| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba 1878 |
| Owner(s) | Havana Club International |
| Website | Havana Club Homepage |
Havana Club is a brand of rum, made in Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba. The brand was established by José Arechabala in 1878. After the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the distillery and company was nationalized by the Cuban government; subsequently, the Arechabala family left for Spain, then emigrated to the United States. Since 1994 it has been produced by Havana Club International, a 50:50 joint venture between Pernod Ricard and the Cuban government.[1]
Contents |
The 15 Años Gran Reserva has an alcohol content of 40% ABV.
Cuban Barrel Proof is bottled straight from the barrel. The alcohol content is slightly higher than Añejo 15 Años at 45% ABV. It is blended by Don José Navarro then "finished" in younger oak casks to recreate its oak aroma and bouquet. The casks are then opened and the batch of rum is bottled.
Máximo Extra Añejo was announced in November 2006 by Pernod Ricard, whose marketeers labelled it a new "ultra-premium extra-aged rum". This Rum is a blend of many different ages of rum, repeatedly blended with fresh sugarcane distillate and then further aged. The final act of blending, the "toque" produces the finished product. Its retail price is set at $1743 per bottle.[2]
Havana Club has other grades of rum, all aged for different periods of time.
Havana Club also produces Loco (sometimes called Havana Loco) which is fruit juice mixed with Añejo Blanco rum (loco in Spanish means crazy). These drinks are a derivative of Smirnoff and Bacardi pre-mixed drinks. The flavors are:
The Havana Club brand is sold outside of Cuba in conjunction with Pernod Ricard. Havana Club is not sold in the United States, however, due to the United States embargo against Cuba. Bacardi sells a different rum in the U.S., also called Havana Club but unrelated to the Cuban version. The Bacardi product, which is made in Puerto Rico, has been the subject of trademark violation litigation by Pernod Ricard.[3]
Havana Club rums have generally performed well at international spirit ratings competitions. The Havana Club Seleccion de Maestros is Havana's most highly-rated offering, having received very positive reviews from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the Beverage Testing Institute. Proof66 places the Seleccion amongst the 10 most highly-rated rums in the world. [4]