Making a Faux Dark Rum from Neutral Spirits

[IdleHands]

I like to make clones of various liquors, and right now I'm interested in making a passable dark rum from neutral spirits. For example, I can use Everclear diluted and then aged on oak and add some flavors. I have tried aging on a dark toast American oak insert, and I have some rum extract I can try, but it doesn't smell right to me. It's also really expensive. I've read here (in this forum's recipe section) about adding dunder to finished product to make a dark rum, and I wonder if that is a better option. If so, is it possible to buy dunder, perhaps with the alcohol boiled off so it's a legal transaction? Also, I don't know if the choice of wood and toast I've used is the best option. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Chauncey]

Just make your own rum after building a still?

[jonnys_spirit]

Hi, I heard that IdleHands are the devils playground (is this accurate?) - Before I first started stillin' I experimented a bit with oaking some various cheap store bought liquors which I proofed up to "cask strength" using everclear. I experimented with rum, corn liquor, tequila, etc... Added toasted oak chips and some other maceration ingredients. I would certainly recommend doing this but I'd also recommend getting a pot still and starting making the spirits yourself. It's way better with hoe-made craft likker.

One of my experiments involved adding some toasted JD and apple BBQ chips to some illicit moonshine I acquired from a buddy. This stuff went into the back of the cabinet and was forgotten for about a year when I found it.. Wow! Really opened my eyes to the possibilities.

Cheers!
-jonny

[StillerBoy]

First you need to get some good neutral spirit to make liquors from store bought essences, which by the way some are not bad at all..

But.. using Everclear is not the route to go.. distill some through a good reflux column and see the junk that's in that product, you will never touch it again..

So first is to get yourself setup for making a neutral with a real reflux system then move forward with essences experimenting.. it's an adventure of its own to make a clone, as I've clone some very good orange brandy, drambuie and a few others..

Mars

[OtisT]

Idle hands
Until you figure out how to make a descent neutral, you can certainly use commercial white spirits to make various knockoffs. I recommend you try a different “neutral” spirit than Everclear. Everclear is not a quality product and not very “neutral”, having some really bad tasting/smelling stuff in it. I would recommend you try a triple distilled vodka, like Smirnoffs, for a cleaner base spirit.

Otis

[Corsaire]

Is there a rum distillery near you? I'd imagine they'd be glad if someone wanted to buy their dunder.

If you don't want to do anything illegal, maybe you can redistill store bought white rum to up the proof, then fiddle around with wood and aging?

Honestly it sounds like just making buccaneer bob's rum would be the simplest option.

[Hambone]

For a neutral spirit I would recommend the store brand vodka from sam's (if you're near one). Less than $14 for 1.75L, and is actually pretty darn good. Can tide you over for infusions until you're up and running your own...

[IdleHands]

Thanks all.

As far as getting my devil's playthings on some dunder without making a still, it occurs to me I might can just get some black strap molasses and yeast and ferment the wash. Then rack the wash and boil it to remove any foreshots. Would that work, or is there more to it than that?

[Hambone]

That would work, but why not start distilling to get the good stuff? You know you want to...

[LWTCS]

Best Cuban platino ever is a molasses based vodka lol.
Not kidding though. Molasses is bullfrog tough.
If you can find some "neutral" that has a molasses base it'll get you so much closer.

Theys a few out there that come to mind that are distilled in Florida. Shame really. Molasses is just not a good choice for ( vodka) neutral production,,,,,,unless you like a super clean rum that is.

[Yummyrum]

I gotta say back in the beginnings for me , I tried just about every Rum Essence and Oak on offer and none of them came anywhere close .
I figure if the guys making essences for a living can’t get it even close , what chance do we . When I concider that quite a few Essences aren’t too far off the mark , seems they have a hard job getting a Rum to taste like Rum .

Still , don’t give up , you may nail something you like .

I would agree though that your best chance of ending up with a Rum is to start with a Rum base rather than a Neutral.
.

[IdleHands]

What if the neutral is made from a sugar wash, like the all bran recipe AKA rumsky?

[LWTCS]

Give it a shot and see what you think.

So are you or are you not distilling anything?
If so, I really don't understand why you just dont make rum?

[Brick wall 5+]

I've dabbled with rums and think the wash is where all the flavor comes from (rum flavoring that is) spiced is the easiest but for dark takes time to age the product before flavoring. I use medium toast white oak spikes make myself. The oak is to choice of the maker. My spiced rum is usually amber at best. Some have said better than Sailor Jerry I tend to proof at 52 percent

[Fruitmaster]

I like to make clones of various liquors, and right now I'm interested in making a passable dark rum from neutral spirits. For example, I can use Everclear diluted and then aged on oak and add some flavors. I have tried aging on a dark toast American oak insert, and I have some rum extract I can try, but it doesn't smell right to me. It's also really expensive. I've read here (in this forum's recipe section) about adding dunder to finished product to make a dark rum, and I wonder if that is a better option. If so, is it possible to buy dunder, perhaps with the alcohol boiled off so it's a legal transaction? Also, I don't know if the choice of wood and toast I've used is the best option. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Duplais talks a bit about it on Page 230. Leather and fig sounds interesting.

https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/ ... edir_esc=y

It is free.