Havana Club Iconica Collection

Last Monday evening Dave took part in the Havana Club Rum Tweet Tasting and enjoyed four premium rums from their Icónica Collection. The rum is 100% Cuban, made from all natural Cuban ingredients, and overseen by six Masters blenders, or Maestro Roneros as they are called Cuban.

Cuban Rum

Cuba has become known as the "Isle of Rum", due to a combination of world-famous sugar cane (first introduced by Christopher Columbus in 1493), a favourable Caribbean climate, fertile soil, and the unique know-how of Cuban "Maestro Roneros" (master rum-makers). Sailors, swashbucklers and locals liked to use this exceptional sugarcane to make fermented nectar and "tafia" (an early type of rum).

Quality improved drastically in the 1800s with the introduction of copper stills and the first attempts at ageing. Pedro Diago, known now as the father of Cuban rum, can be thanked for this. He had the idea of storing the "aguardientes", or eaux-de-vie, in pots and burying them in the ground. The second half of the 19th century saw the production of a lighter and more refined rum, known as "Ron Superior".

This was developed on the instructions of the Spanish Crown, which wanted a more delicate rum that could "satisfy the court and the elite of the Empire". El Ron Superior is the father of today’s Cuban rum: light, smooth, delicate, crisp and exceptional straight or in cocktails. Its popularity was such that by 1860 there were more than 1,000 distilleries in Cuba.

Havana Club

The distillery was founded by José Arechabala in Santa Cruz del Norte in Cuba in 1878, however the Havana Club brand was first introduced in 1934, and was sold worldwide. Following the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the brand was nationalised by the government. Sales to the US ceased and the Arechabala family emigrated to Spain before finally moving to America, after his company was nationalised, In 1994, the company was owned by a fifty-fifty partnership between the Cuban government and the drinks giant Pernod Ricard.

Havana Club has become synonymous with Cuba. It’s the leading Cuban rum in Cuba, and fifth-largest rum brand in the world. Havana Club has kept alive the art of añejamiento: the art of distilling, ageing and blending premium rums. Its strongest markets include France, and Germany, and it is also bottled in India, the world's second-largest rum market.

Havana Club’s rums have and the range is made up of a few standard bottlings which are essentially mixing rums, as well as the seven year-old, which is intended for sipping. In November 2006 the ‘ultra-premium’ Máximo Extra Añejo was first released. 

At the launch, Havana Club’s Maestro Ronero said “There will never be a rum that better expresses the Cuban rum culture”

It's been a while since I was last sipping rum, so was really looking forward to tasting these premium expressions. The evening started with:

Rum Discovery #4

Havana Club Selección de Maestros (45% abv)

Cuban Rum

circa £50.00 70cl

The new edition of Havana Club's very popular Cuban Barrel Proof, Selección de Maestros is bottled at the higher strength of 45% abv.

So What Did I Think?

Nose: Woody, oiled cedar? Resin, liquorice toffees and burnt sugar initially. Fruity, with a dark citrus note, BBQ'd lemons? There's a slight mustiness too, earthy, damp with woody spices. Nutmeg and Cassia are the spices I'm picking up, along with the nutty notes of Brazil nuts and Pecans - very nutty

Taste: An initial sweet burst of Chocolate Orange, rich and dark, followed by coffee beans, hints of cigar tobacco too. Spices follow and then a hint of smoke, finishing sweet again with citrus twist before turning dry. Love it!

Rum Discovery #5

Havana Club Añejo 15 Años (40% abv)

Cuban Rum

circa £125.00 70cl

This 15 year old is created by 'repeatedly' blending the rums and aguardientes and maturing them in old oak barrels. Havana Club's Primer Maestro Ronero, Don José Navarro, describes this as "Cuban rum's great classic".

Legally for Cuban rum the age of the youngest rum in the blend is displayed (as with Scotch) Although the minimum age is 15 years old, I was told that it's a blend of rums from 15 to 35 years old

So What Did I Think?

