Cruzan Rum ( ) is a rum producer in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands owned by Beam Suntory. Founded in 1760, it claims the distinction of being "the most honored rum distillery in the world." For eight generations, and through various changes in corporate ownership, it has been managed by the Nelthropp family.

Background

The distillery is also the largest supplier of American private and distributor label rum. Cruzan Rum also makes a pure cane distillate alcohol (in 189-

proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a con ...

), which can be found for sale in the medicine sections of many grocery stores in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Cruzan is one of two rum distilleries which, due to their place in American history, are part of the American Whiskey Trail. Cruzan rum is made similar to a traditional Cuban style that produces an exceptionally clean, and lighter bodied rum. Although Cruzan rums generally have had mixed success at international spirit ratings competitions, the single-barrel has performed extremely well. Cruzan's most notable showing was from 2009 raters at the Beverage Testing Institute who gave it a 96 (out of 100). Proof66 rates the single-barrel amongst the Top 20 rums in the world.

Distillery

The ''Cruzan Rum Distillery'' (formerly known as Estate Diamond) has been in operation for more than 250 years. Tours of the distillery and its historic grounds including original sugar mill run 6 days a week in Frederiksted.

Rums

*''Cruzan 151°'': aged for a minimum of one year in American oak barrels. The winner of silver medal at the 2011 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and gold medal at the 2002 Beverage Testing Institute. *''Cruzan 9'': spiced rum named for the 9 different herbs used to make it and also the 9 districts of St. Croix. *''Cruzan Rum Cream'': a blend of Cruzan light rum, pure Irish cream,

caramel Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard. The process of caramelizatio ...

, vanilla and other flavors. (discontinued) *''Cruzan Velvet Cinn'': a traditional horchata blend of Cruzan light rum, rich dairy cream, and

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

Estate

*''Cruzan Estate Light'': aged two years. *''Cruzan Estate Dark'': aged two years, available in both 80- and 151-proof. *''Cruzan Estate Diamond'': aged five years. Back in production - now available as both a dark and a light.

Single barrel

''Cruzan Single Barrel'': a blend of rums aged 5-12 years then rebarreled in new oak barrels for additional aging. The winner of double gold medals and the title "World's Best Rum" at the 2000, and 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, as well as numerous other gold medals at various spirits competitions.

Black strap

''Cruzan Black Strap'': a heavier bodied version of Cruzan light rum with the addition of

blackstrap molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods. ...

from tropical sugar cane. According to Gary Nelthropp, Master Distiller for Cruzan, there is no blackstrap molasses in the flavoring component. It is named after blackstrap molasses solely for marketing purposes.

Light rum

''Cruzan Light Aged Rum'' is aged in oak for at least one year and then carbon filtered for clarity.

Flavored rum

Branded as Cruzan Tropical Rums, white rum blended with flavorings. Available in

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

, vanilla, pineapple,

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

, black cherry, citrus,

guava Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the ...

, key lime, passion fruit, orange, peach, blueberry lemonade and

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

. A watermelon variety was introduced in 2019.

References

External links

Official website The history of Cruzan Rum
{{Alcoholic drinks Economy of the United States Virgin Islands American rums Alcoholic drink brands Beam Suntory 1760 establishments in North America 1760s establishments in the Caribbean