So let me preface this with I have never enjoyed drinking rum but my whiskeys are starting to get pretty good.
I was asked by the boss to make a 'white rum' for her work buddy as a birthday present, now I'll take any excuse to play in the garage so of course I said yes. I bought a 13kg bucket of feed molasses from the local stockfeed place (Castlereagh brand), put it in my 60L fermenter and filled with water until the SG was around 1.080 and pitched bakers yeast. It will hopefully finish fermenting in the next day or two.
As this is essentially a once-off batch and I have a 50L boiler, can I just do a spirit run or should I do a strip and then spirit run after watering down the strip run?
I've read that rum (similar to whiskey) should be oaked to give it flavour, but how do you make a white rum and keep it clear? I see that some people carbon filter it before bottling but is this the only method? I have some medium toast american oak staves that I was planning to use which are uncharred so shouldn't give it too much colour.
Can I just bottle it after airing for a few days or will it not taste like rum unless I oak it for a few months?
Advice/thoughts/guidance from the hive mind?