First Rum Wash - Thumper or No Thumper?

[JeDesto]

Hi all,

I'm looking to run my first rum wash. Given that I only have 5 gallons of wash, (and a 5 gallon still), and I don't have enough molasses to ferment any more at the moment, I was planning on skipping the stripping run. If I stripped it, I'd have to dilute it quite a bit to get it well above the heating element.

I had read that skipping the stripping run for rum wasn't that uncommon, since it strips a lot of flavors. That being said, I wondered whether I should use the little 0.7 gallon thumper for the run or not. It would result in a slightly cleaner and easier to cut product, but is clean what I'm going for?

Thanks!