There are several brands of Cuban rum such as Ron Cubay, Ron Santiago de Cuba, Cuba Ron, Ron Varadero and of course Havana Club. In case you have not realized it, ron is the Spanish word for rum.

There is a great list of Cuban rums from the official Cuban rum site at CubaRon.com

Here is the list of Havana Club brands from Wikipedia:
  * Añejo Blanco (Añejo means aged)
  * Añejo 3 Años
  * Añejo Especial
  * Añejo Reserva
  * Añejo 7 Años
  * Añejo 15 Años - Gran Reserva
  * Añejo Solera - San Cristóbal
  * Extra Añejo - Máximo
  * Cuban Barrel Proof

This is the official contact information for Cuba Ron:

Corporación Cuba Ron, S.A.
Calle 200 #1708 esq. 17. Reparto Atabey. Playa, C. Habana. Cuba
Tel.: 336602-03, Fax: 336600

Havana Club International, S.A.
Calle A No.309, entre 13 y 15, Vedado,
Ciudad de La Habana
Teléfonos: 336597/99, 662566/67
Fax: 336598

Comercializadora Cuba Ron
Calle 44 No.305, entre 3ra. y 3ra.A, Miramar, Playa
Ciudad de La Habana
Teléfonos: 2046275, 2042566
Fax: 2046231
Email:

Lastly, here is an old article from Cigar Aficionado titled Rum Rundown that will give you LOTS of information about rum production in Cuba.

Here are there picks for best Cuban rums:

OUTSTANDING
Matusalem Anejo Superior
Havana Club seven years old
Ron Santiago 45 Aniversario
Havana Club Gran Reserva
Varadero seven years old

VERY GOOD
Havana Club three years old
Los Marinos Paticruzados five years old
Caribbean Club five years old
Havana Club five years old

Have you had Cuban rum? Do you collect old Cuban rum bottles? We would love to read about your experiences with Cuban rum.

Havana Club seven years old is the undisputed champ of Cuban rums.  I’ve only heard one complaint about it so far, from someone who said drinking that particular rum would give them a headache.  Pretty soon you’ll be seeing Havana Club in the U.S. again, though whether or not it’s the original recipe is a matter of debate (between the Cuban government and the family that claims the Havana Club produced in Cuba doesn’t follow their original recipe).

of the good ones mentioned Havana Club 7 yr old is the one you’ll see most commonly. selling for about 12 CUC a botle.  I also saw and was tempted to buy the 15 yr old Havana Club, but at 85 CUC a bottle, I couldn’t justify it to myself.  Taking a (free) tour of the rum museum in Havana is very interresting - free samples after the tour.
At my All Inclusive hotel, they used the el-cheapo rum with the el-cheapo cola for their rum and coke at their included bars; but under 1 CUC (I think it was 85 centavos), you could get a 7 yr havana club with (Mexican) coca cola.
Everywhere I drank rum was cheaper than beer.

manfredz - 19 July 2007 01:16 AM

Everywhere I drank rum was cheaper than beer.

Shots of rum are definitely cheaper than a can of Cristal almost anywhere in Havana, and that includes diners.  The exception to the rule is the “beer” that they sell out of cardboard cups at some clubs.

ahhh the infamous peso beer .... suppose one day I’ll try it but until then its either Cristal or Buckanero (can buy Cristal here at our liquor stores in Ontario Canada but haven’t seen Buckanero)

I’m sad to say I have not had Cuban rum but was at a party the other night and had some Venezuelan rum that was seven years old. WOW that was good stuff. If Cuban rum is better than that, I’m ready!

Cuban beer. Ah, doesn’t have the same sex appeal as Cuban rum.

i found the cristal to be comparable to mexican beer;  the buckanero had more body to it.Dont know if these two stories are true but heard that both are brewed by the same brewery and that the brewery was setup or modernized by one of Canada’s biggest breweries, Labatt’s, but is now run entirely by the Cubans.

I’m a great fan of Cuban rum and try and promote it wherever possible here in the UK. Up until about 2 year ago it was difficult to find in the bars, now I’m happy to say it can be found in most of my local bars, yippee. I love 7 year old - straight, I do have a bottle of 15 which I treated myself too on my last trip out to Holguin, about half the bottle left and that is really good!! I keep the others for mixing, Mojito’s, Cuba libre’s etc.  A few times some bars try and pass off Bacardi rum in my drinks, its so different and I really don’t like it, it has to be Havana Club every time and you can tell the difference as its far superior.

You are correct about the Labatts connection. They went down a number of years ago and assisted the Cubans with modernizing their brewery. There are many joint Canadian- Cuban businesses. You see the flags of both countries outside some of these businesses when traveling the island. Chinese flag is increasingly common also.

