Post #716942 by Sunny&Rummy on Wed, May 14, 2014 2:49 PM

In general the dark rums like Goslings, Cruzan Blsckstrap, and the dark Jamaican style rums have great strong flavors (molasses, burnt sugar, smoke, etc.) that really shine in tropical drinks but are quite rough if you try to drink them straight. They are meant to be mixed. Most light Spanish style rums don't have a ton of depth flavor-wise and their inclusion in tropical drinks is usually to boost the overall strength of the drink without going overboard on the intense flavors and throwing the drink out of balance. The relatively unaged gold rums you mentioned (Appleton V/X, Mt. Gay Eclipse) work in much the same way although they do have a bit more interesting flavors going on compared to the light rums. In a pinch they are sippable.

For most people the aged gold rum expressions (5+ years, and typically more) are the preferred sippers, and most of them also mix to make great cocktails although depending on the price lots of people keep the best stuff for sipping. And the truth is you can get excellent results using relatively inexpensive rums in your drinks once you know the types of flavors you are looking for and the best rum combinations to achieve them.