Happy National Rum Day!: 5 Great Rum Cocktails At 5 Great L.A. Bars

Rum is, for many of us who went to college in the United States, a misunderstood spirit. This is because American students are primarily acquainted with rums of the plastic bottle variety, which taste like either backwash or spiced backwash and leave you feeling as if Captain Morgan himself were striking his famous pose atop your splitting headache. But there's a whole world of sophisticated and delicious rum out there, and in honor of today being National Rum Day, we're highlighting 5 fantastic (and surprising) rum concoctions from great bars and restaurants in L.A. that give this classic liquor the respect it deserves.

[Daiquiri photo via]