Rum is distilled from fermented juice of sugar cane, sugar cane molasses or other sugar cane based products or by-products. According to US requirements, it must be distilled at less than 95% abv (190 proof), and bottled at 40% abv (80 proof) or higher. Rum is a spirit that embodies a very wide degree of variations. It can be clear and almost devoid of significant character besides the slight sweetness that hints at its sugary origins, or it can be deep, dark, and rich, befitting the thick molasses from which it may have come, even though it would have come out of the still crystal clear. Few spirits have the diversity of flavor that you can find in rum, which can make it difficult to determine which rum to use in a cocktail which simply says "rum", even when they do mention "dark rum", "Jaimaican rum", or "aged rum" the potential options are still pretty broad.