Is a sugar wash Rum

[rcazparts]

This weekend we toured a local distillery and did their tasting tour. Good fun and tasty products. One of the things the presenter talked about was their award winning rum. He said they make it from sugar from the local restaurant supply, age it in used whiskey barrels. This got me to thinking, he is just making a sugar wash and aging it. So a simple sugar was is making rum? I know molasses is used to make rum, but is a simple sugar wash making a rum too?