The mai tai like countless other tiki drinks was the brainchild of restauranteur victor bergeron, better known as trader vic. His original recipe called for a seventeen-year-old wray & nephew jamaican rum that is all but extinct nowadays. To achieve a similar flavor, many recipes split the rum base between a dark rum (usually jamaican) and an aged rum (usually cuban or martinique, but not an agricole). That split-base flavor profile is what we aim for when making our own mai tais but, as in all cocktail recipes, its a matter of taste (and availability, of course). Experiment with your own rum blends to find what works for you