While rum cocktails are a staple of American bar menus, the idea of a sipping rum might be an oxymoron in this country. Yet far from the sickeningly sweet stuff of embarrassing college stories, sipping rums are close in intensity, complexity, and smoothness to a fine cognac, armagnac, or single-malt Scotch.

Premium rums fall loosely into three categories: 1.) Cuban-style, easy-drinking rums with a slightly sweet, molasses nose (yet enough kick to burn your nose hairs). These, he says, are the most accessible to the popular palate. 2.) Light rums that are aged, yet subtle, with a variety of fruit overtones as opposed to the molasses sweetness of the Cuban-style rums. 3.) Cognac-style rums, which offer the intensity of fine aged spirits. Like other fine spirits, rums in these categories may be aged for twelve to eighteen years.

From the colonization of North America until Prohibition, rum was the favorite spirit of the U.S. In fact, many of the founding fathers dabbled in the rum business, for rum and sugarcane were some of the most lucrative commodities to trade at that time. (Heavy tariffs on products such as this lead to the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution! People were fond of their drink!) Corn-based bourbon replaced rum in popularity as corn became America's favorite drinking grain.

But in Central America and the Caribbean, things haven't changed much in terms of a reverence for rum and the small, family-owned distilleries that have made them for centuries. To introduce guests to this fine tradition, Ciudad's sipping rum menu averages about 16 premium rums at any given time--from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Bermuda, Barbados, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Trinidad, the British West Indies, the Dominican Republic, and Guyana. For a tasty primer, Ciudad has created a Rum Sampler featuring a choice of three rums served with lime wedges, simple syrup, and a rocks glass with ice. Guests sip the rums neat, or make their own cocktail, mixing with the syrup and lime to taste, like a daiquiri. Custom barware, designed by Ciudad architect Josh Schweitzer, invites ogles from surrounding tables.