Which Caribbean island is the real home of rum

A.� Rum's hidden history starts 10,000 years ago when the sugar cane plant began its migration from the East Indies into China and India. Sugar cane became the main Caribbean/South American crop as soon as the early Spanish settlers realised there was no gold in the region. When rum or its equivalent first appeared isn't known, but since molasses will ferment naturally of left to its own devices, it's likely slaves on plantations made the first discovery.

Barbados can claim to be the home of commercial rum; certainly it was producing large amounts by the mid-17thC, only two decades after Dutch planter Peitr Blower brought cane from Brazil. It soon became one of the most famous rum-producing islands, suggesting the Barbados style was the first. By the end of the last century every plantation on the island possessed its own distillery. Traditionally, this is the home of elegant, fruity rums, and these days there are only two distilleries left on the island.

Barbados today is home to Mount Gay, possibly the most famous name in the premium rum market, and an estate that has been producing rum since 1663 at least. This allows it to claim itself as the oldest rum brand in the world.

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Q.� What about the other islands

A.� The Jamaican rum industry was built on the back of the trade with the Navy and the privateers who guarded the island in the early days of the colony. After years of sugar being the dominant industry, these days it's rum that offers the greater opportunity for profit. As in Barbados there are only a few distilleries, including Wray and Nephew, founded in 1825, by John Wray. The island is most famous for its rich and pungent rums.

In Trinidad and Tobago, it's Angostura Bitters that are its most famous product. In the French Colonies, they have been making rhum since 1694 when the Dominican priest Pere Labat arrived on Martinique after a lengthy voyage. He is credited with bringing the latest distillation techniques, allowing the island to produce rhum from sugar cane.

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Q.� How many different types of rum are there

A.� There are a mind-boggling variety of rums available in three broad styles: Light (white/overproof): Heavy (gold and aged): and Dark (the British brands).

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Q.� What is bacardi

A. Bacardi these days has international style as it has grown to become the biggest spirit brand in the world. Bacardi has distilleries in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain and other places, all produced to the formula invented by Don Facunado Bacardi when he brought the first Coffey still to his original distillery in Santiago de Cuba in 1878. Bacardi successfully revolutionised rum production - creating the first light easy-drinking brand. When the firm moved to Puerto Rico in 1960 it started a campaign of world domination. Lawyers these days jealously guard production methods.

One of the few places in the world where you will not find Bacardi is Cuba. it was Fidel Castro's nationalisation of the rum industry that forced Bacardi to leave the island.

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Q.� Is rum produced outside the Caribbean

A.� The world's biggest selling spirit style is a rum - although it isn't called that: it's known as cachaca. it comes from Brazil and is drunk in vast quantities. It's also the base of one of the world's best-loved cocktails - the caiparinah.� Rums are produced too in Madagascar, Surinam and the French dependencies of Reunion and Mauritius. More common is Bundaberg, Australia's native spirit. The distillery, close to the cane plantations of Queensland, has been in production since the19thC and remains an Australian drinking ritual. "Bundy" has a fearsome reputation at family gatherings.

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By Katharine MacColl