Bacardi Is to Bring Havana Club Rum Back to the U.S.

In today's news...

Bacardi Is to Bring Havana Club Rum Back to the U.S.

By VANESSA O'CONNELL
Wall Street Journal
August 8, 2006

Bacardi Ltd., in a move aimed at blocking Cuba from eventually bringing its rum brand to the U.S. market, is expected to announce today that it is relaunching Havana Club brand rum in the U.S.

Bacardi's action comes just days after the U.S. Patent and Trademark office on Aug. 3 notified Cuba, which has controlled the brand since 1959, that its Havana Club trademark "registration will be cancelled/expired." A few days earlier, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control had denied a Cuban government agency the license needed for U.S. trademark renewal.

These decisions made it difficult for the Cuban government to claim any rights to the trademark in the U.S., giving Bacardi the chance to act.

The battle between Bacardi and Cuba over Havana Club has its roots in Fidel Castro's takeover of Cuba in 1959. The newly installed Castro regime seized control of Cuba's rum industry, including both the Havana Club and Bacardi businesses. Bacardi's owners left Cuba and rebuilt their business using their Puerto Rico plant, but Havana Club's original owners didn't have any alternative factory to continue making the rum -- allowing the Castro regime to retain control.

Until 1993, Cuba made Havana Club rum primarily for domestic consumption and the Soviet bloc, but that year Cuba struck a deal with French liquor concern Pernod-Ricard SA to sell the rum in 80 countries. Since then the rum has become popular around the world -- except in the U.S. where the trade embargo blocked sale of Cuban-owned products.

While Cuba hasn't been able to sell Havana Club in the U.S., it obtained the U.S. trademark in 1974 when the brand's original owners inadvertently let the U.S. trademark lapse. With the help of the powerful anti-Castro lobby, however, Bacardi in 1999 persuaded lawmakers to change trademark law to prevent the U.S. from renewing trademarks for brands whose ownership was confiscated by the Castro regime.

For its part, Bacardi says it owns the rights to the Havana Club brand based on its attempt to launch Havana Club on a very small scale in the U.S. years ago, as well as a deal it says it made with descendants of the brand's original owners. It also has a pending application to register the Havana Club mark in its own name, according to Bacardi USA spokeswoman Pat Neal. She said the closely held company has been planning to relaunch Havana Club for at least three years.

The important thing to note there is that the actual rum is not coming to the U.S., just paper labels that have the Havana Club marks on them. This also dashes any hopes of our getting the real deal here, at least under that name (not that the hopes were high). The rum will be more of the same Bacardi crap. Just what we need, more Bacardi crowding out quality rums on the shelves.

If someone knows differently about the situation, please correct me. I'd love to be wrong on this one.

So, does this mean I can get Havana Club in some other country, like Mexico?

I think Havana Club (the real deal) has been available in Mexico for some time, but I'm not sure. It's definitely been available in Canada.

I'm skeptical like Humuhumu on this. Havana Club puts out a superior product. Perhaps it's because Havana Club hasn't changed while Bacardi has (I don't know because I haven't found an old bottle of Bacardi to compare to HC). Just because it's called Havana Club doesn't mean it will be good.

Yes, Havana Club (several varieties) is available in Mexico. I have brought back many bottles without being caught.

Here's a related story that came out in 2002 when the Mojito Club flavored rum was introduced:

Mojito Club: Everything's Cuban but the rum itself
CubaNews / August 2002

By Larry Luxner

Six years ago, French drinks giant Pernod Ricard S.A. — which produces Havana Club rum in a profitable venture with the Cuban government — sued Bermuda-based Bacardi & Co. Ltd. But Section 211 has effectively derailed the lawsuit.

Even so, Pernod Ricard continues to accuse Bacardi not only of stealing the Havana Club trademark but also of deceiving its customers into thinking that Bacardi’s Bahamian-produced rum actually comes from Cuba.

“Bacardi produces rum in several countries, including Mexico, Puerto Rico and Europe,” complains the official Pernod Ricard website, “and sells it by playing on a supposedly Cuban image, carefully maintained by ambiguous advertising campaigns.”

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Earlier this year, Pernod Ricard USA rolled out Mojito Club — a citrus-flavored, rum-based spirit distilled in Venezuela and bottled in Mexico.

Yet tourists who have been to Cuba will notice that the label on each bottle of Mojito Club — right down to the lettering, coloring and icon of its La Giraldilla logo — is nearly identical to that of Havana Club, which Pernod Ricard can’t sell in the United States due to the embargo.

Mojito Club is already available on liquor-store shelves in New York, Los Angeles, Baltimore and South Florida. It retails for $13 per 750-milliliter bottle and also comes in 50-milliliter and one-liter sizes.

Pernod Ricard, which reported $4.5 billion in 2001 sales, says Mojito Club “takes its inspiration from one of Cuba’s oldest drinks, the famed mojito cocktail,” and that it expects “the recent Latin cultural sensation sweeping America” to boost sales considerably.

“Flavored rums continue to be one of the hottest categories in distilled spirits, while young, urban sophisticates across the country tout the mojito cocktail as the next big drink,” hypes a press release written by New York-based Hunter Public Relations. “Mojito Club will further drive this booming trend, offering consumers a bottled embodiment of the passionate, sexy, free-willed Cuban experience.”

Asked why her three-page release glosses over the drink’s true country of origin, Hunter PR account executive Mara Flynn says it’s not “pertinent” to the story.

“I think it’s very clear that Mojito Club is not from Cuba,” she told CubaNews. “We’re not really concerned that people will make the mistake [of thinking that it is].” Jorge Rodríguez, a spokesman for Bacardi Corp. in Miami, wouldn’t comment on Mojito Club, though Mark Orr, a top executive with Pernod Ricard USA, says one thing has nothing to do with another.

“The root of our lawsuit [against Bacardi] was the use of the word Havana for a product they were producing in the Bahamas,” said Orr, Pernod Ricard’s Washington-based vice-president for North American affairs. “I see that as a distinct issue that had arisen between our company and the Bacardi folks.

“Obviously, Bacardi can’t make rum in Cuba these days, yet Cuba is a big part of their heritage, and that’s where their rum started,” Orr said. “Many people continue to think Bacardi rum is made in Cuba. That’s one of the problems Pernod Ricard S.A. has encountered around the world in marketing Havana Club, which is of Cuban origin.”

Havana Club — sold by Pernod Ricard in 88 countries — is among the world’s fastest-growing spirits brands, with first-quarter 2002 sales up 6% over the same period last year.

According to the Impact Databank, Havana Club sold 1.85 million cases worldwide in 2001.

Orr wouldn’t give any figures on Mojito Club sales either by volume or value, nor did he make available any specific information about where in Venezuela the rum is being distilled, or where in Mexico it’s being bottled. All he’d say on that subject is that Pernod Ricard USA complies with all federal labeling regulations.

