Sunday, April 24, 2005
Havana Club: 18 million bottles of rum to 170 countries
The star product of French-Cuban joint venture Havana Club International, sponsored by Cuba Ron and Pernaud-Ricard, is gaining space in this very competitive market.
Founded in 1993 and after international court litigations still in process to obtain the right of distribution in the United States, Havana Club sold last year 18 million bottles of rum to 170 countries, said Regla Jimenez, Marketing Director of Cuba Division of the company at a conference on occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Rum Museum in old Havana.
Located facing the Avenida del Puerto in Havana docks, the oldest part of the city, the Museum has had over 424 thousand visitors from 60 countries. It hosts a wide variety of aged rums, from the traditional 7 and 15 years to the new Cuban Barrel Proof and solera San Cristobal de La Habana.
The museum introduces visitors to the mysteries of distillation based on sugar cane molasses, as ancient as the four-century-old sugar industry.
Jimenez said they are working on linking rum to other Cuban products like habanos (hand-rolled cigars) and coffee.
Other options open to visitors are the Havana-Club gallery with samples of Cuban contemporary art, a bar-restaurant, a souvenir store and the patio, where you may drink guarapo (sugar cane juice) alone or combined with rum.
Albert, prince of Monaco together and local prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso and singer Cesar Portillo de la Luz are among the famous who have visited the museum.
Founded in 1993 and after international court litigations still in process to obtain the right of distribution in the United States, Havana Club sold last year 18 million bottles of rum to 170 countries, said Regla Jimenez, Marketing Director of Cuba Division of the company at a conference on occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Rum Museum in old Havana.
Located facing the Avenida del Puerto in Havana docks, the oldest part of the city, the Museum has had over 424 thousand visitors from 60 countries. It hosts a wide variety of aged rums, from the traditional 7 and 15 years to the new Cuban Barrel Proof and solera San Cristobal de La Habana.
The museum introduces visitors to the mysteries of distillation based on sugar cane molasses, as ancient as the four-century-old sugar industry.
Jimenez said they are working on linking rum to other Cuban products like habanos (hand-rolled cigars) and coffee.
Other options open to visitors are the Havana-Club gallery with samples of Cuban contemporary art, a bar-restaurant, a souvenir store and the patio, where you may drink guarapo (sugar cane juice) alone or combined with rum.
Albert, prince of Monaco together and local prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso and singer Cesar Portillo de la Luz are among the famous who have visited the museum.
