The intelligent investor's guide to spirits

You probably think of rum as the lowbrow liquor your college kid pours into a soda. That's white rum. There's another rum more fit for grown-ups, and that's the dark variety. Aged in wood casks, dark rum can be sipped straight; it also works well in cocktails. Few people realize how similar in flavor it is to whiskey and cognac; thus many great bottles sell for less than $35. Spirits companies are just now beginning to market this message - which means prices are likely to rise a lot in the next few years, says Wayne Curtis, author of "And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails." Stock up now on the bottles below.

Our picks:

Santa Teresa 1796, $35: A favorite of Curtis, this was Malt Advocate's 2005 spirit of the year.

Cruzan Single Barrel Estate, $35: This includes rums up to 12 years old and tastes more like a cognac or a single-malt whisky because of its aging.

Flor de Caña seven-year-old Grand Reserve, $23: Big in flavor, this won silver from the Beverage Testing Institute.

NEXT: Whiskey