My final advice for those new to rum

If you came from drinking cheap rum like Bacardi Superior and Captain Morgan in your college days and are now looking for some much better rums, you have come to the right place. In my case, The Captain did not appear in the USA until after I graduated from college, so I did not have to agonize with that. And since I have always frowned upon entry level rums from Bacardi, my cheap rum of choice was Cruzan Gold (that I now have ranked as slightly below average).Whether you know it or not, these cheap rums all have little or no added sugar, which qualifies them as dry.  Since so many on this site like myself extol on the virtues of dry rums, why are these cheap dry rums bad mouthed so much? They are all products of multiple column distillation, which removes the taste along with anything that will cause severe hangovers. Then Captain Morgan foolishly adds Caribbean spices like nutmeg and a few others. These spices will cause one to hug the royal porcelain throne the next morning!!!So, when all newcomers approach this site and see rave reviews for the most popular Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva at an affordable price, the urge is just like mine was and to go ahead and try it. The WOW factor is definitely there coming from those cheap college days of rum drinking. And here is why. This "rum" has a whopping 41 gpl (grams per liter) of added sugars. This is about 10 freaking teaspoons per bottle!!! However, drink too much of this one, and you will have another morning after just like from The Captain.  Rums like this one are called sugar bombs, so why not just go beyond 50 gpl of added sugar and find a good flavored rum or spiced rum if you are only looking for taste. Just don't drink too much!!!After this background, I now answer the question that everyone asks and I always respond with this question. Do you like dry or sweet rums? As a newcomer, I strongly advise you to look through reviews and find reviewers with tastes similar to yours that you can respect.  Forget the overall score!!!! You will soon find the ones with a sweet tooth versus the ones who would call out the sugar police.  This difference is VERY important!!So where does one start?  Your odds of success as a starter will greatly increase by sticking with the rums costing between $25 US and $50 US. Buying any of these after researching these reviews will increase your chances for success even more. As you gain experience, you can try rums costing more, but my personal limit has always been $120 per bottle. And if any fellow reviewer endorses a rum costing more than $50 US, just ignore them until you very well know where your own tastes lie.And as you have now guessed, I am now outta here after submitting 400 reviews in the past 40 months. There is now absolutely no reason for me to go any further in my quest for rums that appeal to me. If I do happen upon a new rum, I will try it, but not submit any more reviews. I happen to like the number 400.Update almost three months later: I happened to find 12 rums recently that were worth buying and reviewing, but I no longer actively seek out rums that I have not tried. So now I am up to 412 reviews.