PORTLAND (AP) – Before writing “And a Bottle of Rum,” Wayne Curtis considered rum a “back of the liquor cabinet” spirit. He now appreciates its variety and complexity, and his homemade mojitos draw neighbors to his Peaks Island home at sunset.

On a recent day, he lined up a dozen or so bottles on his kitchen counter that came from Barbados, Cuba, Belize, the Virgin Islands, Trinidad, Martinique, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Guatemala and Haiti. One bottle, Prichards’ Fine Rum, came from Tennessee.

The rums were light and dark, new and aged, sweet and dry. Curtis took a sip of Ron Zacapa Centenario, a 23-year-old rum from Guatemala, and described its sweetness, a trace of oak from its cask, the caramelization and the hints of cherry and vanilla.

Rum has all the complexities of wine, Curtis said, but without pretentiousness.

Rather than talk about the “legs” or the “nose” the way a wine connoisseur might, a rum drinker, Curtis said, is more likely to take a taste and say something like: “This one sits you right up and spanks you on the bottom.”