Nose: Richer, yet lighter toffee notes. Again spices of nutmeg and cassia. Brazil nuts too. Chocolate comes later along with the dried fruits. Another lovely nose. 

Very easy to sip: Chocolate, rich and dad, coffee beans and treacle. Not as earthy as the first one. Spices follow. This is gentle, smooth and creamy and so sippable! There's dried fruits, figs and raisins. Tobacco later and a hint of vanilla essence too

Rum Discovery #6

Havana Club Unión (40% abv)

Cuban Rum

circa £250.00 70cl

Next up we tasted the newest rum in the Icónica Collection, Havana Club Unión is available in specific liquor stores in Cuba and 20 other countries. I think we were among the very few to have tried this in the UK

So What Did I Think?

Nose: Antique wood notes alongside a sweet cough syrup note, cherry perhaps? Also finding some lemon

Taste: High cocoa content chocolate, 'trade mark' Brazil nuts, although woodier, Brazil nut shells? There's a dusting of pepper too and finishes with a musty wood note with cigar tobacco.

Rum Discovery #7

Havana Club Máximo Extra Añejo (40% abv)

Cuban Rum

circa £1,200.00 50cl

The Havana Club Máximo is an Extra Añejo rum made from a decidedly illustrious blend of rare, old rums taken from their extensive reserves, crafted by the skilled hands of Maestro Ronero, Don José Navarro. An extraordinary Cuban rum for the cognoscenti and connoisseurs. Of course, a rum of this stature comes presented impeccably, in a handmade crystal decanter alongside crystal stopper with the Giraldilla etched upon it.

Havana Club Máximo Extra Añejo isn’t widely available, but can be purchased via specialist spirits retailers and online

So What Did I Think?

Nose: There's a slight smokiness to this, charred wood too, while coconut tries to sneak through rich toffee.

It's surprisingly fruity on the palate, lots of dried fruits, figs dates and raisins. It's sweeter than the nose suggested too. This really is something special - I could sit and sip this all evening if only my disposable income levels would allow!

Verdict
OK, so these are not your ordinary 'everyday' rums, they are all a little special with the starting price at around £50 a bottle. The Havana Club Máximo Extra Añejo works out around £60/shot based on the bottle price - expect to pay an awful lot more than that at a bar! The Havana Club Selección de Maestros is certainly within my budget and it's something I'd like to revisit again soon, and although I would love to spend more time with them all, it's highly unlikely due to current UK prices.

I'm looking forward to hearing what Kat has to say about these, as I saved half of each of the samples received for her.

Salud! Dave

Rum Discovery #3

El Dorado Rum 21 Year Old (43% abv)
Guyana Demerara Rum
Circa £75.00 70cl

Our finale dram of our short vertical tasting and the 21 Year Old. This glorious, full-bodied rum of exquisite taste and character was launched in late 2002 and has quickly established itself as one of the finest on the market. 

“A monumental aged rum that is one of the world’s greatest rum drinking experiences”

That is how the Beverage Tasting Institute of Chicago summed up their appreciation of El Dorado 21 Year Old Special Reserve. 

Luxury sipping for true rum connoisseurs its warm subtlety is best savoured slowly on its own – and shared with a few very special friends, ideal for partnering with cigars. 

I'm not a cigar smoker, though thinking about getting a pipe!

Made from rums of between 21 and 25 years of age, matured in 45 gallon oak casks, within six degrees of the equator in Guyana. 

The superb colour and character of this exquisite rum is the creation of El Dorado's Master Blender. His special recipe blends specially selected rums, oak aged for at least 21 years, from the Enmore wooden Coffey still, the Versailles single wooden pot still and the Albion Savalle still.

El Dorado 21 was awarded a Gold at the International Rum Festival 2003 in Canada and a Silver at the 2003 International Wine and Spirit Competition in London. Most remarkably, this was the highest scoring rum ever to be tasted by the Beverage Tasting Institute in Chicago scoring 98/100 and was awarded a International Wine and Spirits Council Gold Medal this year.

