Calls for openness
The transparency debate: who's fighting sweetened rum
Sweetened rum has been debated for years. Independent testers like Denmark's Johnny Drejer have published sugar measurements since 2013, while distillers like Richard Seale of Foursquare and the bottler Velier campaign for greater transparency. Since 2021, the EU has capped sugar content, though there's still no requirement to disclose it.
How the debate over sugar in rum began
For a long time, rum was seen as a spirit with few rules. Anyone who added sweetness wasn't required to disclose it, and before 2021 the EU set no upper limit for rum. The first published measurements changed that perspective. Lab analyses from Finland and Sweden revealed that some popular premium rums contained significant amounts of sugar. Rum enthusiasts supplemented this data with their own hydrometer tests, compiling the results in forums and blogs.
For many buyers, this came as a surprise. They had attributed the round, smooth character of certain rums solely to age or cask influence. Now a new question hung in the air: how much of that effect actually came from added sugar? The dispute centred less on taste than on transparency. Should a rum be allowed to be sweet without the buyer knowing, and should sweetness be allowed to simulate greater age?
Johnny Drejer, The Rum Project, and the Sugar Lists
Since 2013, the Dane Johnny Drejer has published sugar readings obtained using a hydrometer. He tested his method against rums for which official state analyses already existed. On the English-language site The Rum Project, a crowdsourced list emerged featuring over 700 tested rums. Several contributors took part, including bloggers from the UK and France, who made their measurements public.
The lists had weaknesses. Hydrometer readings are estimates, batches vary, and some discrepancies stem from caramel colouring or cask influence rather than sugar. Even so, they shifted the debate. Producers found themselves publicly questioned about their recipes, and tasters began to assess sweetness more deliberately. What had once been a niche topic for insiders became a question now raised in countless conversations among rum enthusiasts.
Richard Seale, Luca Gargano, and Classification by Still Type
On the producer side, Richard Seale became one of the most prominent voices. He runs the Foursquare distillery in Barbados, founded by Sir David Seale in 1996. Foursquare states that it adds no sugar whatsoever. Seale has campaigned publicly for rum to be classified according to how it's made rather than by colour or sweetness, and for rum free of additives.
Together with Luca Gargano of the Italian bottler Velier, he developed a classification based on the type of still used. Pure Single Rum comes from the pot still of a single distillery, Single Blended Rum from both pot still and column still at the same distillery. Traditional Rum is produced on a traditional column still, while simply "Rum" comes from a modern multi-column still. The classification is a private initiative with no legal standing. It places emphasis on production method rather than colour or sweetness.
What the EU Limit Changed, and What Remains Unresolved
With Regulation (EU) 2019/787, the dispute received a first answer in 2021: a maximum of 20 grams of sugar per litre. Very sweet bottlings that had previously been sold as rum now had to either become less sweet or carry a different designation within the EU. Critics argue the limit doesn't go far enough, since it still permits sweetening and requires no disclosure. Supporters see it as a workable compromise that allows sweetened styles while ruling out excess.
Label disclosure remains unresolved. As long as spirits are exempt from mandatory nutritional labelling, each producer decides individually whether to state their sugar content. For buyers, a level-headed approach is best. Sweetened rum is legal and can taste wonderful; unsweetened rum isn't automatically superior. What matters is knowing what's actually in the glass. Sales designation, origin rules, measurement lists, and your own palate can all help with that.