“The mojito is a cocktail, not a geographic place. It’s enjoyed throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, and we don’t necessarily suggest that the product itself is of Cuban origin,” Orr told us. “Several companies are now producing mojito cocktails of one kind or another. For whatever reason, mojitos are quite popular these days, and a lot of folks are trying to take advantage of that.”

In a recent product review, the Miami Herald had nice things to say about Pernod Ricard’s latest concoction: “Packaged in a frosted glass bottle, its label sporting an image of La Giraldilla — the bronze weathervane that tops the Castillo de la Real Fuerza in Havana — Mojito Club is a tart, lime-flavored citrus rum that can be served either straight up or in a cocktail like the Cuban Cosmo.”

Asked if the introduction of Mojito Club is just a marketing gimmick to prepare American rum-drinkers for the day when Havana Club will be legal in U.S. bars, restaurants and liquor stores, Orr had this to say:

“Pernod Ricard looks forward to the day when it can sell Havana Club in the United States, but who knows if that day will ever come? Nobody thinks it’s going to happen anytime soon.”

I bought some of that in Cabo cuz i wanted some liquor to bring back to the states and I was near broke--i think it was $5 or something...needless to say, get back in the US and OF COURSE the customs guy snags it IMMEDIATELY...I didn't even THINK about the embargo--I just thought PRICE

Wow, just had a conversation about this with a fellow from my neighbourhood liquor store. He said as far as he knows, this only applies to the rights & distribution in the USA. The Havana Club we buy here in Canada and elsewhere in the world will still be produced in Cuba and distributed by Pernod Ricard....what a relief!

Is this wrong of me? But when Castro recently went ill and ceded power to his brother, the first thought that came to my mind was "Havana Club... maybe we'll be getting Havana Club soon". I don't know, this news about Bacardi doesn't excite me. Just a label on a bottle of Puerto Rican rum from Bacardi. And if the real deal ever does get legal in the U.S., will this keep Cuba from selling it here? I doubt they would be willing to sell under a different brand name. Maybe they would.

FYI - This is from the Pernod-Ricard website:

Press Release - Paris, France - 8 August 2006

On the 3 August 2006, Havana Club was notified that it had not been given authorisation to renew the registration of its trademark in the United States. This trademark had been legally registered in the United States since 1976.

This decision, by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), was made in compliance with Section 211, a retroactive regulation condemned by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This decision is a further episode in the long standing process of defending Havana Club rights in the U.S.

Havana Club is one of the world's fastest-growing rums. Since the creation of the joint venture between Cuba Ron and Pernod Ricard in 1994, Havana Club’s sales have grown from 300 000 cases to 2.4 million cases in 2006.

The success of the brand is primarily built on the quality of the product, made unique thanks to:

• The only use of Cuban sugarcane,
• A special method of distillation and ageing developed in Cuba by the Havana Club master blenders of our Cuban partner.

To guarantee these conditions of quality the Cuban government has produced a stamp of authenticity which must be present on the Cuban products to avoid any consumer being misled as to the origin.

In line with its policy of taking action against counterfeiting, Pernod Ricard will vigorously defend its rights, and those of the consumer, by appealing to the relevant Court against the rejection of the application to renew the U.S. trade mark registration and against any use of the Havana Club trademark for any rum which is not Cuban.

Can any of the Canada or Mexico O'hana hook us up? Ship in plain brown wrappers and such...... PPPPPLLLLLLEEEEEAAAASSSSSEEEEEEE..........

A must-read for anyone interested in learning more about Bacardi's shenanigans with the Havana Club trademarks (it ain't pretty):

http://blog.humuhumu.com/2006/04/05/the-sometimes-dirty-history-of-rum

They do say, they have an agreement with the original family and the original recipe for Havana Club. But, they probably had the original recipe for Bacardi!

I'll definitely bring a bunch back from Mexico on my next trip. They never stopped me from bringing back Cuban cigars, so, no worries on the rum. Besides, it's the Mexicans that really check my bags and they don't care.

On 2006-08-08 12:22, Humuhumu wrote:
The rum will be more of the same Bacardi crap. Just what we need, more Bacardi crowding out quality rums on the shelves.

I don't think that's fair. Plenty of recipes call for silver, Puerto Rican rum and Bacardi is excels in that role and is cheap. That's not to say their other rum is all wonderful.

I think the Jury should still be out on this one.

To condemn the Bacardi corporation for a product no-one has seen or tasted yet seems a little premature.

I've heard stories that once the Cuban government took over the Havanah Club distillery, that the quality of the rum went right into the toilet.

Perhaps the bacardi product, following the original recipe, will actually be better??

I guess maybe its just fashionable to bash Bacardi these days? Too many tv ads from a company who is far too successful.

ALso, I've got to agree with Pappy ...for what it is, bacardi is fine (although I usually use Cruzan...I like it better & its cheaper) and mixes great in most coktails (when called for).

And maybe, just maybe, in this free-market society of ours, that if/when the cuban embargo is lifted, the competition between distilleries will cause a massive upshift in quality (rather than just adding mango juice or whatever the "hot" flavor is) and expand our choices as consumers. With Castro on the outs, its just a matter of time.

As far as Havanah club, I guess its a matter of how you look at the situation.

Do you side with the communist -based dictatorship that took the assets of a family, changed the recipe, and reaped a fortune on its confiscated distillery?

Or do you side with the money hungry desendents of a once great product trying to cash in on a name with huge conglomerate, worried only about how much cash they can make?

I'm too cynical to judge until I can swill em both, side by side.

Just my 2 cents.

On 2006-08-09 08:37, Bargoyle wrote:
I've heard stories that once the Cuban government took over the Havanah Club distillery, that the quality of the rum went right into the toilet.

You obviously have not tasted Havana Club rums then. Not that I blame you, they're not easy to obtain in the U.S. But, the next time you're out of the country go in a bar and try some (most bars outside the U.S. stock it).

I don't have a problem with all Bacardi products (their 8-year is a good rum for the money), so perhaps they could make a good rum called Havana Club. But, with their track record - silver Bacardi is pretty awful stuff compared to Cruzan, Myers's and some other clear rums - I'm not holding my breath.

This is an interesting development. If and when the regime in Cuba changes and the embargo is lifted Southern Wine & Spirits (14 US States, largest US Distributor) has the rights for importation of Havana Club.
If Bacardi owns the rights to the name "Havana Club" which they now do in US, Southern will label authentic Cuban Havana Club under a new name like Havana Nights, Buena Vista Club, or some other approved name they have waiting.

