# What Are the Spices in Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-spices-in-captain-morgans-spiced-rum/72363>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 13, 2001, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-spices-in-captain-morgans-spiced-rum/72363 "2001-07-13T13:28:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-spices-in-captain-morgans-spiced-rum/72363/1 "2001-07-13T13:28:10Z")

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I’m guessing it’s mostly ginger, plus maybe nutmeg, cinnamon and maybe cloves.

Also, on the subject of rum: is it just me, or could I make an absolute _fortune_ by opening up my own rum distillery in, say, Haiti or Jamaica? I could pay the locals something like $3/hr and they’d think they were getting a king’s ransom. For the raw materials I’d need, what, maybe molasses, yeast, water & sugar? The biggest expenses would be bottling (plastic or glass) and the molasses. Could I use Grandma’s Sorghum Molasses® like I buy at Wal-Mart when I want to make oatmeal cookies? Or would I have to buy a more high-powered (and more expensive) pure sugar cane molasses?

I know that Sammy Hagar opened up a tequila distillery in Mexico, and he said on _Behind the Music_ that he’s made tons more money as a distiller than he ever made in heavy metal.

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**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-spices-in-captain-morgans-spiced-rum/72363/2 "2001-07-13T16:38:03Z")

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From the Vermont Dept of Liquor Control at [http://www.state.vt.us/dlc/descriptions/rum.html](http://www.state.vt.us/dlc/descriptions/rum.html) :

**Captian Morgan’s Spiced Rum**  
A blend of Puerto Rican rum, spices, and other natural flavors including vanilla, apricot, fig and tincture of cassia. Honey color. Spicy, honeyed nose that includes aromas of nutmeg, coriander, and cinnamon. Creamy texture. Flavors of molasses, honey, and spices.

I’ve also heard that cloves are included.

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**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-spices-in-captain-morgans-spiced-rum/72363/3 "2001-07-13T17:50:06Z")

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I was reading up on making your own flavored liquors once and according to a page I found (great souce, huh?) the overwhelming spice in vanilla, and that you can infact turn regular rum into spiced rum by skicking a couple vanilla beans in it overnight.

There is one more expense tacked on to any liquor production: taxes, taxes, taxes.