So What Did We Think?

Kat Says: Out of the three, I found this is the spiciest on the nose. The butter cream is present with the addition of an oak character, same as the 15 Year Old, it's full bodied and rich. 

On the initial sip, the spices are very lively, however this does mellow out at the end to reveal bitter cocoa qualities found in dark chocolates. For me I would have liked the dark chocolate notes to last a bit longer as it was only there for a few seconds. 

I didn't find much difference in the finish of this one compared with the 15 Year Old, both are very similar. My favourite out of the three has to be the 12 Year Old as I liked the fresh lightness it has, this 21 Year Old would be a close second as I liked the oak characters in this rum that the others didn't have.

Dave Says: In complete contrast to Kat, this became my instant favourite from first nosing.  There are bags of vanilla initially before the dark sweet coffee and tobacco notes come through leading through to hot spices and teak wood notes and that orange zest is there too, like sitting in a tropical wood panelled drawing room, very colonial, teak wood furniture, spicy cloves and oranges, could almost hear the forest insects in the background.

On the palate it's just as dark and rich and so very smooth; toffee and sweet dark coffee and rich spices, with a espresso bitterness at the end. The finish is long and lingering sweet and at last I noticed the chocolate notes along with a nuttiness and more spices

A fabulous end to my Sunday afternoon tasting three great sipping rums. All three are rums for sitting back, gently sipping and savouring each and every mouth full while contemplating life in general - please don't hurry these rums. Now what sort of pipe should I be looking for?

Many thanks to El Dorado Rum for supplying the tasting sample

Rum Discovery #2

El Dorado Rum 15 Year Old (43% abv)
Guyana Demerara Rum
Circa £43.00 70cl

So onto Rum Number Two of our vertical tasting; El Dorado's 15 Year Old expression. This was the one that we were introduced to by Brand Ambassador Stephanie Holt at the Midlands Whisky Festival

The El Dorado 15 Year Old Special Reserve was the first expression to be launched way back in 1991 and is now viewed as a fine, cognac-like rum possessing the most intriguing and complex character in its class. Perfect for long sipping, straight or on the rocks. A Classic

A combination of specially selected aged rums, some as old as  twenty five years, from the Enmore and Diamond Coffey stills, the Port Mourant double wooden pot still and the Versailles single wooden pot still. (promotional notes tells us that it is distilled using the only two remaining wooden pot stills in the world and a wooden column still) it is blended and aged in old bourbon oak casks and bottled at 43% abv

This 15 Year Old is truly a remarkable rum, having been awarded the 'Best Rum in the World' Trophy a record seven times at the International Wine and Spirits Show, they must be doing something right?

So What Did We Think?

Kat Says: Moving onto the 15 year old, I got a creamier quality like that of soft butter on the nose, the molasses is not there, instead the Demerara sugars notes comes through that makes the nose seem less rich than  the 12 year old. The smell is exactly like when the sugar and butter start to combine when I'm making butter cream icing for cupcakes. This doesn't have the same freshness as before as I can’t pick out the lemon zest, the lack of this makes it rich and full bodied. 

The taste of this one again is sweet with the same Demerara flavours and warming spices which is more like that of cloves this time, and it’s smoother than the 12 year old. 

The finish was similar to the 12 year old but didn't linger with the same fresh sugar cane taste and has black pepper from start to finish. I'm guessing the loss of freshness is because of its age, as the flavours are more like that of spun sugar – verging on burnt sugar than that of fresh sugar cane.

Dave Says: I found this 15 Year Old to be richer and darker than the 12 Year Old. Yes the  Demerara sugar is ever present on the nose, but there are rich sweet dark coffee notes, chunky orange peel from a dark marmalade a little pepper spice and rich vanillas, even my wife really liked the nose of this one.

