Rum is an alcoholic beverage first made when sugar cane arrived on the American continent. Originally from Oceania, sugar cane is a grass with a stalk about five centimeters in diameter and can grow up to six meters tall. The juice in its stalk may contain up to 15% sucrose. Over the centuries, sugar cane migrated from east to west: Christopher Columbus brought it to Santo Domingo on his second trip to America in 1493.

Source: Alimentarium