re: I’m discovering some sipping rums are delicious

Welcome to the world of rum.

First, I and many other rum drinkers have a preference for "non-dosed" rums. It is common practice in the rum industry to add sugar and coloring to the distillate in order to achieve a consistent flavor profile. Some of these rums taste great, like Diplomatico or El Dorado. The problem here is that it makes it much harder to determine what is great distilling/aging and what is just added sugar.

I personally stick mostly to rum from countries that make it illegal to add sugar to the product, like Jamaica, Martinique, and Barbados. Nothing wrong with sugared rums, it's just not where I perceive the best value.

If you want to try some non-dosed rums that are of excellent quality, let me suggest a few:

Appleton 8, 12, 15, 21
The Real McCoy 5, 12
Doorly's 12
Smith and Cross
Hampden Estate 5, 8
Foursquare (anything but the spiced rum)
Probitas
Plantation OFTD
Barbancourt White, 5, 8, 15
JM Rhum (any bottling)

As far as dosed rums go, I really like El Dorado 12 and 15. Solid Guyana Demerara rum and they have recently dialed back the sugar a lot on the 12.

There are a few operations making Louisiana rum, but none of it really compares to the quality of the good Caribbean producers. I prefer rums that are mostly or all pot-still, which takes longer to make, is more inefficient, and more expensive than column still rum.