years minimum.
Unaged rum: resting period.

Reunion (“Rhum de Réunion” — EU Registered)

Aging Locale Requirements: Yes.
Minimum Aging Duration: Per rum type - see notes
Cask Size Requirements: Per rum type - see notes.
Cask Wood Requirement: Oak
Bottling Locale Requirements: No.

Notes:

“Dark” rum: any size container for 6 months minimum
Vieux rums: containers of 650 liters maximum for three years minimum.
Unaged rum: resting period

French Guiana (“Rhum de Guyane” — EU Registered)

Aging Locale Requirements: Yes.
Minimum Aging Duration: Per rum type - see notes.
Cask Size Requirements. Per rum type - see notes.
Cask Wood Requirement: Oak
Bottling Locale Requirements: No.

Notes:

Dark rum: any size container for months minimum.
Vieux rum: containers of 650 liters maximum for three years minimum.

Guyana (“Demerara Rum” — EU Registered)

Aging Locale Requirements: Partial. See notes.
Minimum Aging Duration: Per rum type - see Notes
Cask Size Requirements No.
Cask Wood Requirement: No
Bottling Locale Requirements: See Notes

Notes: The Demerara Rum GI defines five tiers of rum. The first two—“Demerara Rum” and “Old Demerara Rum”— do not require aging or bottling inside the geographic region. The remaining three types require aging and bottling within the geographic region:

Cask Aged Demerara Rum (aged for 3 years minimum)
Special Reserve Demerara Rum (aged for 12 years minimum)
Grand Special Reserve Demerara Rum (aged for 25 years minimum)

Guatemala (“Ron de Guatemala” — EU Registered)

Aging Locale Requirements: Yes
Minimum Aging Duration: Per rum type - see notes
Cask Size Requirements: No
Cask Wood Requirement: White oak

Bottling Locale Requirements: No. However, the bottling facility must be registered with the regulatory body.

Notes:

Light rum: 1 year minimum
Aged rum: 5 years minimum
Reserve rum: 6 years minimum

Madeira (“Rum da Madeira” — EU Registered)

Aging Locale Requirements: Yes
Minimum Aging Duration: Per rum type – see notes
Cask Size Requirements: No
Cask Wood Requirement: Oak
Bottling Locale Requirements: Yes

Notes:

Distinct designations for rums of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, and 25 years. Unaged rum is also allowed.

Cuba (“DOP Cuba”) (EU Registration in Progress)

Aging Locale Requirements: Yes.
Minimum Aging Duration: 2 years
Cask Size Requirements: 180-500 liters.
Cask Wood Requirement: White oak
Bottling Locale Requirements: No

Venezuela (Ron de Venezuela) (EU Registration in Progress)

Aging Locale Requirements: Within a warehouse of a registered producer
Minimum Aging Duration: 2 years
Cask Size Requirements: 150 liters minimum
Cask Wood Requirement: White oak
Bottling Locale Requirements: Within a warehouse of a registered producer

Jamaica (“Jamaica Rum” —Not EU Registered)

Aging Locale Requirements: Yes.
Minimum Aging Duration: No
Cask Size Requirements: 250 liters maximum
Cask Wood Requirement: Food-grade wooden containers
Bottling Locale Requirements: No.

Saint Lucia (“Saint Lucia Rum” —Not EU Registered)

Aging Locale Requirements: Yes
Minimum Aging Duration: Per rum type - see notes.
Cask Size Requirements: No
Cask Wood Requirement: Wood
Bottling Locale Requirements: No

Notes:

Premium rum: aged between 1.5 and 5 years
Superpremium rum: aged between 5 and 10 years
Ultra-premium rum: aged for a minimum of 10 years
Unaged rum: unaged or aged for less than 1 year

Dominican Republic (“Ron Dominicano” —Not EU Registered)

Aging Locale Requirements: Yes.
Minimum Aging Duration: 1 year
Cask Size Requirements: 500 liters or less
Cask Wood Requirement: Oak
Bottling Locale Requirements: No, but must be registered with the Regulatory Council.