rum and sunlight

[John von Pey]

Hi all,

Last weekend I bought a bottle of Mil Estrellas Limon. I suppose this is a Bacardi Limon "lookalike". But what I find strange is the warning on the label: store away from direct sunlight. I have never seen this warning on another bottle before (and I have seen some...).

Can anyone shine a light on this? (though preferrably no direct sunlight )

John

[ctgm]

Would the sunlight "bleach" the colour out of the product?

[John von Pey]

No, it is a clear rum. Is it possible the lemon part could be influenced by sunlight? Although I never heard of other flavoured rums with this problem...

[ctgm]

Could it be the opposite then? The sunlight reacts with the "lemon additives" and throw a haze?

[John von Pey]

OK, it is time to start an experiment. I'm gonna pour a small amount of the rum in a clear glass bottle, and place it in full sunlight (which we have plenty at the moment).

I'll keep you informed about changes

John

p.s. I have written to the destiller with the same question I asked here. No response yet...

[JOHN REEKIE]

There is a long history of 'Sun distilled spirits', which is a maseration of fruit steeped in alcohol with an added fermentation when placed in a glass carboy (with a gas vent) and left in the sun for a while. This goes through all country cultures and at different ages, and political situations.and still practised today everywhere. Many French West Indies (and other islands), after dinner "punches "are made this way. Many St Martin Island liquors started this way.

I think what you have is a bottle that when opened allows air born spores to enter and the with the fructose sugars in the lemon you could possibly get a secondary fermentation when left in the sun. This causes CO2 gas to be given off that could build up and explode the glass bottle.!!!!

Well thats what I think anyway ....any other suggestions.

What you did not let us know is...what is the alcohol persentage by volume.of your bottle

Is it a: Liquor 17-24% or: Liqueur 24-35% or:Spirit 35-40-43% or; Overproof 43->.

Therefore sugar count etc.

Anyway this was just a rushed thought.

Why not contact the manufactures and ask them.

John Reekie.

[John von Pey]

The alcohol level is 32%.

Ingredients as mentioned on the label:

sugar, flavourings, citric acid and sodium citrate

Hmmmm.... do I drink that???

Your idea sounds possible!

I'm gonna try the experiment with great care...

[ctgm]

I am not sure, but secondary fermentation shouldn't happen with 32% spirit

[=Mark]

You're not going to get any more fermentation once the alcohol level gets above 16% or so. Any other changes would be photochemical, and generally would not be an improvement.

[Bolivar Petit Corona]

I've heard of & tasted rum that had gone bad, due to (I think) improper seal. The only term that comes to mind is skunky.

In my case it was a bottle of HC7 bought in Cuba, which I think was real, and the one I heard of was Cuban Matusalem bought in Germany.

Both were "on th' shelf" for a few years before tasting.

[Ed Hamilton]

There are a few distillers that have discovered that flavored rum additives are photosensitive. Most commonly the liquid gets cloudy and may for percipitates that don't look enticing, hence dark bottles.

[mikef]

I am a firm believer that sun and other sources of ultraviolet light are harmful, especially to those products bottled in clear glass. Rum may be less sensitive to UV than beer or wine, however I would be very cautious of buying any bottle that has been sitting on a shelf for a long period of time, especially if it is near a window in direct sunlight!

[JOHN REEKIE]

John Von Pey..... We never finalised the lemon and sunlight situation.

Did you ever hear back from the " Mil Estrellas Limon " distillers/producers, that you wrote to with the question of the- ' sunlight warning on their bottles'.

[John von Pey]

Last weekend I received a message from the producer, saying: "sunlight might affect the looks and the taste of (any) spirits."

That's all...

But, as said before, there is a small clear bottle of Mil Estrellas standing at my window, where it catches a lot of sunlight each day (if the sun cooperates that is)

John

[John von Pey]

Here's an update...

The testbottle has been standing in direct sunlight for four months now (and we have had quite some shiny days! )

Conclusion: there is no change visible of smellable. I haven't tasted yet, because I filled only a small bottle for this test (0,1 liter). Since I didn't like the taste very much, I don't intend to buy another bottle, so the test has to continue with the current one...

The research continues...

John

[John von Pey]

Final update on the rum and sunlight experiment.

The bottle (clear glas) has been standing in direct sunlight since february 2003. That's eight months now. Results?

- no change in color

- no "fog" visible

- no change in smell

- no change in taste (edit: the bottle is empty now , so the experiment can't continue)

Conclusion after this single experiment (so not reliable at all ): it takes more than eight months of direct sunlight to get a possible influence of this sunlight on the rum.

Edited October 11, 2003 by John von Pey (log)

[JOHN REEKIE]

Good Experiment.........now drink it before it changes its mind !

John Reekie.

[JOHN REEKIE]

Sorry did not read your last line, that the experiment was now over......john

[ctgm]

JvP, how goes it? (Have you also tucked into those minis I gave you?)

The only thing that I can think about this experiment is that perhaps you had a bad bottle maybe from the beginning/end of a bottling. However as you said that the taste was no different this might discount this theory.

A mystery!!

[Ed Hamilton]

There are a number of additives that are photoreactive and the blender is simply covering his assets. I have found a bottle of dark rum that became clear after a few weeks in the tropical sun, which is probably equivalent to months of northern sun.

[ctgm]

Ed, out of interest, when this dark rum became light, was a sediment thrown in the bottle? It is slightly intriguing your case, as surely a dark rum is natural and no colur is needed to be added. Are you sure someone wasn't helping themselves to it and then adding water to top up the bottle !!!