The result of a challenge posed to Havana Club by famed Cuban cocktail bar El Floridita, Professional Edition A is a white rum which delivers the rich, layered flavour profile of a long-aged rum alongside the clean-edged subtlety that makes white rum so perfect for mixing. The result is a full-bodied and nuanced spirit crafted to bring out the absolute best in rum cocktails such as the Daiquiri.
The second of Havana Club's Professional Editions, Edition B is a blend of three rums, one of which has been finished in peated Islay whisky casks. The resulting spirit is a dark rum full of classic, rich rum-sweetness and fruit notes tempered by a subtle, yet unmistakeable smoky twang. This perfect balance of sweetness and dry, earthy tones means Edition B makes an excellent base for cocktails like the Rum Old Fashioned.
Havana Club's Professional Editions bring together bartenders and rum masters – the maestros roneros – to create new rums that build on the distiller's experience with new ideas and flavours. Here Alex Kratena and Carina Soto Velásquez have worked with rum makers Juan Carlos González and Salome Alemán to create a mix of two iconic styles of Havana Club rum. Bringing together classic aged white rum with a longer-aged blend of up to 12 years old, it is bottled at a higher strength to allow the complex character to shine.
The Havana Club Professional Edition range matches up one of Havana's top rum makers – the maestros roneros – with world renowned bartenders to create something new and different to Cuban distiller's other rums. Edition D brings together drinks experts Alex Kratena and Carina Soto Velásquez with rum makers Juan Carlos González and Salome Alemán, and together they have created a rum inspired by Cuban terroir. A combination of youthful and slightly older rums, it showcases the flavour of the sugarcane it has come from, with a touch of minerality and some Agricole-like complexity.
A relaunch of Havana Club's Cuban Barrel Proof edition, Selección de Maestros has benefited from an eye-catching packaging upgrade and is bottled at 45% for extra oomph. The Gold Medal-winning liquid inside Havana Club Selección de Maestros remains the same as for the old Cuban Barrel Proof - as the name suggests, the casks have been hand-picked by the maestros roneros from the company's finest aged stocks. The rums selected by the maestros roneros are finished in special casks chosen for their aromatic properties before being bottled at a higher strength than the standard range for a more intense, immediate flavour on the palate.
The third bottle in Havana Club’s annual Tributo release is finished in casks that previously held peaty Scotch whisky, adding layers of smoke to this rich, sweet rum. On the nose, expect notes of dried fruits and raisins, with a full-bodied palate of dried fruit, smoke and toasty oak. This could convert Islay fans to rum…
A masterpiece of Cuban rum-making, Havana Club 15 Year Old is a bold, full-bodied rum with a rich, mahogany colour. The palate offers notes of dried fruits, prunes and raisins, alongside spicy oak and rich tobacco. The finish is full of complex vanilla, cocoa and coffee flavours that linger delightfully.
Crafted to pair perfectly with Cohiba cigars, this rum is as close to Cuba incarnate as one might hope to get – both aroma and flavour are dominated by vanilla toffee, suggestions of subtle banana, distant oak and thick citrus sweetness, all threaded through with balmy, languorous tobacco. A unique collaboration between Havana Club’s Maestro Roñero Asbel Morales and master Cohiba Cigars sommelier Fernando Fernandez Milian, this edition of Havana Club is a union indeed.