Typically rum is made from sugar cane juice or molasses, although sugar beet is sometimes used for inferior products. There is no set method of manufacturing and there are many regional variations.

Some distillers use pot stills, some column stills, others a variation of the two. Rhum Agricole is made from free run cane juice and is mostly confined to French speaking countries around the Caribbean. Latin rums from Spanish speaking nations can be fruity and full flavoured, while dark/navy rums have a more earthy and chocolaty taste. Most rums are aged for at least a year, some are then filtered to remove any colour, others left to age for up to 21 years.