Characterisation of aroma-active compounds in commercial aged rums

The volatile compounds in commercial rums declared as aged 3, 7, 10, and 15 years were isolated by solvent extraction followed by solvent-assisted flavour evaporation and analysed by gas chromatography-olfactometry. According to the aroma extract dilution analysis, 19 potentially aroma-active compounds in the flavour dilution (FD) factor range of 8 to 1024 were found. Fifteen of them were present in at least one aged rum at FD factor≥128. Clear differences in the FD factors of these odourants between each of the aged rums suggested that they contributed to their unique sensory profiles