You see, Southern is deeply in bed with Cruzan (Todd Hunter) and are directly attempting (good luck - typical American consumer is label whore) to erode National market share of Bacardi. By that token, Bacardi knows that if Cuban government/US mend enough fences upon Fidel's demise, then the ONE significant brand of rum that can ACTUALLY hurt them is in the ENEMY (SWS) hands. That is a significant reason they snatched the name, as they want to diminish the brand power.

Pernod has become a major supplier to Southern in USA, and they have done a fantastic job positioning Havana Club in Europe and Asia. Bacardi knows this and they are vicious at protecting their business as #1 Rum producer and marketer.

How do I know all this? I am a wine and spirits broker and Southern Wine & Spirits is a wholesaler of mine. The liquor business is big business like oil, banking, and fast food. Bacardi is a total anomaly as it is family owned and controlled, and the family are zealots at protecting their products position. I am not someone who bashes another for protecting their interests. How would you like some dictator to come snatch your company that you poured your blood, sweat, and tears into? The Bacardi's were historically wronged, and the rose above and created a super nova of a rum company.

Sure, Deussen produces slick ads for Bacardi in the vein of Bud, Coke, or Mickey D's. It is because all of us "sheeple" set around buying that crap. I may not, and perhaps you do not, but we are not in the vast millions who do everyday. You can buy authentic Havana Club in Mexico all day long. It is NOT cheap, as many falsely report as Mexican excise and tariff on import liquor is outrageous. It is about 20 US Dollars a bottle unaged in Mexican chains like Soriana. As far as authentic Cuban cigars, Mexico has become the BEST counterfeiter of Habanos in the World. The real deal is also very expensive, and all the border towns sell gullible gringos Mexican fake Cohibas all day long with fancy boxes and fake stamps. Usually dehumidified, and way overpriced for Mexican tobacco. Buyer beware! That being said, Havana is a great place to pay for fake Cohibas, as well.

In closing, it is not some conspiracy to keep mythical brands of Tiki top choice spirits out of our hands or off our bamboo bars...it is all market considerations. It is all about the all-mighty dollar!

On 2006-08-09 10:38, thejab wrote:

You obviously have not tasted Havana Club rums then. Not that I blame you, they're not easy to obtain in the U.S. But, the next time you're out of the country go in a bar and try some (most bars outside the U.S. stock it).

Actaully I have.

Being a New Englander, I make the trek to visit our Canuk friends from the Great White North about once a year (havent gone this year, sadly). And while I love the Cuban cigars (cohibas in particular...althought the US approved dominican cohibas are pretty good too), so far I've been underwhelmed by the Cuban rum.

Most likely its because of the drinks I'm mixing them in. (Libres & Planters & Mai Tais arent the best to really let a rum breathe) or perhaps its because I've stuck with mostly blanco, where I now have an absolute passion for dark rums, but I havent seen where they blow away Appleton Reserve, or Gossling, or some of the other top shelf stuff we can easily get in the US.

Dont get me wrong, they're good, and if available in the US I would definately be buying them....but the fact that they're Taboo is what makes them taste that much better (same with the cigars)

My point on the whole subject was to wait, taste & see. Soon BOTH HCs might be available in the US.

As far as Bacardi trying to grab the Branding Rights to the name before the embargo is lifted, well, thats going on on both sides of the curtain.

And, just think...if the HC from bacardi actually IS better than the state owned cuban HC (using the ancient secret recipe).....I mean, how good of a rum will that be? We'll be chuggin it like water in New England!

Then again, bacardi could f* it all up and just cash in on the name and make a quick buck.

My point is, we dont know. Its a little early to be throwing the stones.

Once again, just my 2cents.

I guess, to me, (politics aside) it just isn't Cuban rum unless it's made in Cuba. Not to say that Havana Club USA will be bad, it's just seems some what of a deception to make money. It's like Ron Matusalem (made in the spirit of Cuba) being made in the Dominican Republic versus the Ron Matusalem made domestically in Cuba which is vastly superior in my opinion. (sadly, I'm sucking the last drops out of the bottle I brought back from Cuba). Having been to Cuba and sampled their domestic rums, I can say that they still know how to make an excellent rum. I agree that there is a 'Taboo' factor at play (HC is definitely not my favorite!) but their rums certainly have their own distinct flavor compared with those from Barbados, Jamaica, West Indies, etc.
Should the embargo be lifted, I hope that the exiled rum barons their companies uphold that same quality/distinction when they claim back what they lost.

Cuba is definitely a time capsule for Mid-20th Century quality and know-how. I am sure that if the embargo is lifted rum will not be the only thing washing up on our shores again. Hell. the classic car sales are going to make those people rich! Anyway, who knows what lies on the horizon. I personally feel that ole' Castro has kicked the proverbial bucket and they're not letting the cat out of the bag yet. After growing up listening to the old-timers talk of their wonderful vacation excursions to Cuba, I must say that I am long over-due for a visit. Quality Rum, Unique architecture, scuba diving, warm sandy beaches, Rum, new explorations just 90 miles from home...Rum, Cohibas by the box, tropical breezes...sputter sputter* DAMN, Politics sure has a heck of a way of pissing on a fun-loving parade. I apologize that this has digressed from the original topic, but I needed to vent.

AAAARGH!

Swamp

There was an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal about this very topic. You have to subscribe to read it online, but I saved the jpg to my site: http://www.velveteenlounge.com/Bacardi1.JPG

I was able to click on it to make it bigger (and legible).

Thanks. That was nice of you.

You're very welcome! I know it's a topic close to many of our hearts. :wink:

OK, a bottle of this stuff was staring at me from the shelves of the local source..... Can't make fun of it till we try it.

Last night at a little shindig at Loki's place I had the opportunity to try out a bottle on several people and get a wide range of opinions and here is what we found:

Straight from the bottle, no chill, no lime, no water, most people did the foot-banging head-spinning Whoaa kind of thing and then in a raspy voice croak out "Smooooooth."

A short while later after most had the opportunity to regain their senses, a very well chilled shot was liked much better by all. Or the first shot was still eating their brain stem and this second shot was like putting gasoline on the fire. Not sure which....

One of the ladies present has a 'secret' source for the Real Havana Club and said that this was not the same but it was still very good. She said it was an apples to oranges kind of thing and then asked me where I got my bottle. I offered her a trade but she wasn't going for it.

So, after seeing that the stuff didn't kill off any of Loki's guests I decided that I would try it. It was indeed a very smooth rum overall, the first notes being the astringent quality common in white liquors and then settling into hints of something green and airy. Not much complexity in the flavor overall, but none was expected being a "Premium White Rum." I am not sure if I was surprised because my expectations were so low or if it really is a good rum. Further research is going to be needed.

And, to just to make sure... Loki, did everybody make it out alive?

Overall, don't hate this rum simply because it is the latest Barcardi offering and has a lot of story behind it. It is worthy of being on most bars and if used carefully would make a fine addition to quite a few drinks.

