Cuban rum?

[Tiare]

Found it in another forum, this may interest some..

The article is old, so how did it go, is Matusalem considered Cuban?

http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y05/apr05/19e10.htm

[JMac]

I'm not 100% positive but I don't think it is.

I've read that Matusalem was originated in Cuba and had a distillery there until Castro came to power. Then the distillery moved to D.R.

The Matusalem up here in Canada (or BC at least) has the label reading 'product of the Domincan Republic' and 'Cuban style' rum.

[Count Silvio]

Matusalem is indeed made in the D.R. They are apparently using the old cuban recipes back when they were still making rum in Cuba.

You should find this interesting.
http://www.refinedvices.com/forum_/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=38&p=632&hilit=drug#p632
Also, none other than Ed Hamilton was suggesting to me when he came to Rumfest that the Cubans aren't even producing all their rum anymore, crippled as they are by the embargo. The columbian drug and tobacco smugglers are involved in dropping off rum from St Lucia which is blended by HC and the other distilleries. I know nothing other than that which the man in the hat told me....

[mcmachete]

Silvio,

Any crippling of Cuba's rum industry has to do primarily with the regime's failed economic policies, not the embargo. The U.S. is Cuba's #4 trade parter (and #1 food supplier), and the embargo is not stopping Cuba from trading with absolutely everyone else.

/end aside...


Anyway, while Matusalem is not made in Cuba - I feel it's very close to the Cuban style while also retaining unmistakable DR characteristics.

It's actually one of my personal favorites...

Matusalem Gran Reserva (http://www.macheterum.com/2007/07/ron-matusalem-gran-reserva-15.html)

[Scottes]

A comparison I did between Havana Club Anejo Blanco and Ron Matusalem Platino found many similarities. There are definite Cuban tendencies in the Matusalem, though - as Orlando said - some of the DR tendencies do come out (but not much IMHO).

[RumBarPhilly]

Does Matusalem perhaps have a bottling plant in the United States?

I have seen Matusalem listed (a couple times) as an American rum. I just checked my bottle, and there is no mention of it. It says its a Cuban formula and that it is made in Dominican Republic and that there is a mention on the bottle of the Tortola in B.V.I.

[mac]

Thanks for the article, I agree with The French. To claim Cuban heritage it must be produced in Cuba !!!!

[Capn Jimbo]

To claim Cuban heritage it must be produced in Cuba !!!!

I take it you don't live in South Florida, lol...

[Rumpelteazer]

Just checked my bottle and box. It says "After being forced to leave Cuba, the descendents of the original makers of MATUSALEM RUM now craft it in the Dominican Republic according to the family's secret formula."

I do not see any mention of Tortola B.V.I.

[Edward Hamilton]

Twenty years ago I was drinking Matusalem rum made in the Bahamas according to a Cuban recipe. In the 90s it was being produced on St Croix, then production moved to the Dominican Republic where it is bottled today. After scouring the Dominican Republic over the course of several months on various trips to that island I have never met anyone who would show me one bottle of Matusalem being distilled, blended or bottled there.

When Skyy Spirits bought the rights to Matusalem around the end of the last century, I was bombarded with marketing information about the brand's Cuban heritage but was unable to unravel much of the story that I had seen with my own eyes and tasted with own mouth. Rums produced in the DR aren't far in character and style from those produced in Cuba. Due in part to their geographic proximity there have been family and trade connections between the two islands for centuries. I would expect their rums to have similar characteristics and they do. At the end of last year Skyy Spirits gave up their rights to the brand and within a few months you won't find the name Skyy on the back label except on bottles of old stock.

[Matusalem]

Edward, somewhere in between there, (late or towards the end of the 90s), there was a period Matusalem was supposedly (produced) and/or bottled in Florida, Lake Alfred I believe was the location. That (time frame) and particular batches of bottles was their best spirit outside Cuba, as far as I'm concerned.

Here's a an article you might find somewhat interesting, though dated:

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/14/news_pf/Business/Rumble_over_rum.shtml

[RumBarPhilly]

Thats a great story. I think that is part of the romance of this noble spirit, is the lineage of rums, and where they came from.

Even if one day, I get to produce rums in some form, Ill never have a story like Alvarez's Matusalem.

[Matusalem]

There are some interesting quotes to pluck from that article (assuming it's factual):

The company produces three rums: its "original" Gran Reserva, a 15-year-old dark rum; Clasico, a 10-year-old golden rum; and Platino, a white rum that is aged 10 years but has the color taken out.

Alvarez relaunched the Matusalem name. He terminated the company's bottling contracts and moved operations to the Dominican Republic. Using contacts from his students days in Santiago he made a leasing contract with the local distillery, Ron Bermudez, the country's best-selling brand.

[RumBarPhilly]

I was shocked by their statement about both their clasico and platino being 10 year old rums. Im not surprised though, as their rums lack a certain complexity that tells me they are blends of probably very few rums, if one. The GRan Reserva, though, much complexity. Its good to know its a 15 year rum, new knowledge to obtain.

[Duffman]

I'm a little late getting on this bus, but here's what I know: other than the Matusalem Grande Reserva 15 yr being nothing short of dy-no-mite (sorry JJ Walker) it is tough to find out where in the DR it is distilled. I have the fortunate oppotunity to currently work with a guy from Santiago, DR (a caribbean pipeline for some of my rum), but he has checked with his brothers who still live in Santiago and they have never heard of Matusalem being distilled there.

I know up here in Vancouver there is a tag hanging off the bottle of lower end amber Matusalem that says " the spirit of Cuba" and " Distilled in Santiago, DR."

So who knows? All I know is that the 15 yr (available locally here in Vancouver) is now on the top of my list, though I have yet to crack my new bottle of Havana Club Barrel Proof.

BTW: After several years of intense marketing, Brugal is the most popular rum in the DR.

That's all I gotta say about that.

Duff

[Matusalem]

it is tough to find out where in the DR it is distilled. I have the fortunate oppotunity to currently work with a guy from Santiago, DR (a caribbean pipeline for some of my rum), but he has checked with his brothers who still live in Santiago and they have never heard of Matusalem being distilled there.Given the circumstances, I wouldn't expect anything less than the source to be a mystery.

Lets put it like this. It probably wouldn't help the whole Cuban family tradition story if it were common knowledge that the originator of that lore, and the specified family are not actually producing anything.

[marcus]

I ve heard that Rhum Santiago is located in the old Matusalem destilleries. I never got it confirmed by a written source.

[Lew Barrett]

My bottle:) of Santiago de Cuba says:

"Produced and bottled in Santiago, Cuba, for Cuba Rum Corp, S.A."

That's all she wrote. Well, it does have more stuff on it including a very official looking green "Republic of Cuba" stamp and some stuff about the magical combination of "body of the sugar cane, expressed in sweetness and spirit," yada, yada, yada.

[Matusalem]

Strictly from memory off the top of my head, I think Caney, Santiago and Matusalem were all from the same production facility in Cuba.

Quite a few have suggested that one iteration of Caney is a continued old Matusalem blend.

[JC]

One reliable source told me that Matusalem is Bottled by Bermudez Distillery In Santiago, D.R:

Itґs not a surprise for me that even people who live in Santiago doesnt even hear a word about it, because is not marketed here, the same with Cubaney, Opthimus, Vizcaya, Atlantico,

I know this rums because I know a lot of people who works in the Wine & Spirits industry, I used to be a brand manager for a company of wine & Spirits.