Rum is all the rage. The Caribbean’s gift to the world, made from fermented and distilled sugar cane juice or molasses, has never been more popular. Here in Havana they drink little else, apart from a rather nice beer called Bucanero Fuerte. As I follow the Hemingway trail around town from El Floridita ("Cradle of the Daiquiri") to La Bodeguita del Medio ("Home of the Mojito"), I develop a serious taste for the stuff.
My researches take me deep into the night - a bar here, a jazz club there - during which I discover that not only does rum make superbly refreshing pre-prandial cocktails, it is also spectacularly delicious served neat as a digestif.
At Havana Club, one of the world’s bestsellers, head distiller Don José Navarro is passionate about his product: “If making alcohol to help people avoid reality was my only objective, I would have walked away long ago. But my sole purpose in life is to express my love for Cuba through my rum. Cubans embrace life, behaving as if they’re going to live forever. Even a funeral or a workers’ strike is a carnival. Our rum is a distillation of this Cuban culture and I defy anyone not to smile after just a sip.”
I know what he means. I’ve been beaming non-stop for two days. And now I feel the first twitch of a grin as I gulp a glass of chilled fresh sugar cane juice. It is absurdly flavoursome and - despite an intense sweetness - wonderfully refreshing.
“Now you know why our rums are so fine,” says Don José. “It’s all down to the sugar cane, brought to Cuba from the Canary Islands by Columbus. It’s 100 per cent natural and full of goodness.”
I came across the Havana Club Maximo Rum this evening.. boy I’d love to try that, I have a bottle of 15 here at home and that cost me $80 in Cuba a couple of years ago. This is slightly over £1000 here in the UK. (Research suggests about $700 in Cuba).
