How do butterscotch notes get into a rum with no additives?

Hi.. please if anybody knows it better correct me, but i think it comes from the toasting of the barrel. Like toasted american virgin oak barrels creates a lot vanilla and caramel flavors.

There are several factors responsible, basically the yeast for fermentation gives the flavor. The raw material (gray, black, red sugar cane, etc.), the duration of fermentation, dunder or muckhole addition, the temperature, the distillation apparatus (pot or colum) also plays an important role. Finally, the barrel comes into play and here, too, the duration, storage location, type of barrel, new or used and what was in it before are decisive. The blending of rum also contributes its own.

It is not so easy to say where the aroma comes from.

Thanks Rene!

So the secret is in the yeast. If you can find this Ron Inmortal 12 Year, grab it! I like it too much.

Sorry to get into it again but i think to say that butterscotch flavors are coming from the yeast is a little to simple and probably not correct. Because there are even different yeasts (or no yeast at all) and like Rene said correctly it is hard to say when which flavors are developing. It is simple chemistry.. if chemistry is simple to you ; P. And we haven't even started to talk about Congeners.

While toasting a virgin oak barrel you create sugar, that caramelizes. The Rum takes it out of the wood. That way it gets some nice sweet caramel notes. That i can say is some chemistry that is easy to verifiable and there are good vids and infos in the net about it. And i could taste it myself because El Ron del Artesano uses the same rum base in different barrels. And the virgin oak cask finish is full of those flavors.

So that i know and that i am quite sure. Of course the flavors you like could develop at some other point of the rum production. But that would be pure speculation. : )

Mr Rumantic:

So, if I understand correctly, toasting a barrel is not the same as charring it. There is definitely no charred notes in this column distilled rum. It looks like the correct answer is toasted barrels and the yeast.

There is a Louisiana company that wanted to produce a rhum agricole with the taste of those from Guadeloupe. So they imported the yeast from Guadeloupe. I would say that they succeeded because their rhum agricole tasted so different than any one from Martinique. The yeast does indeed make a difference, but is not the only factor affecting the final taste.

The final taste is not a simple thing. Many companies start out anew in the hopes of making good rums or rhums. Most of them fail. It often takes decades of trial and error to succeed and there is no single formula. One quicker way for aging is to use smaller barrels. Another trick is to add wooden stades into the rum itself. I would not even begin to try and start my own rum company.

Paul... you are 100% right. Not an easy job making good rum from scratch.

@Mr. Rumantic

You are of course absolutely right about the toasted barrels and the wood sugar that caramelizes and thus contributes to the caramel flavor. My contribution was intended as an extension, since rum can not only taste like butterscotch. 

And yes, Sebastian has a good hand with his barrels, had years ago at the Lucerne Rum Festival a very informative conversation with him.

I am happy to soon be able to be present at a tasting of a new development. There are also very different yeasts have been used. By the way, yeasts are involved in every fermentation to convert the sugar into alcohol, mostly they are used specifically to control the fermentation, some mashes are also fermented wild that is the wild yeast strains lead to fermentation and so uncontrollable flavors arise as in the Haitian Clairin Rum, since each batch is different.

I just looked up the actual definition of butterscotch from Wikipedia and it is mainly brown sugar and butter. No mention of caramel at all, and there are no caramel notes in this rum.

@Rene: you are right. Some form of yeast is necessary. I wanted to imply the wild fermantation like Hampden. Means you don't use industrial yeast.

@Paul: The google translation of butterscotch to German is Karamellbonbon or Toffee : P. and you are right with the recipe. Still if the rum has no added sugar the sweet sugar part probably comes from the barrel. But again. It is a science on its own. But man is it fun to speculate : D

Mr Rumantic:

Something tells me that this company must have lined the inside of already sweet barrels with butter. And this still does not count as additives.

When it comes to "industrial" versus "artisan" for Brazilian cachacas, it has nothing to do with the yeast. It is about how long the cane juice is allowed to ripen out in the hot tropical sun before fermentation begins. Less than 90 minutes aging is for artisan cachacas. Longer than 90 minutes aging yields the horrible industrial cachacas that will make one become very sick.

The English version of butterscotch specifically says that toffee is totally different. So, the German translation loses something in the true meaning. Butterscotch originated in English speaking countries like the UK, and then found their way to the USA. This rum tastes so much like those butterscotch hard candies without being overly sweet. The fact that I have no internal plumbing problems the next day only proves that there is no added sugar.

Lately, "butterscotch" reminds me of that character from South Park named Butters. His real name is Leopold Scotch, hence the nickname in the middle becomes Leopold Butters Scotch. What a hilarious character! Without having a sense of humor, one just dies without having a life at all.

Rocket science is all I can say. Arrrgh. ☠☠☠