Did everyone make it out alive?

well....
Sorry Tikilicious...but not really :wink:

The Havana Club is not bad at all. From what i remember, it is very dry and has a unique taste. Much nicer when chilled. It's the only barcardi product i'll allow in my bar. Still not sure what to make with it, but time will tell.

Of course the most appropriate way to test this would be to make a daiquiri. Mmmm...

Frankly I'm a fan of the "Daiquiri Deluxe" which substitutes Orgeat for the simple syrup. Really, really good.

Chris

On 2006-08-09 11:02, Rum Numb Davey wrote:
Bacardi is a total anomaly as it is family owned and controlled, and the family are zealots at protecting their products position. I am not someone who bashes another for protecting their interests. How would you like some dictator to come snatch your company that you poured your blood, sweat, and tears into? The Bacardi's were historically wronged, and the rose above and created a super nova of a rum company.

Sure, Deussen produces slick ads for Bacardi in the vein of Bud, Coke, or Mickey D's. It is because all of us "sheeple" set around buying that crap. I may not, and perhaps you do not, but we are not in the vast millions who do everyday. You can buy authentic Havana Club in Mexico all day long. It is NOT cheap, as many falsely report as Mexican excise and tariff on import liquor is outrageous. It is about 20 US Dollars a bottle unaged in Mexican chains like Soriana. As far as authentic Cuban cigars, Mexico has become the BEST counterfeiter of Habanos in the World. The real deal is also very expensive, and all the border towns sell gullible gringos Mexican fake Cohibas all day long with fancy boxes and fake stamps. Usually dehumidified, and way overpriced for Mexican tobacco. Buyer beware! That being said, Havana is a great place to pay for fake Cohibas, as well.

Nice post :D

I was in the cigar biz for several years and got to know many of the Cuban expat cigar families, some quite well. These are very good people who work hard and care very much about what they make and why they are still making it. Some are true folk heros now in the cigar industry having rebuilt their lives and businesses sometimes with little more than a few kilos of seeds and sweat. They also know it is hard to compete with the products they once created in their homeland as Cuba's soil and micro climates create some of the finest tobacco in the world. One of the reasons for this is that Cuba is actually an island that came from the Pacific, AGAIN Cuba was once a PACIFIC ISLAND! So the soil is different than the rest of the Antilles. Does it also affect the way the rum tastes? Maybe.......I do know one thing though, it will be over their dead bodies that those communist SOBs will be allowed to sell the products made in their stolen Cuban factories (or farms) in the USA. So the day that you see TRUE Havana Club or a Cuban Partagas sold legally in the USA will be the day that those Cubans have been able to claim their properties back. (meanwhile the French can have it :P) That is why they are so brutal about it, as it is about more, much more than just business. :wink: :evil: :wink:

Oh yes and one more thing, the reason that the 'real deal' Cuban cigars and rum is so expensive is not just local taxes, it is the fact that the Castro Government KNOWS it has a unique, quality brand-name product that they know will bring them much needed hard currency so they sell it at a premium.......the capitalist hating, socialist revolutionaries that they are! :lol: :roll: :lol:

http://www.scotese.com/caribanim.htm

[ Edited by: Rattiki 2006-10-23 06:37 ]

So let me get this straight, castro takes over the bacardi family moves to puerto rico and the cuban havana club people have to stay. So bacardi steals the havana club name in the us. While the real product is still being made, abeit under evil dictatorship by the same family/group? Just so bacardi will not have another rum company to compete with later or just to make a quick buck on our own stupidity(god bless americana)? and why do i still have bacardi in my 1974 hawaiian open golf decanter, and not jim beam(or some other good white puerto rican rum)?

Personally, I don't care if the Havana Club family gave Bacardi the okay to use the name. It's just not the same product: Cuban rum made in Cuba.

I find it really ironic that the U.S. government is the big guy and big pusher behind the World Trade Organization...and yet that very organization has come out against the awarding of the name to Bacardi. Go figure. :(

Guess Holly and I will just have to continue to get our true Havana Club rum on our trips to other countries. Like this photo:

...of Holly and I enjoying Cuban Havana Club Mojitos and Cuban Cohiba cigars at La Casa del Habano Cigar Lounge at the Sheraton Hong Kong.

Aaaah. I can taste it now. :wink:

On 2006-08-08 14:35, Pepe le Tiki wrote:
Wow, just had a conversation about this with a fellow from my neighbourhood liquor store. He said as far as he knows, this only applies to the rights & distribution in the USA. The Havana Club we buy here in Canada and elsewhere in the world will still be produced in Cuba and distributed by Pernod Ricard....what a relief!

I just got some of the dark and light from a friend in italy and it says "made in Cuba" as well.

Amy

So what has happend with Bacardi's re-launch? I can't find Havana Club on Bacardi's site and Google didn't return any newer news stories. I haven't seen Bacardi Havana Club at any stores. Someone on this thread tried it, but it was only silver. Is Bacardi making a dark?

Here is a story from The Miami Herald:

Posted on Tue, Aug. 08, 2006

Bacardi to re-launch Havana Club rum label
After a long legal battle, fans will get another taste of Havana Club rum. Bacardi is relaunching the product this week.
BY ELAINE WALKER
[email protected]

Havana Club, the rum that evokes memories of toasts at glittery hot spots in pre-Castro Cuba, is coming this week to Florida bars, liquor stores and hotels.

Coming on the heels of a favorable ruling in a decade-long legal battle with French liquor giant Pernod Ricard and the Cuban government, Miami-based Bacardi U.S.A. is relaunching the Havana Club brand as a super-premium rum selling for $19.99 a bottle.

Thursday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office deemed the Havana Club trademark held by Cubaexport ``cancelled/expired.''

Bringing Havana Club back to the United States is particularly gratifying for Ramon Arechabala. His family created the rum in 1935, and exported it to the United States and other countries until Jan. 1, 1960, when Fidel Castro's government seized the family's plant and trademark.

Arechabala, former sales manager of the family company, said Monday he vividly remembers the day the bodyguard of Cuban revolutionary Ernesto ''Che'' Guevara placed a gun to his head and took over the Havana Club distillery in Cardenas.

In recent years, Havana Club has been marketed by a joint venture involving Cubaexport, a Cuban government company, and Pernod Ricard. Because of the embargo on Cuba, it was not available in the United States.

`NOT DRINKABLE'

Although that Havana Club is popular in both Cuba and Europe, Arechabala declared it ``not drinkable.''

''Fidel lacks the formula of the right Havana Club,'' said Arechabala, 70, who has lived in Miami for 38 years. ``That's the only thing Fidel couldn't take from me.''

