Rum Cocktails

Rum covers more ground than any other spirit category, which is why a recipe almost always specifies a style rather than just saying rum. Light rum is clean and close to neutral and belongs in a Daiquiri or a Mojito, where the lime is meant to lead. Dark and aged rums carry molasses, vanilla and oak, and they are what a Dark 'n' Stormy or a Mai Tai is built around.

Spiced rum is a third thing entirely: it is a flavoured product, already sweetened and dosed with vanilla and cinnamon, so swapping it into a recipe written for light rum will make the drink taste finished before you have added anything.

The tiki tradition is where rum gets interesting, and its habit of blending two or three rums in one glass is not showing off. Each is doing a different job: one for body, one for aroma, one for the funk.