Esters and Jamaican Rum

In our prior post, Where Does Rum Flavor Come From, we learned that the aromas and tastes in a rum originate from numerous organic compounds touching our olfactory sensors. Among the compounds are many permutations of acids, alcohols, and aldehydes, but it’s esters that make a rum geek’s heart beat faster, especially when it comes to Jamaican rum. To understand the particularly strong connection between esters and Jamaican rums, we must go back several centuries.