Rum is generally produced in Caribbean countries, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados and Cuba, but can be and is produced elsewhere. It is one of the most diverse spirits on the market due to its primary constituent being sugarcane. The local shopper can find Rum aged anywhere from one to 30 years, dark rum, clear or light brown rum to spiced rum on the shelves of almost any supermarket. (Unless you live in a dry county which is a whole other problem all together.) This sweet toxin is distilled by the use of various fermented cane sugar products. The most common varieties are a concoction of water and molasses, sugar and water or fermenting a mixture of sugarcane's raw juice extract, heating it with molasses, water and dunder, a refined sugar residue.     The type of rum depends on whether or not the producer uses fresh cane juices or molasses for the fermenting process. Almost all rum produced today is aged in oak barrels that once held whiskey or bourbon which is where the dark color of rum is developed - the longer it is in the barrel the darker it will become. Although some rum is bottled fresh most is aged for a least a year, then blended before it's bottled which produces a smooth taste. Rum fresh from the still tends to have a harsher taste not recommended for the novice. After the bottling process is complete the aging process is over. Don't think because your father has a bottle from the '60s that it will taste any better than one right off the supermarket shelves and don't let the sweet taste and the pineapple tidbits fool you, rum can vary in strength from 80 to 150 proof.     When rum is mentioned at dinner parties, as it so often is, the average person thinks of fruity drinks with little umbrellas, but rum is also used in more sophisticated drinks such as a Rum Manhattan: 1 oz rum, ½ oz. Vermouth, 1 dash bitters or the ever popular Rum Swizzle: lime and lemon juice, 2 dashes of bitters, a spoonful of powdered sugar and 1 oz. of Rum then pour the mixture into a 10 oz. ice-filled glass and top it off with carbonated water. From dark rum to light and tropical temptations to cosmopolitan sophistication rum has texture and pallet appeal for everyone. -- Summer Miller