In the mid 1990s, Bacardi cut a deal with the Arechabalas for the rights to the family's recipe and the name Havana Club. The brand was introduced in the United States, but pulled from the shelves when the rum war ignited.

At least for now, however, here will be two versions of Havana Club for sale, one from Bacardi and the other from the Cuban/French joint venture.

Bacardi's new Havana Club will be bottled at the company's rum facilities in Puerto Rico. For now it will be available only in Florida because of limited supply.

LIMITED SUPPLY

But Bacardi executives said Monday that based on response, it will likely be rolled out to other key U.S. markets.

The timing of the Havana Club launch has nothing to do with any recent Cuba interest sparked by Castro's health issues, company executives said. And the U.S. Patent Office ruling was just coincidental with their plans to introduce the brand, they said.

Instead, executive said, it's all about capitalizing on strong consumer demand for super-premium liquor brands and the return of classic cocktails such as the daiquiri and mojito. The rum category, where Bacardi is already the top-selling brand in the world, has also been growing.

''We've been planning this for many years,'' said John Gomez, vice president and group marketing director for Bacardi U.S.A. ``We always owned the brand. There was no issue in our minds. It was only a question of when it was commercially appropriate for the relaunch.''

Cubaexport has claimed it obtained the rights to the Havana Club name in 1976 after José Arechabala S.A. allowed the trademark to lapse with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Cubaexport registered the trademark in 1976, but no compensation was ever provided to the Arechabala family.

U.S. courts have consistently ruled that Havana Club Holdings, the name of the French/Cuban joint venture, has no right to the trademark in the United States.

But the issue of who held the trademark remained unresolved until last week's decision.

Executives from Pernod Ricard were unavailable late Monday afternoon.

Unlike most countries, the United States typically gives priority to the first entity to utilize a brand, not the first to register it, said Miami attorney Jim Gale, whose firm Feldman Gale specializes in trademark and patent law.

But a trademark in one country has no impact on operations in another country, Gale said.

BUILDING NEW BUZZ

Bacardi plans to market Havana Club as a super-premium brand, along the lines of Grey Goose vodka, which the company also owns.

It will introduce the brand with trendsetters in South Florida and hopes the buzz will spread.

The product will start appearing locally this week.

Most other premium rums made by Bacardi or other companies are dark rums meant to be sipped, but Havana Club is a clear liquid that mixes well in cocktails.

© 2006 MiamiHerald.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.miami.com

More articles:

Spirit of Christmas Past—and Future

Ian Williams | December 18, 2006

Editor: Emily Schwartz Greco, IPS

Foreign Policy In Focus
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3809

For centuries, rum has been a warming folk remedy for colds, flu—and indeed cold itself. As the winter solstice approaches in its various festival forms, one worldwide constant is the need for rum to bring a little tropical warmth into the winter. In places like the Caribbean, India, and Australia a solid rum-drinking tradition ensures that the amber nectar is savored year-around, but in colder climes, rum in eggnogs, Christmas cakes and puddings, mince pies and of course just rum in tots, are traditional accoutrements for the holiday season.

Rum is the world's biggest selling spirit—and both the European Union and the United States define it as any drink distilled from sugar cane products, so Brazilian cachaca is rum whether the Brazilians like it or not. (And they do tend to like it, whatever it's called.) While a certain formerly Cuban transnational corporation is, despite its bland tastelessness, the biggest brand, India's “Old Monk” and the Philippines' “Tanduay” are next up there. From Cuba's “Havana Club” to Barbadian “Mount Gay,” “Guyanese ElDorado,” and Jamaica's “Appleton,” rum offers a range of experiences for guzzlers to gourmets, from those best drunk in cocktails to those best savored sip by sip.
Not So Useless Byproduct

Most rums are made from the molasses left over when the white sugar is crystallized out, and one of its original attractions was that it used an otherwise useless byproduct instead of competing for scarce food grains—as whiskey did for example. The American colonies banned whiskey distillation because it drove up the price of grain and hence bread. And when that happened, old Anglo Saxon tradition was that you rioted and knocked the Town Hall down until the authorities did something about it.

On current evidence, Barbados is the place where nascent Northern technology and tropical agriculture combined to bring about the distillation of spirits of unsurpassed strength and in unsurpassed quantities. The Caribbean was a great melting pot for cultures and for a brief period in the seventeenth century, Barbados was at their focus.

The Portuguese in Brazil had brought sugar-growing from the Arabs in the Mediterranean. The Dutch and the Portuguese Jewish refugees had brought milling and trading skills. And one can only suspect that among the prisoners and indentured servants sent from Britain were some Irish or Scottish exiles who were familiar with the new technology of the still.
Hot Hellish Liquor

People knew that the molasses left behind by sugar refining fermented easily, but only the bold risked drinking it. It continues fermenting in the stomach, according to some who've tried. However, put it through a still and you had a potent and palatable drink. They called it Kill-Devil, or rumbullion, “a hot, hellish liquor,”—and they loved it.

Rum was born.

Soon, they discovered that storing it in oak barrels did wonders for the palatability. Killdevil became rum or “Barbadoes Water” and was in demand across the Atlantic World, until in Jamaica, they discovered that if you redistilled the liquor, it was still hot, but a little less hellish.

It soon spread. New Englanders made rum from contraband molasses that they smuggled from the French colonies, where Paris forbad distillation, in case it competed with Cognac. The enterprising Yankees drank a lot of it, and as Benjamin Franklin boasted, used what was left to help ethnically cleanse the Indian tribes to the West and to trade for slaves in West Africa.

They did so initially under the protection of the British Royal Navy, which won its wars with the French through the period not least because the British national debt was underwritten with the profits of the Caribbean sugar and rum trade. The British Navy was also fuelled more directly by rum. For hundreds of years, every British sailor had a daily ration of a pint of overproof rum.
Revolution Over Taxation

After defeating the French, the Royal Navy turned to defeating American smugglers who had been busily trading with the enemy, and the American Revolution began. The British felt that the American colonists should make a financial contribution to the biggest national debt hitherto that they had run up clearing the French threat from Canada. American colonists were as averse to taxation as some of their descendents. The revolution was about taxation, not representation—and it was not about tea but molasses and rum. In fact, the core problem was American resentment of military policing of civilians. This was two centuries before the White House reintroduced the concept after 9-11 of course.

Throughout the 18th century, the Caribbean was the equivalent of the modern Persian Gulf. The great powers went there to fight their wars over the liquid energy and liquid capital of the islands. France, Britain, and others sacrificed untold hundreds of thousands of white indentured laborers, African slaves, soldiers, and sailors on the altar of sugar and rum.

Not that it did him much good, but Napoleon devalued Britain's Caribbean empire while losing most of the important battles. In 1811, Benjamin Delessert had a pilot plant working with Spanish POWs who were experienced in sugar refining, when the emperor turned up, with a troop of horse guards, pinned a Legion D'Honneur on his chest, and ordered the wholesale expansion of sugar beet production.

