Classifying Rum

In Smuggler’s Cove, Martin Cate, proprietor of the renowned tiki bar in San Francisco of the same name, groups the dimensions of rum into the following categories:

Molasses & Evaporated Cane Rums

Pot still unaged
①Pot still lightly aged
Pot still aged
Pot still long aged

②Blended lightly aged
③Blended aged
Blended long aged

Column still lightly aged
④Column still aged
Column still long aged

Black pot still

⑤Black blended
⑥Black blended overproof

Fresh Cane Juice Rums

Cane Coffey still aged
Cane Pot still unaged

⑦Cane AOC Martinique rhum agricole blanc
⑧Cane AOC Martinique rhum agricole vieux
Cane AOC Martinique rhum agricole long aged

Pot still unaged cachaça
Pot still aged cachaça

All varieties of rum have their uses, but the 8 italicized varieties are most widely used in rum-based cocktails. Unaged rums are excluded from most cocktails as they are harsh spirits and thus difficult to blend. Conversely, the nuances of long-aged rums are best appreciated when served neat; they can also shine in very simple cocktails.