For those of us old enough to remember the local bar scene in the late-1990s, rum had a low-key, unsophisticated profile. It was used mainly as a base spirit in cocktails, especially in classics like Daiquiri and Pina Colada. Whatever nuanced character it purported to have was lost within the larger alchemy of the cocktail. It didn’t help that rums, distilled from molasses or sugarcane juice, varied widely in quality. Few people drank them neat.