Cooking bay leaves are bay laurel, a completely different tree from west Indies bay with a completely different scent. No bay rums that I know of use bay laurel. The common elements of a bay rum are west Indies bay, spices, and citrus. The spices are generally of the cinnamon/clove/allspice type, so it's not a mark of a cheaper or less authentic product if the ingredients include clove. If you know of a specific bay rum that uses bay laurel rather than pimenta racemosa, please let me know what it is, if be interested in learning about it. As I said, I'm not aware of any that do so.
