Havana Club Ritual Cubano. This Havana Club release has been around since 2012. It was created for the Spanish market. In Spain light Cuban or Latin style rum is very popular.

Cuban Rums such as Ron Varadero, Ron Caney. Legendario and Ron Mulata are popular and common place in Spain. Some of these brands are relatively unheard of in Cuba. Some aren’t even sold in Cuba.

The popularity of such rums, particularly these brands “Anejo” or entry level rums is due to the way they they are consumed in Spain. Which is the reason Havana Club Ritual Cubano has been created for the Spanish market. This is a rum formulated to be drank with coke, ice and squeeze of lime juice.

Havana Club Ritual Cubano is bottled at 37.5% ABV, its quite common for Cuban rum to be bottled below 40% ABV. It is a column distilled rum in the typical Latin Style. In Spain the rum is around 15 euros for a 70cl bottle. It can often be found for nearer 10 Euros making it pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things. The few bottles that have been imported into the UK would set you back around £30. Quite a mark up and difference in price. Especially when you bear in mind you can get Havana Club 7 Anos quite frequently for little over £20.

The rum is presented in a tall rounded bottle with squared off shoulders and it is topped with a screw cap. The label has the Havana Club Malecon and the picture depicts Havana’s seafront boulevard.

Havana Club have created a sheet (in Spanish) to show you how to create the perfect “Ron Ritual”. I think I pretty much bottomoed out how best to prepare a “Cuba Libre” or Rum and Cola quite a few years ago so I won’t worry too much about getting this translated.

It will be quite interesting to see how this Havana Club offering differs from the Anejo Especial which is the “mixing” rum more commonly found in the UK. On my most recent trip to Spain I don’t recall seeing many Havana Club products other than the Ritual Cubano and the Anejo Blanco. I certainly don’t recall seeing the Anejo Especial. Though to be fair it wasn’t a rum I was looking for.

Anyway lets crack on the with the nosing and tasting.

In the glass Havana Club Ritual Cubano is a straw to light golden brown colour. The nose is quite oaky with notes of tobacco and a touch of tar. It is still quite light though and pretty sweet. It’s not as Vanilla heavy as the Anejo Especial though which I welcome. The sweetness is more of a light caramel – Demerara Brown Sugar. It’s not a bad nose as far as entry level “ron” goes. Its quite welcoming.

Sipped Havana Club Ritual Cubano is so-so. Though it’s way better than the Anejo Especial. Although sweet it tastes more “sugary” than “Vanilla-ed”. It’s a little bit spicy upon entry but nothing really too heavy. It’s all very nice, light and well, sweet. The finish is a little bit oaked but it really doesn’t last very long at all.

It’s all just very agreeable. No real challenge here.

Mixed with cola (as recommended) it delivers a very sweet, but strangely tobacco heavy drink. Like the Havana Club 7 it just has a bit of a “queer” taste to it. Especially in the after taste. Something just jars a little.

It’s not particularly complex. For me its to sweet, to light and generally just not very interesting. Of the Latin Style rums I tried when I was in Spain I would take the Ron Vardero over this everytime without hesitation.

I’d drink this if i was stuck but not out of choice. It’s alright but nothing to get excited about.