Stroh Austria GmbH is an Austrian manufacturer of liquors, especially spiced rums and high-proof rum-like drinks used in warm drinks and cooking. The Stroh brand is one of the best-known spirits from Austria.
The term Stroh Rum has colloquially become a genericized trademark for spirits with a similarly high alcohol content in Germanic speaking regions.
Background
As Austria-Hungary had no colonies in tropical regions with rum or easy access to rum importation, the imperial government regulated the manufacturing of a rum-like product, where the sugarcane molasses aroma was replaced with a mixture of flavorants and coloring added to alcohol from sugar beets. This class of products was named Inländer-Rum (literally "domestic rum"). It resulted in a distinctive product smelling primarily of butterscotch and vanilla.[1] It became a regional specialty, available from several brands, in the countries that followed the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, most notably today's Austria and the Czech Republic.
Some manufacturers have since switched to using sugarcane by-products according to European Community regulations, while the typical "Inländer" flavor is provided by traditional essences. So the result can be regarded equal to a spiced rum.