🥃 Spiced rum

Spiced rum is the market name for rum flavoured with spices. Under Regulation (EU) 2019/787 rum may not be flavoured, so in the EU such a drink is legally a “spirit drink”. In the US it is a flavoured spirit based on rum, bottled at 30% ABV or more, not 40%.

Category 1 “Rum” in Annex I of the regulation permits only distillation of sugar cane products, caramel for colour and sweetening up to 20 g/l, and expressly prohibits flavouring. A drink that fits no category is called “spirit drink” under Article 10, and the word “rum” together with “type”, “style” or “flavour” is prohibited for it.

At the same time, Article 11 allows a compound term: the legal name of a drink may be combined with the name of a food if all the alcohol comes from that very drink and it has not been diluted below the minimum strength. And if sugar is added at 100 g/l or more and the strength is 15% ABV or more, the drink may meet category 33 and be called a liqueur.

In the US, rule 27 CFR § 5.151 describes flavoured spirits as a base that meets the standard of rum, whisky or another drink, with natural flavourings or wine, with or without sugar. The name must indicate the base and the predominant flavour, and if the wine exceeds 2.5%, its type and share are stated in the name. Ordinary rum is bottled in the US at 40% ABV or more.

Why this matters to you. The word “spiced” speaks of flavouring, not of ageing or origin. In the EU, look next to the brand name for the legal name: “spirit drink” means the drink does not meet the requirements for rum, and its strength may be lower than that of rum. WHO: there is no safe dose of alcohol.