Rum Renaissance

Invented on Barbados in the 17th century as a convenient by-product of the sugar refining process, rum went on to play a major role in everything from the Atlantic slave trade to the American Revolution to the invention of tiki culture. Rum defined British naval tradition and shaped the tastes of American elites during Prohibition. This molasses-based liquor has gone from the original rumbullion—a rough-and-tumble, harsh-tasting drink—to rare bottles of premium aged varieties selling for as much as $54,000 today.

And yet, it has been anything but a steady evolution from swilling to sipping. In fact, it seems that every 50 years or so, rum has swung wildly from being a cheap and horrible-tasting way to get drunk to being rediscovered and claimed as