Havana Club Rum

Above, the Havana Club rum I bought in Cuba. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Back in April, I went on, what eventually turned out to be one of the last, cruises to Cuba. While in Havana, I picked up a dozen cigars and a litre of Havana Club rum from a government-run shop.

I was reading about the current state of travel to Cuba and stumbled upon the story of Havana Club rum. I was unfamiliar with the story, so I read as much as I could find online this evening.

In a nutshell, here's the basic story as presented by Wikipedia:

Havana Club is a brand of rum created in Cuba in 1934. Originally produced in Cárdenas, Cuba by family-owned Jose Arechabala S.A., the brand was nationalized after the Cuban Revolution of 1959. In 1993, French owned Pernod Ricard and the government of Cuba created a state-run 50:50 joint venture called Corporación Cuba Ron. They began exporting this version of Havana Club globally, except for the United States due to the embargo put in place by the U.S. government. 

Bacardi, another Cuban family exiled due to the Cuban revolution, also began producing Havana Club Rum in 1994 after purchasing the original Arechabala family Havana Club recipe, a competing product made in exile in Puerto Rico and sold only in the United States. 

Bacardi & Pernod Ricard have engaged in ongoing litigation about ownership of the name “Havana Club”.

Before the Cuban revolution in 1959, the Bacardi and Arechabala rum families were fierce competitors. Their saga is quite interesting and one people should take the time to read.

The story still has many twists and turns due to the ongoing litigation. Which is the "real" Havana Club rum?

The way I see it, since Bacardi is producing rum with the original Arechabala recipe, it is the true Havana Club rum (although produced in Puerto Rico). However, the Havana Club rum I bought while in Cuba is a popular rum marketed worldwide. It is pretty good (but I am not a trained rum expert, so what do I know?) and I usually mix it with Coca Cola anyway.

I still have over half of the rum left.