The palate is sweet and syrupy, but not as sweet as I had originally thought it would be. The first time I had tasted this was immediately after tasting a 20 Year Old Single Grain Whisky from Port Dundas, and there was a similarity between the two. There's sweet spices and dark brown sugar, treacle and molasses like.

Again the finish lingers, but creamy and thicker this time with dark spices, smokey blackened peppercorns, and dark toffee.

Many thanks to El Dorado Rum for supplying the tasting sample.

Rum Discovery #1

El Dorado Rum 12 Year Old (40% abv)
Guyanna Demerara Rum
Circa £35.00 70cl

Rum discoveries? Where is this journey taking us? I hear you cry. Well after a summer of Tequila why not?

We also were fortunate to meet El Dorado brand ambassador Stephanie Holt at the recent Midlands Whisky Festival where we were persuaded to try the El Dorado 15 Year Old, So technically speaking this isn't the first rum, but for all intensive purposes of this journey, blog and vertical tasting this is now our Rum Discovery #1.

I used to drink a fair drop of it out in the Far East with a bunch of Australians I worked with. We'd often have a 'Bundy Frenzy' drinking vast quantities of Bundaberg on ice and with coke. Hardly sophisticated, and so will not be counting any of my earlier encounters, most of which I would struggle to remember anyway.

So this 12 Year Old is said to be the epitome of Demerara Rum, the true spirit of Guyana, and has been awarded the gold medal at the Caribbean Rum Taste Test (held annually in London) no fewer than seven times in the first ten years in which the competition was held!

The El Dorado 12 year old is a blend of specially selected aged rums, aged in American oak, the youngest being no less than 12 years old, it is a combination of the Enmore and Diamond Coffey stills and the Port Mourant double wooden pot still, blended to perfection and aged in old bourbon oak casks. 

This rum is designed for sipping. The 'blurb' we've received tell us that the spirit was distilled using the double wooden pot still that was built in 1732 for the British Navy - which is pretty impressive in itself!

So What Did We Think?

Kat Says: Sipping rum is a first for me. Like most people I've had my share of rum & coke and if it’s straight, it will be in shots that I've knocked back with some friends in various drinking games. 

All of the different rums I've had before, I can count on one hand…..Bacardi, Old Navy, Sailor Jerry, Bundaberg, and the odd supermarket own brand rums. This is of course before I 'd gotten into whisky and learned to sip rather than guzzle it down to give me 'Dutch courage' so I can party like its 1969!

I found the aromas to be the full bodied characters of dark molasses but without the heaviness. The aroma is very light with a fresh feel with warming spices and a hint of lemon zest. 

Now for the taste, my initial thoughts were ‘Yep this tastes like rum’ then I thought that this description isn't going to be useful for anyone reading this blog so I turned the TV off as it was distracting. It was Sunday night and Homelands was about to start which needed my full attention as well so I opted to watch it on the +1 channel. 

Compared with whisky it is a lot sweeter. Not surprising as this is a Demerara rum and you can taste the Demerara sugar flavours easily. It’s a lovely smooth feel with the spices providing that warm tingling feel. 

For the finish the lemon zest that I picked up on the nose comes through just as the liquid is swallowed, then the tasted of fresh sugar cane juice comes through which lingers giving it a long mellow finish. If you have never had fresh sugar cane juice, it’s a bit like the taste of Demerara sugar but lighter and fresh with a hint of a floral character, and a hit of woody character which comes from the fibres in the stalks.

Dave Says: Heady Demerara sugar on the nose, with caramelised banana, sweet toffee and vanilla, orange zest and a little spicy oak too - it was mouth-watering just nosing it. On the palate it was rich and smooth with sweet honey and spices, whole cloves pushed into a fresh orange.

The finish goes on, sweet and dry with the light spices and orange zest dancing on the tongue, a great start to a Saturday evening's vertical tasting of three aged rums from El Dorado.

Many thanks to El Dorado Rum for supplying the tasting sample