Any young man today who has learned to wet his lips with something other than water knows that rum has a peculiarly persuasive effect. Whiskey makes a girl stop arguing. Beer soothes her. Gin disarms her. But rum cajoles. No one has described this effect better than William James when he philosophized about alcohol: ‘It is in fact the great exciter of the Yes function in man. It brings its votary from the chill periphery of things to the radiant core.’ — Thomas Mario, Playboy’s Host & Bar Book