Rum does not have a very good reputation. It’s drunk by many, of course, but have you ever heard anyone say that rum is their favourite (alcoholic) beverage? Not often, I bet. It doesn’t have the sophistication of wine, the universal appeal of beer, the arrogance of cognac, the rough romanticism of whisky or the versatility (and the entirely result-oriented personality) of vodka.

This is unfair. Rum is very nice. And despite my devotion to G&Ts, I do in fact think that rum is the best alcohol to use in cocktails. Almost all the cocktails you actually like (as opposed to pretending to like to be cooler) feature rum – Mojitos, Daikiris, Dark & Stormys, Mai Tais and, yes, Pina Coladas. I admit I did not really drink Pina Coladas for a while – they seemed a bit too eighties. But I have changed my mind entirely as they are so easy to make and so delicious: rum, pineapple juice and coconut milk and that’s it. You don’t even need a recipe – make it with lots of juice and coconut for day and with more rum for evening. The other effortless rum cocktail that isn’t so well known here but is ubiquitous in the Carribean is Planteur – if you happen to have any fresh exotic juice around, give it a try.

But rum is not only for cocktails. I knew of course that high quality rum existed, but hadn’t really drunk much of it before I visited Martinique. On the French-speaking Caribbean islands, rum is made of sugar cane juice rather than molasses (a by-product of sugar production). The locals claim that this is a superior way to make rum and while I’m not in a position to make any definitive claims, it sure tastes great. A good aged dark rum is as sophisticated and refined as high quality cognac or whisky, so you can drink it neat or with a little sugar/sugar syrup and lime added.

On Martinique, there are four traditional distilleries. We visited Neisson, as they still grow their own sugar cane and I like that sort of thing. It’s a lovely place, with some old machinery and the maturing old rum in whisky barrels nicely on display. I bought several bottles of different kinds of rum and it’s all good. But what I was most surprised by was the white rum. I was totally expecting the 10 year old dark rum to be rich and nuanced, but even the white rum was wonderful. So much taste! I would probably not drink it without additions, but it does make your cocktails taste amazing. So get your rum ready: SUMMER IS COMING.