As for the rum has anyone out there tried Lengendario 7 anos? I believe it is absolutely the best accompaniment to a cigar you can find. Unlike the other rums it is 34% alcohol and I assume the unfermented sugar cane gives it the sweet taste but with wonderful finish. If you like port with a cigar you probably will also like this. Alas only bought one bottle when I visited the factory in Havana and was unable to find it the last time I was on the island (not in Havana) so I am not sure how widely it is distributed. It was a small factory. A friend who owns a pub tells me he can order it but has to be a case. At Canadian prices though not the $6 CUC’s in Cuba. One third of a bottle left but if any rum lovers are passing by North Bay, Ontario I would be willing to share a shot if its still here. Cheers.

teejay

Matusalem

no more exist, why the cuban have lost the namerights. Today is thid Name Ron Santiago de Cuba

This is how http://havana-club.com has the bottles in order on their site

Anejo Blanco
Anejo 3 Anos
Anejo Especial
Anejo Reserva
Anejo 7 Anos
Cuban Barrel Proof
15 Gran Reserva
Maximo

Is this the order of quality and price?

Also, anyone ever buy any Cuban rum off ebay? I see there is some listed but you are buying the bottle not the contents. That’s how ebay allows the sale.

teejay - 29 July 2007 01:03 PM

You are correct about the Labatts connection. They went down a number of years ago and assisted the Cubans with modernizing their brewery. There are many joint Canadian- Cuban businesses. You see the flags of both countries outside some of these businesses when traveling the island. Chinese flag is increasingly common also.

As for the rum has anyone out there tried Lengendario 7 anos? I believe it is absolutely the best accompaniment to a cigar you can find. Unlike the other rums it is 34% alcohol and I assume the unfermented sugar cane gives it the sweet taste but with wonderful finish. If you like port with a cigar you probably will also like this. Alas only bought one bottle when I visited the factory in Havana and was unable to find it the last time I was on the island (not in Havana) so I am not sure how widely it is distributed. It was a small factory. A friend who owns a pub tells me he can order it but has to be a case. At Canadian prices though not the $6 CUC’s in Cuba. One third of a bottle left but if any rum lovers are passing by North Bay, Ontario I would be willing to share a shot if its still here. Cheers.

teejay

The 7 year old is indeed a fine vintage of havana club ron, and yes you are correct in that it is deemed the ron of choice with a cigar, not that I smoke but many people told me that when I have been in Cuba.

I have some 15 year old here at home, which is exceedingly good but at $80 a bottle (may have come down now) it was a special treat to myself which rarely gets opened (ok I sniff it now and again and treat myself to a small shot glass full, too scared illl run out lol

teejay - 29 July 2007 01:03 PM

You are correct about the Labatts connection. They went down a number of years ago and assisted the Cubans with modernizing their brewery. There are many joint Canadian- Cuban businesses. You see the flags of both countries outside some of these businesses when traveling the island. Chinese flag is increasingly common also.

As for the rum has anyone out there tried Lengendario 7 anos? I believe it is absolutely the best accompaniment to a cigar you can find. Unlike the other rums it is 34% alcohol and I assume the unfermented sugar cane gives it the sweet taste but with wonderful finish. If you like port with a cigar you probably will also like this. Alas only bought one bottle when I visited the factory in Havana and was unable to find it the last time I was on the island (not in Havana) so I am not sure how widely it is distributed. It was a small factory. A friend who owns a pub tells me he can order it but has to be a case. At Canadian prices though not the $6 CUC’s in Cuba. One third of a bottle left but if any rum lovers are passing by North Bay, Ontario I would be willing to share a shot if its still here. Cheers.

teejay

I was talking to the Labatts rep who looked after Cuba on one of my last visits, he was looking for a permanent representative to stay in Cuba to keep an eye on things, I couldnt persuade him to take me on

Thanks for the info. If you are talking to him again, I have a couple potential employees that he might like to talk with.

No doubt that would be a fantastic job… Havana Club rum representative based in Cuba! Nice!

He said I’d hate it… a lot because of the problems with getting things done, pressure from Head Office in Canada, motivating the Cubans (I’ve heard similar from an Airline engineer on that front), personally like you I thought it’d be an amazing job in a great place.

If I hear from him I’ll put him in touch with you, its been a while since I’ve heard from him though

I heard the same from a US food rep that I know. He lived in Cuba for a couple years but ended up hating the place because of all the communist bureaucracy and lack of decisions that should have been based on profit rather than what the Cuban government dictated. He moved to the Dominican Republic and is doing well from what I understand.

So, instead of taking orders from bar owners, you’d be dealing with low level Cuban government officials who would tell you what rum to put where I guess. But, if you were getting paid Canadian wages but living in Cuba, that can’t be so bad.