Question about health effects of drinking rum

Over the years I had two friends die of esophagus/throat cancer at a relatively young age. The common thread was they were both what I would describe as functional alcoholics, and whisky drinkers. This always makes me wonder if I'm drinking rum in more reasonable quantities than they did, but still 5 days a week or so, am I exposing myself to a serious health risk?

I know the medical profession will say yes, alcohol consumption is bad in general, but I'm curious about anecdotal evidence from those of us here and our friends who drink.