Within a few decades, beet sugar and the anti-slavery movement had converted the Caribbean from being the engine of North Atlantic economic and military power to a backwater of empire and they have never really recovered.
Bacardi and Revolutionaries

The English-speaking islands had lost American markets to the new whiskey distilleries that Western grain made possible, and the French and Spanish colonies were finally allowed to make rum themselves. Even so, Jamaica rum was the standard until the 20th century and it was Jamaican distillers who moved to Cuba who probably founded the original Bacardi distillery.

Bacardi won prizes from the Spanish Court for its rum, credited with bringing young King Alfonso of Spain back from death's door with a tot of the family specialty in 1892. Bacardi was revolutionary in many ways.

Even as it saved the royal life, the family supported the Cuban revolutionaries against Spain, and later supported Fidel Castro and the guerrillas against Batista. The Bacardi clan even provided members of Castro's first trade delegation to the United States. And then he nationalized them and they took it personally—very personally. They have been fighting on every level ever since, especially politically in the United States.

Bacardi boss Juan Pépin Bosch brought a touch of the old connection between buccaneering and rum back to life in 1961 by buying a surplus U.S. Air Force B-26 Marauder medium bomber, to bomb a Cuban oil refinery. Later he was the money behind a plot to assassinate Castro.

In fact, the Castro takeover had not fatally wounded the company, which had already become one of the first trans-nationals. From 1955, Bacardi was headquartered in the Bahamas, getting British Empire tariff preferences, and from the 1930s its major distillery was in Puerto Rico to get access to the American market that it had cornered during Prohibition, when it was the rumrunner's favorite product.
Evil Empire

Bacardi has been the evil empire to the other smaller Caribbean rum producers. It works to keep them out of markets as fervently if they were all Castroite allies. On some islands you cannot get the local rum in the hotel bars, because Bacardi has bought the concession.

The Caribbean islands that once fuelled world wars and industrial revolutions are now almost entirely dependent on tourism for their economic survival. First President Bill Clinton took them to the World Trade Organization to remove preferential access to Europe for their bananas. The Drug Enforcement Agency takes strong measures against another traditional island recreational crop, and in the face of protected EU and U.S. sugar substitutes, their sugar cane fields are being leveled to make golf courses for gringos.

But tourism and rum could go together. The region's Rum producers should be selling more than a drink—they should be selling a concept, a life style. As Johnny Depp exulted, staggering round his desert island in the film Pirates of the Caribbean, “Rum, sand, and sun! It's the Caribbean!”

And almost every shot you down will help development. Sugar cane only grows in the tropical zone, which as it happens, is mostly underdeveloped in the modern world. Selling high value-added branded spirits on the world market makes much more sense than trying to compete with cane sugar in a market where the EU protects sugar beet farmers and the United States looks after the double interests of Cuban exile sugar plantation owners in Florida, and Archer Daniels Midlands' high fructose corn syrup, made from maize.
Pathetic Substitutes

These pathetic substitutes need high tariff protection and subsidies because there is nothing as efficient as cane for producing sugar and energy—and hence rum. As a result, as Fidel Castro discovered, mass marketing high-value added Havana Club rum across the world produces far more revenue than bags of sugar in the supermarkets.

Somehow, the Caricom island rum producers have to overcome their insularity. Just as the island governments have been selling the Caribbean as a concept, they should be boosting Caribbean rum as the distilled essence of the islands, whose every sip in the cold of winter evokes happy memories of sultry tropics, and an altogether better and more relaxed life style. They should be keeping their sugar plantations because, not only can they produce gasohol like Brazil, they can produce rum and attract tourists to watch it being cooked up.
Trade Spats

Caribbean Rum distillers have millions of potential customers coming into their territories who can take their acquired tastes back with them to the bars of London and New York. They have expatriates in their millions who can guarantee exporters a market. So far, whatever dents there have been on the Bacardi empire have come from major international spirits acquiring distribution rights for island products. The biggest success story is Pernod Ricard's partnership with Havana Club. That old Bacardi magic in Washington ensures that they cannot sell it in the United States and indeed the dispute over the trademark has almost provoked trade wars between the EU and United States.

However, it takes more than variations on “Old” and “Aged,” on the bottles to build a brand. Discerning and affluent consumers want to see precise ages and they want a back-story for their bottle. And what a back-story rum has. It can beat any other drink with four centuries of Caribbean history to call on. Rum launched revolutions, slave rebellions, and fuelled wars on land and on sea. Its devotees include pirates, sailors, soldiers and admirals, planters and field hands, rum shops and chic bars.

Every rum bottle on every cold northern bar shelf should be a spirited ambassador for Caribbean tourism. Vodka, whose sales are booming world wide with heavy advertising, is just a dull spirit, literally ethanol and water. But rum, in its infinite flavorsome variety, is the true global spirit with its warm beating heart in the Caribbean.

Ian Williams is a Foreign Policy In Focus contributor (www.fpif.org) and the author of Rum: A Social and Sociable History of the Real Spirit of 1776 (Nation Books, hardback 2005, and paperback 2006). This article is specially written for FPIF in aid of development and merrymaking.

Another article:

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/11/30/PM200611305.html
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Bacardi's Havana Club Rum

Blame it on Mojitos

U.S. rum sales are on fire this year, and that's raised the stakes in the trademark dispute over a storied rum from Cuba. Janet Babin reports.

KAI RYSSDAL: We're not quite in the right season for 'em anymore, but Mojitos have set rum sales in the U.S. on fire. It's second only to vodka in popularity. Which raises the stakes in a dispute between two companies over the trademark of a legendary Cuban rum. From the Marketplace Innovations Desk at North Carolina Public Radio, Janet Babin reports:

JANET BABIN: To understand the Cuban trademark war between two rum makers, it helps to have experience with the stuff. Preferably, the good stuff.

NICK ROBINS: OK, let's see what we got here. . . . All right."

Duke visiting scholar Nick Robins got this aged Cuban sipping rum in Cuba, during one of his many visits. It's caramel colored with an inviting taste, even for someone not used to hard liquor in the afternoon.

ROBINS: "That's smooth, huh? And as they say, there's more where that came from.

But not much more, if you're an American. The U.S. imposed an embargo against Cuban goods decades ago, and Florida recently announced plans to strengthen enforcement against offenders. And Robins says that's part of Cuban rum's popularity — its forbidden taste is steeped in the island's culture:

ROBINS: The way we are into our beer or our football, the Cubans are into their rum and their baseball. It is part of the identity.

Just who owns the real identity of Havana Club Rum in the U.S. market is what's behind the battle between France-based Pernod-Ricard, its Cuban partner Cubaexport and Bacardi USA. Pernod has made Havana Club Rum in Cuba for more than a decade, and sells it throughout the world.

