San José de las Lajas, Cuba — Cuba’s signature rum, Havana Club, competes with the best known brands in the world even though it cannot be sold in the largest rum-consuming market. In Cuba, there are barrels that have been used to age rum for more than six decades — as long as the US embargo on the island has been in place — and that give the liquor distilled from sugar cane its unique flavour. Hundreds of casks rest in the Havana Club warehouses in San José, 30km from Havana, bathed in a sweet woody aroma redolent of vanilla, while bottle after bottle moves down the production line waiting to be filled. It was in Cuba 150 years ago that light, Spanish-style rum was first created, which, through natural aging in white-oak casks, blending and skill, has evolved into the softer, darker, more subtle version consumed today. "We are not afraid to say that for us Cuban rum is the best in the world," says rum master Asbel Morales, who has been making rum for three decades. Despite the US e...
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