Does rum age well?

roland_7707

I guess to preface this, my wife and I are on a diet and are not eating very much sugar/carbs and alcohol. Iv already lost 10 pounds in about 10 days and Im pretty stoked.

Anyway, to give myself a treat every once in a while I thought I would pick up a bottle of rum because I really like rum. But since I wont be drinking it very fast, or often, I was wondering about the effect time would have on it, if any.
Any thoughts or ideas?

raisindot

I've had opened and closed bottles of Myers and other rums hanging around for years and have never noticed any degradation or improvement in taste or quality.

bandyt09

Dane, believe it or not, but I've had open bottles of rum for a few years. Worst case scenario is you'll lose some to evaporation. Find a nice bottle, sit back and enjoy. May I suggest some Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva if you can find it.

jgibv

bandyt09:

.....I've had open bottles of rum for a few years.....

^^^^^^
Nope, don't believe it. LOL ;-)

bandyt09

jgibv:

bandyt09:

.....I've had open bottles of rum for a few years.....

^^^^^^
Nope, don't believe it. LOL ;-)

Would you believe one bottle of open rum for years?

[Deleted User]

Rum ages very well...as long as its good Rum. I had a Flor de Cana 18 year that was out of this world. Had some others as well that were a between 9 and 12 year aged, and they were very nice as well.

jgibv

bandyt09:

jgibv:

bandyt09:

.....I've had open bottles of rum for a few years.....

^^^^^^
Nope, don't believe it. LOL ;-)

Would you believe one bottle of open rum for years?

Yes.....if you're keeping it as an empty "decorative" piece?
You never said there was any rum left in it ;-)

curtiscr79

I have had the same bottle of Bacardi for at least 10 years. You should be fine. I would keep it in a cool dark place just to make sure.

Bigshizza

bandyt09:

Dane, believe it or not, but I've had open bottles of rum for a few years. Worst case scenario is you'll lose some to evaporation. Find a nice bottle, sit back and enjoy. May I suggest some Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva if you can find it.

Todd, aging is more than 24 hours!

jd50ae

When I moved here I brought about a gazillion miniature booze bottles, seals intact. Decided the move was a pretty good reason to start drinking a few. Now some of these were 15 to 20 years old and the only problems encountered were about 15% had bad seals and had done some evaporating. The rest were in perfect condition and tasted the same as a new bottle would.

SleevePlz

bandyt09:

May I suggest some Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva if you can find it.

Thanks for the recommendation! Just googled it and it sounds quite nice. Doesn't appear to be available locally, however. I hate that.

Echambers

roland_7707:

I guess to preface this, my wife and I are on a diet and are not eating very much sugar/carbs and alcohol. Iv already lost 10 pounds in about 10 days and Im pretty stoked.

Anyway, to give myself a treat every once in a while I thought I would pick up a bottle of rum because I really like rum. But since I wont be drinking it very fast, or often, I was wondering about the effect time would have on it, if any.
Any thoughts or ideas?

I think the question you are trying to ask is "does rum store well?" The answer is yes, as others have noted. The alcohol content tends to stabilize the drink. The only real issue is evaporation but that is such a minimal risk it's hardly worth mentioning. Evaporation can speed up if there is a large surface area exposed, it is heated, or at high altitudes.

If you really meant aging then that is also a yes. Indeed, aging changes the character to be sure but that's generally a good thing. They even make an aged vodka in Russian.

roland_7707

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions fellas.

Jetmech_63

I aged some Zaya for 7 days, it awesome!

Rob1110

As it was already stated, Rum and all other distilled spirits will store just fine. Over years, you may lose some to evaporation and there may be some hints of oxidation but the high percentage of alcohol will preserve the drink. Rum and other spirits age in a barrel, not the bottle.

Wine, vintage port and champagne, even beer - if made properly (your average $10 bottle of wine was not meant for aging) and stored properly will keep for years and will evolve and change over time. Like cigars, whether this change is an improvement or not is completely subjective.

Ken_Light

Rum and all spirits will not "age", they will just degrade. Aging is done in casks and will not occur once bottled. Wines will age in their bottles because it contains live ingredients. Beer will do the same if live ingredients are bottled with the beer. Distillation removes these live ingredients and aging that occurs is due to the cask/barrel, not the contents of the spirit by themselves.

As people have said, you can prevent degradation by doing things like storing in a cool, dark, dry place and also by keeping the bottle as airtight as possible once opened. However, if you get a bottle of 10 year old rum and hold it 5 years, it does not age into a bottle of 15 years aged rum.

roland_7707

So the "aging" part of the question was incorrect, my bad. Lol

I do not intend to keep a bottle around for even two or three years, and it sounds like it will stay good for that long at least.
Thank you again fellas for the information and the suggestions.

Ken_Light

roland_7707:

So the "aging" part of the question was incorrect, my bad. Lol

I do not intend to keep a bottle around for even two or three years, and it sounds like it will stay good for that long at least.
Thank you again fellas for the information and the suggestions.

Ah, gotcha, sorry to go off on a tangent, just wanted to make sure.

roland_7707

No big deal man. Thanks for the info.

raisindot

Rob1110:

As it was already stated, Rum and all other distilled spirits will store just fine. Over years, you may lose some to evaporation and there may be some hints of oxidation but the high percentage of alcohol will preserve the drink. Rum and other spirits age in a barrel, not the bottle.

The only exception I'd say to this is Bailey's Irish Cream. I've had two well-sealed, darkly-stored bottles turn into bottles of hardened cream flakes over the years. Even the tears I cried into the bottles couldn't save them...

dr_frankenstein56

i wonder what a 15 year old can of Pabst Blue Ribbon would be like...

Aj

Jetmech_63

Ken Light:

Rum and all spirits will not "age", they will just degrade. Aging is done in casks and will not occur once bottled. Wines will age in their bottles because it contains live ingredients. Beer will do the same if live ingredients are bottled with the beer. Distillation removes these live ingredients and aging that occurs is due to the cask/barrel, not the contents of the spirit by themselves.

As people have said, you can prevent degradation by doing things like storing in a cool, dark, dry place and also by keeping the bottle as airtight as possible once opened. However, if you get a bottle of 10 year old rum and hold it 5 years, it does not age into a bottle of 15 years aged rum.

when touring a distillery I asked them about this and got the same answer, the "aging" process as we know it stops the day the spirit is bottled.