Bacardi USA began selling its own version of Havana Club Rum in Florida in August, after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office refused to renew Pernod's Havana Club trademark. Bacardi spokesman John Gomez says Bacardi bought the real Havana Club recipe and should get the trademark:

JOHN GOMEZ: Bacardi does own the rights to Havana Club. Bacardi purchased the rights in the mid-90s from the Arechabalas family.

That family made the rum in Cuba from the 1930s to the 1960s, when it fled Fidel Castro's regime. Intellectual property attorney Robert Muse has worked with Pernod in the past. He says the Patent Office decision about Havana Club's trademark was based on a congressional provision passed in 1998. It prevents the U.S. from honoring trademarks of businesses confiscated by the Cuban government.

Muse calls it the Bacardi law:

ROBERT MUSE: It has no support. It's an egregious example of special-interest legislation by a non-U.S. company to procure an anticompetitive benefit in a rum competition.

Muse says the Patent Office decision could threaten the trademark stability of hundreds of U.S. products sold overseas. Despite the embargo, some 300 U.S. brands have the right to sell products in Cuba, from Tyson Chicken to Wrigley's gum. Muse says this could weaken brand enforcement for those companies.

MUSE: Cuba under international law is now free to invalidate, cease registering, or take any other actions against U.S. trademarks.

Bacardi doesn't have and doesn't need a trademark to sell Havana Club in the U.S. But it could run into another kind of legal trouble. While Pernod's rum is made in Cuba. Gomez says Bacardi's . . .

GOMEZ: . . . It's, uh, made in Puerto Rico.

But it's called Havana Club. That could lead consumers to believe they're buying Cuban rum. Cardozo law professor Justin Hughes says it's illegal to market a product that's geographically misleading:

JUSTIN HUGHES: Havana Club on a product that is rum not from Cuba, rum from the Dominican Republic, or rum from Jamaica might be deceptive.

But Bacardi spokesman Gomez says consumers are smarter than that:

GOMEZ: We really give our consumers a lot of credit for being able to read the label and see that it's very obvious that it comes from Puerto Rico.

Pernod has filed a federal lawsuit against Bacardi for allegedly misleading consumers about where its rum is made.

According to the Distilled Spirits Council, rum brought in almost $1.8 billion in 2005, up 5.5 percent over the year before. Bacardi continues to sell Havana Club in Florida, and is considering selling it in other states too.

In Durham, North Carolina, I'm Janet Babin for Marketplace.

The whole thing is pretty silly, if you ask me. People don't want Havana Club because of the brand name. They want it because it's Cuban rum. The Bacardi labeled Havana Club might offer some nostalgia for Cuban-Americans, but after that I don't see what benefit it is to anyone. It's Puerto Rican rum so why not just purchase Bacardi or some other Puerto Rican rum?

[ Edited by: arriano 2006-12-20 22:08 ]

truly sad. the real havana club is so good, and to think bacardi will just sell an inferior product with that name is blasphemy

Hi there everyone. im new in this forum but aged in the art of drinking rum from about 40 years of tasting cuban rum, born and raised in Havana could not be otherwise, like i see here there is a war going on between Bacardi and Havana Club, Well, as long the drinker havent proof Havana Club never before, no problem, Bacardi will do, or any other in this case, but once you have tried out Havana Club and specially the seven years old there is no way back, is like a very powerful hard drug, there is no substitute for it anyplace in the world, i must confessed that are some others rum from the Caribbean that when not Havana Club is present will get you close to this ideally state of spirit that many of you will already know, im talking about the panamenian "El Abuelo " and specially the 12 years añejo, " Pampero " from venezuela, "Flor de Caña " 12 años from Nicaragua, and few others, but afterward you still missing the Real Thing . I cant explain why is that, it maybe the sugar cane from Cuba, it maybe the water they use or like a friend of my use to say, the acetic acid they use to simile the age years ( that last is a joke although any rum with a 1 ml of this acid will taste " aged " ).
I been living for seven years here in the states, missing the "real thing" a lot and expecting that some day Cuba will be free again to prove the taste i grew older with, in the meantime i was able to bring few of them bottles in last January from Europe and still looking for any shop willing to sell me few more from any part of the world, glad hear from any of you any news about it.
What a shame that politics and other circumstances make us missing the pleasure of enjoying one of the little things that a normal human should enjoy at least once a week, a couple shots of good rum and the taste of a cuban cigar.
BTW, sorry for my english, i`m still learning.

Hi there everyone. im new in this forum but aged in the art of drinking rum from about 40 years of tasting cuban rum, born and raised in Havana could not be otherwise, like i see here there is a war going on between Bacardi and Havana Club, Well, as long the drinker havent proof Havana Club never before, no problem, Bacardi will do, or any other in this case, but once you have tried out Havana Club and specially the seven years old there is no way back, is like a very powerful hard drug, there is no substitute for it anyplace in the world, i must confessed that are some others rum from the Caribbean that when not Havana Club is present will get you close to this ideally state of spirit that many of you will already know, im talking about the panamenian "El Abuelo " and specially the 12 years añejo, " Pampero " from venezuela, "Flor de Caña " 12 años from Nicaragua, and few others, but afterward you still missing the Real Thing . I cant explain why is that, it maybe the sugar cane from Cuba, it maybe the water they use or like a friend of my use to say, the acetic acid they use to simile the age years ( that last is a joke although any rum with a 1 ml of this acid will taste " aged " ).
I been living for seven years here in the states, missing the "real thing" a lot and expecting that some day Cuba will be free again to prove the taste i grew older with, in the meantime i was able to bring few of them bottles in last January from Europe and still looking for any shop willing to sell me few more from any part of the world, glad hear from any of you any news about it.
What a shame that politics and other circumstances make us missing the pleasure of enjoying one of the little things that a normal human should enjoy at least once a week, a couple shots of good rum and the taste of a cuban cigar.
BTW, sorry for my english, i`m still learning.

Welcome, Erizo, and thank you for your unique perspective on Havana Club rum! Many of us here can only wonder what it tastes like, but with your experience you can direct us to other rums that come close to it, as you have already done with your recommendations. Please continue to share these -- I have already written them into my notebook for shopping.

Welcome to TC Erizo and thanks for posting your thoughts about the quality of rum. I was researching recipies and the history of the Mojito this weekend and of course there was a reference to the Havana Club Rum. Sounds like there are many things that affect taste & quality including water, the properties of the sugar growth, and of course age.

Here is some of the latest on your passion. Interview link here.

Bacardi will relaunch its Havana Club brand in the States for first time since the US embargoed Cuba. Host Kai Ryssdal talks to Miami Herald reporter Elaine Walker about the trademark ruling that allowed it — and what it could mean for other companies.

