Grand Havana Rums

[rumdog46]

I am curious about the Grand Havana Rums and have tried contacting them off their website Grand Havana Rums (http://www.grandhavanarum.com/) but never get a reply. I see on the website that the importer is Universal Liquor Imports, Miami, FL.

I would think they would be happy to followup with me and let me know where I can purchase a few bottles of their rum.

Anybody have any info on them?

Thanks
Chris

[rumdog007]

Hello, fellow Rumdog! I bought a few bottles about a year ago. At the time, they were promoting this rum a bit. It is a pleasant rum. But, it was not crazy-good or very complex. I recall that most of what I discovered of the rum was done, pretty much, from the first glass. Subsequent tastings did not reveal much more, IMO. I will need to re-taste it to give you more detail. The ads for it had some sort of "super premium" blurb describing it along with it being made from a genuine Cuban recepe and process. It pretty much dried up on store shelves, though. It came in a faux leather tube/box and the bottles were numbered.

[rumdog46]

Hey buddy,
Thanks for the heads up. I gotta admit the site made the rum sound good and I thought well if it's really made as they say from old fashioned recipes from Cuba it's gotta be good right? Well looks like that was a fine idea that went down the drain.

I'm bored today so I decided to hunt rums. The nice thing about hunting rum, you are always guaranteed to get one with every shot. The other thing is there are no limits on how many you can take.

[rumdog007]

Sounds like my day! BTW, "pleasant" for "peasant" in my post, sorry.

[Edward Hamilton]

Club Havana was bottled by Westerhall in Grenada for the importer who was going to make rum according to his family's lost Cuban recipe. As rumdog noted it wasn't very complex probably because it was distilled in a continuous still in Trinidad then shipped to Grenada where it got its island magic.

At one place I was told that they were making it from fresh sugar cane juice, but that story didn't fill the barrel after it was admitted that no one from the family had actually seen the cane press or the steam engine that would be required to power it.

[The Rum Ambassador]

While at Westerhall last May, I was surprised to find that they bottled Grand Havana. It wasn't a bad interpretation of a Cuban styled rum. But a far cry from the Pernod Ricard products coming out of Cuba at the moment. I, like ED, had been told that they are making it from imported Cane Juice/syrup. Mr Arthur Baine,Senior Blender from Westerhall, kindly gave me the tutored tour of the beautiful facilities and disclosed a few blending tips used to make rums such Westerhall's Plantation and Grand Havana. I wisely turned down the Jack Iron at 140 proof, as my palate still had the Clarke's Court distillery to visit later on that day.

[Edward Hamilton]

I wisely turned down the Jack Iron at 140 proof, as my palate still had the Clarke's Court distillery to visit later on that day.

And I thought you were a real rum drinker.

[Berbician]

The Westerhall Plantation is a fantastic rum. I'm still waiting for it to be available in London.:(

[rumdog007]

I tried Grand Havana again tonight. The nose is slight, faint ethanol mingled with light brown sugar and a wisp of guava. This is a very light amber rum. Since it is marketed as a Cuban style rum, I decided to re-taste a few of those, too (I know,...any excuse). In color, it matches up pretty well with Havana Club 5 Anejo Especial. The HC5 has more punch to the the nose and more of that aroma is fruit, with less ethanol. The taste of the Grand Havana follows the nose with a light body consisting of sugar, grape, tinge of vanilla, and pepper. The HC5, when tasted is a bolder rum with lots of fruit with the very lightest touch of vanilla. Definitely, the HC5 tastes as though it is an older rum. So, I had a little of the Havana Club 3 Anejo which is alive with the taste of raisin, but an almost whisky-like finish. Overall, both of the HC's have decidedly more upfront taste. Grand Havana is milder than both, but to its credit, smoother and more polished on the finish.

[rumdog46]

Hey Rumdog007,
Was wondering of if or anyone has ordered from Products from Spain.net (http://www.productsfromspain.net/?session=34965)just found this site and they seem to have some interesting rums from Cuba, Edmundo Dantes 15 Years, Havana Club Aсejo Especial 5 Years, Havana Club Aсejo 7 Years, Havana Club Gran Reserva 15 Years (YIKES $ 250.95) bottle, Legendario Elixir de Cuba 7 Years. I guess I will have to start collecting cans for the next rum run, lol!

[rumdog007]

I have seen the website and saw the cost, "yikes" is right. Better to go with http://www.macha-weine.de/macha-weine/htdocs/index.html .
Stephan Macha is an honest seller and, for less $$$$.

[rumdog46]

Thanks for the heads up on the site. Looks like they have quite a few to say the least impressive looking rums from Cuba. Time to start collecting cans for the rum run of 09.

[The Rum Ambassador]

And I thought you were a real rum drinker.

So did I until I saw the hardened local rum drinkers sipping 140 proofed rum like water at 8am in the morning !!!

[The Rum Ambassador]

The Westerhall Plantation is a fantastic rum. I'm still waiting for it to be available in London.:(

You can try some at Vinopolis, while on the True Rum Tour.

[Berbician]

You can try some at Vinopolis, while on the True Rum Tour.

Yes, but I was hoping for a full bottle.

[Count Silvio]

So did I until I saw the hardened local rum drinkers sipping 140 proofed rum like water at 8am in the morning !!!

Thats the best way to start a morning! While on Corfu I went on a boat trip and the captain of the boat offered me Ouzo from a huge glass tank at 10 in the morning and then some more later.