But, as a self confessed rookie, I’m finding that the more research I do, the more I realize how little I know, how little I understand, and how easily I get more confused!!! This is one complicated hobby. 
As I put in my “Introduction” post, I’m very interested in learning to make “good” rum. I now understand that what I think is good rum is likely 720 degrees out of phase with what the next member thinks is good rum. AND NEITHER OF US ARE WRONG! Yikes, how the hell is a newbie to get a handle on all this??????
So, I’d like to do a reset, if you will indulge me. I would like to learn to make what are probably considered medium bodied, aged rums by most knowledgeable rum makers. I was a scotch drinker for 30+ years until a friend gave me a glass of Pampero’s Aniversario from Venezuela. It’s a “finished” rum with, I’m sure, all sorts of proprietary tricks, but, damnit man, it just melted on my pallet and pushed all the right buttons. That was 8 yrs ago and I can count the bottles of scotch I’ve bought since that day on two hands. Since starting down this road, I still drink a boat load of it, but, I’ve also branched out to others. My house bar rum is Flor de Cana, 5 yr old. If I want to splurge on more expensive rums, I think their 12 & 18 yr olds are good too. In that same price range, I really like the Ron Zacapa 23 (it’s a blend and not purely a 23 yr old rum), the Kirk & Sweeney 25 is good. If I really want to go big, I love the Ron Zacapa XO. I’m not suggesting that any of these are any better than Captain Morgan or Gossling’s Black Seal, it’s just where my taste buds lead me.
So, that is the direction I would like to go with this hobby. I have a 15 gal, 3” CM column from Brewhaus that I just got about a month ago. I’ve done a 40 gal all panela stripping run followed by a fully packed column spirit run. I got 3+ gal of 65 pf (after dilution for aging) of what I’d call a pretty neutral rum. It’s on charred oak for what I guess will be several years. I just finished stripping 42 gal of Pintoshine all moly wash. I’m trying to decide whether to run it through the column as comparison to the panela run or just run it in potmode to try and increase some flavor carryover. Any suggestions?
When all of our experienced rum makers post, it runs the full range from infected dunder pits to guys making white/silver rum for their “panty droppers”. I must admit, it often confuses the hell out of me!
So, based on what I’d like to make (above), can some of you rum guys give me some direction? I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR HELP! 
Thanks so much.