TEXT OF INTERVIEW

KAI RYSSDAL: Ahhh summertime. Perfect season for one of those fancy rum drinks. A daquiri maybe. Or a mojito. Starting this week, Americans will be able to mix those drinks with a brand of Cuban rum that's been off the shelves since 1960. It's called Havana Club, and Barcadi is the company bringing it to the United States. But Havana Club's not made in Cuba. In fact, Havana makes its own version of Havana Club. Elaine Walker's a reporter for the Miami Herald.

ELAINE WALKER: It started in the '30s. These were the days when Havana was a glorious hot night spot and this was the chic drink that was consumed by all the fashionable and elite people.

RYSSDAL: And how did it come to pass now that Bacardi's going to wind up selling it in the States?

WALKER: Well Bacardi did a deal with the Arechabala family. They were the original owners of the brand. They lost everything in Cuba, so they made this deal with Bacardi in the mid-'90s and gave Bacardi their recipe and they claim the rights to produce the rum in the United States.

RYSSDAL: But you've been able to get Havana Club outside the United States for 35 or 40 years.

WALKER: Correct. I mean Havana Club is sold widely in Europe and obviously in Cuba and other countries. Now, the Havana Club that is sold there is a totally different Havana Club than the Havana Club that Bacardi is now putting out. Bacardi has the Arechabala family recipe and Ramon Arechabala says that the Havana Club that is produced by the Cuban government and Pernod Ricard is awful as far as he's concerned and not drinkable. These are two entirely different products just being marketed under the same name.

RYSSDAL: Taking sort of a longer view. This is a problem quite a few companies who want to do business with Cuba going forward might wind up having, don't you think?

WALKER: Well clearly, there's trademark issues on both sides relative to Cuba. The Cuban government has tried to trademark things in the United States so that after the embargo is over they can do business in the United States, which is clearly what was the case here with this trademark. Now also at the same time, US companies want to do business in Cuba as well after the embargo is lifted and supposedly many US companies have filed at least some preliminary registration in Cuba to protect their trademarks so that they can do business down there.

RYSSDAL: And all of this is happening despite the nominal US embargo?

WALKER: Correct, I mean this is basically positioning so that they can do business when the embargo is lifted.

RYSSDAL: Elaine Walker is with the Miami Herald. Ms. Walker thanks for your time.

WALKER: Thank you.

RYSSDAL: Still nothing new on Fidel, by the way. Resting comfortably, we're told.

Watching Dexter, season 3 (from 2007, I believe), on DVD last night and caught this:

Obviously, it was a prop, but can anyone tell if it's a real HV label or the fake Bacardi HV one?

Interesting thread...

I have sipped Havana Club in Cuba, Canada, and Europe. Its no better or worse than Bicardi or any other decent rum out there. I suspect nostalgia or the "forbidden fruit" aspect of it amplifies its reputation.

I am fond of the label and keep a bottle around which I wash out and refill with Bacardi.

Again, its a fine drink and if you see a bottle, go for it. Nonetheless I honestly feel its reputation exceeds reality.

On 2010-03-18 09:14, Haole'akamai wrote:
Watching Dexter, season 3 (from 2007, I believe), on DVD last night and caught this:

Obviously, it was a prop, but can anyone tell if it's a real HV label or the fake Bacardi HV one?

Fake Bacardi. The real stuff has a white label and comes in liter bottles. I had a sea captain friend (no, really!) bring me a couple of bottles from Europe a few years back. I tried to nurse them and make them last, but the drinks they made were sooooo good they were both gone in a month. I don't recall I shared them with anyone either. I was a selfish pig, but there it is.

Looks to me like real HC 7 year in a 750 ml bottle. Only the blanco has a white label.

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

blog

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2010-06-04 13:56 ]

I don't drink white rum, so I couldn't say if white Bacardi and white Havana Club taste alike (don't all white rums taste alike?)... but the dark 7 Year old Havana Club is unquestionably in a class of its own.

Havana Club Anejo Blanco is actually pretty damn tasty all by itself.
I was expecting the same flavor as Bacardi "Superior" (rubbing alcohol with cotton candy and banana skittles)
Havana Club Anejo Blanco is soft and warm and full of unexpected complexity.
Come over and have some right next to the HC 7 year. I dare you. :)

Best
Mark

I have always been partial to Appleton myself. Nonetheless, HC will get you there.

It seems Bacardi has been up to this sort of thing before. I stumbled across an interesting (well, maybe "interesting" isn't the word...) article on Bacardi's attempts to trademark their own faux-Cuban brand in Canada, Old Havana.
http://www.robic.ca/publications/Pdf/142.162-BGA.pdf
This was a bit before my time as a rum drinker, in the mid-90s. I get the impression this brand was available for a period of time, but I don't remember.

Just got back from 5 days in Grand Cayman and brought a 1 liter back (As well as a few other yummy rums)....I was a little worried that TSA might take it but they didn't care.... Definitely a good deal for $10 US.

[ Edited by: aquaorama 2011-05-02 11:26 ]

Bumping this old thread as I didn't see it when I posed the question about Puerto Rican Havana Club over here (Thanks Swiz):

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=51530&forum=10&3

Strange this thread began a decade ago when Castro was getting ill and everyone assumed the embargo would soon be lifted, yet here we are nearing the end of the Obama administration where restrictions have been lax and we're still having to go to Canada, Mexico and elsewhere to get Cuban rum. I'm curious, when Bacardi launched their Havana Club branding after obtaining the US trademark, did the product ever make it outside of Florida where they initially planned to market it? I just recently started seeing the Blanco and Classico Puerto Rican-made Havana Club in Texas. Is this the same product they were talking about back then? JenTiki shared this very recent review of the Anejo Classico, making me think it was just released:

http://www.drinkhacker.com/2016/07/10/review-havana-club-anejo-classico-puerto-rican-rum-bacardi/

So maybe they only launched the white rum before? Whatever the case, I'm assuming it wasn't a success being that it wasn't more widespread and is just now surfacing again, conveniently as Cuban travel is starting to open up.

The newspaper reports on this thread state that the Havana Club being produced in Cuba since 1960 hasn't followed the Arechabala's family recipe and Ramon Arechabala says that the Havana Club that is produced by the Cuban government and Pernod Ricard is awful as far as he's concerned and not drinkable. And that the recipe they sold to Bacardi in the 90s is the original and therefore better. Obviously he had a vested interest in encouraging the sale of Bacardi's new product, but his point doesn't take into consideration the fact that the soil producing sugar cane in Puerto Rico differs from that of Cuba and other climatory conditions which assuredly contribute to the final taste. Presumably we'll never be able to taste Havana Club as it was made before the Castro take over.

[ Edited by: mikehooker 2016-07-21 15:45 ]