Watch Alejandro Bolivar whip up a Daiquiri at the world famous El Floridita Bar in Havana.
Conan visits Havana Club
Conan O’Brien visits the Havana Club museum and tasting room during his recent trip to Cuba.
HC on Cuban Mojitos
Havana Club reveals the secret behind Cuban Mojitos in their latest a TV spot. Enjoy.
Hemingway Special
Havana Club continues their popular cocktail video series with a look at Hemingway’s favorite Daiquiri.
New Rums from Cuba
Look out Havana Club! There’s another Cuban rum positioning itself for a larger piece of the export rum pie. Ron Santiago de Cuba expands their line.
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To increase their exporting assortment, the spirits firm Ron Santiago de Cuba announced that it will roll out a new line of light and dark rums within the next few months.
Juan Gonzalez, president of Cuba Ron SA, a trading company in charge of commercializing Cuban spirits, said the launch will mark the 150th anniversary of light rum making on the island. The new line of rums will be distilled in the age-old traditional methods that have made their style of spirits a commodity worldwide among liquor enthusiasts and collectors.
Rum Master Tranquilino Placencia praised the uniqueness of the new line which utilizes an exclusive family formula they’ve kept secret since the first light rums were distilled in Santiago de Cuba back in 1862.
Tano, as the Rum Master is nicknamed, said they have stored thousands of barrels of 25 year old rum which will allow them to produce a remarkable blend from some of the brands eldest stock.
Cuba Ron SA showed some growth in its 2011 exports despite the economic crisis battering Europe, the main market for its products. The future of the brand, with the addition of several new rums to their line, looks very promising. They have slowly grown exports to the Middle East and Asia over the last several years and plan to continue that push. Keep an eye out for their next release, the Extra Dark Age, on liquor shop shelves in Europe within the coming months.
A Guide to Cuba
Looking for the best mojito in Havana? Check out the CNN.com Insider’s Guide to the sites, sounds and tastes of Cuba.
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Havana Club Sales Up
Sales of Cuba’s flagship rum, Havana Club, rose fifteen percent last year as the brand rebounded from a sluggish 2009.
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Havana Club International, formed in 1993 as a partnership between Cuba’s state-run rum monopoly and French wine and spirits maker Pernod Ricard SA, posted sales of 3.8 million cases in 2010, Cuba Ron SA legal adviser Arian Remedios told Cuban news agency Prensa Latina in comments published late Monday.
That is up from 3.3 million cases in 2009 and better than the previous high of 3.4 million in 2008. The company is projecting 4 million cases this year.
Remedios did not give a dollar figure for sales. Each case contains about 2.4 gallons (9 liters) of liquor.
Europe was the leading market with 57 percent of sales, followed by 31 percent in Cuba, 11 percent elsewhere in Latin America and 1 percent in Asia, Prensa Latina reported.
Washington’s decades-old trade embargo against the island prohibits sales of Cuban Havana Club rum in the United States.
Cuba has said in the past that it could increase production to ship 1 million cases to its northern neighbor if the sanctions are lifted, though a trademark dispute would complicate that.
In late March, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Pernod’s claim to the Havana Club brand was not valid in the United States because it concerns a trademark used by a business that was nationalized by the Cuban government.
Competitor Bacardi uses the Havana Club name in the U.S. for rum produced in Puerto Rico.
Pernod, which said it would appeal, has jousted with Bacardi for years over the label, alleging deceptive advertising of the non-Cuban rum.
Since the Cuban government and Pernod teamed up in 1993, Havana Club has averaged about 15 percent annual growth before the global economic downturn led to a 3 percent slide in 2009.
Havana Club Style
The “Nothing Compares to Havana” campaign continues with two new and simply elegant videos from Havana Club. Check them out right here.
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Tagline: Nothing Compares to Havana
Ad agency: M&C Saatchi GAD
Advertiser: Havana Club International
Director: Harmony Korine
Havana Club continues to sell the culture and traditions of Cuba as well as rum in their latest television spots. Two recent ads produced my their mainstay ad agency, M&C Saatchi GAD, focus on style and sophistication. Both feature an elderly gentleman schooling youngsters about the art of piropo and dance.
Take a look and let us know what you think. Enjoy.
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Havana Club – Piropo
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmIrW-ix9mQ[/youtube]
Havana Club – Dance
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KrOnpM5GLw[/youtube]
Havana Club Media
Havana Club rolls out a new series of TV commercials for their “Nothing Compares to Havana” campaign. Funny, you never see a bottle of rum in these ads.
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Tagline: Nothing Compares to Havana
Ad agency: M&C Saatchi GAD
Advertiser: Pernod Ricard
Brand: Havana Club
Exiting the “late night salsa club” theme that Havana Club commercials are known for, the ad agency of M&C Saatchi pulls together unusual streetscape scenes for the latest HC television ads. The four 20-second clips are subtle and even funny at times, but don’t scream “good times” like the majority of high-end liquor advertising. This is surely a new approach.
Take a look and let us know what you think in the comments section.
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The Kitchen
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_45pAotrvGY&NR=1[/youtube]
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Trombones
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S17ULL08qW4&feature=related[/youtube]
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Wedding Bike
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Ly04Phisg&feature=related[/youtube]
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Motorcycle
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2cAWMBPNAY&feature=related[/youtube]
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