Of all the spirit categories I cover, the one I’ve been the slowest to get into is rum. The vastness of the category makes things like Scotch whiskey or gin seem tiny. There are so many different kinds of rums in so many different regions; it’s hard to find a foothold on where to start. Many people tend to default to drinking things like Bacardi Silver, a rum made in Puerto Rico that is designed to be fairly neutral and sweet. For my money, when I’m drinking rum I like to actually taste it. I don’t look to rum as something neutral, but rather something that features the great notes that sugar cane or molasses provide.

One of my favorite rums is Banks 5 Island Rum. While many rums on the market come from a single origin, Banks draws rum from five key rum-producing islands: Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, and Java. This makes Banks a wonderful flavor sampler, much like many of the great Scotch blends on the market, like Chivas Regal, Famous Grouse or Johnnie Walker. Most of the major ways in which sugar cane and molasses can taste in a spirit are represented here, from the toasted notes of the Jamaican Rum to the spiciness of the rum from Java. In between are the more earthy notes from Guyana, citrus from Barbados, and tropical notes from Trinidad.

For me, it’s the toasted notes of the Jamaican and the spicy notes of the Java rums that resonate most strongly and create a desire for me to explore those categories in more depth. For others it may be flavors of the other rums which are more alluring. All of the rums in Banks 5 are so beautifully balanced that whichever flavor note catches your fancy, it’s not going to be overrun by one that doesn’t resonate as strongly.

Banks 5 Island Rum is fantastic sipped neat, over ice, or easily mixed with Coke, but it absolutely sings in a classic daiquiri (2 ounces Banks Rum, ¾ ounce fresh lime juice, ¾ ounce simple syrup; shake with ice and strain in a cocktail glass with a lime wheel). Pretty much any drink that pairs Banks with lime works very well.

Banks 5 Island Rum retails for around $29 a bottle and is by far one of my favorite rums.