Two stories, two aroma and taste profiles naturally intertwined like native emblems from the same land that have for centuries been part of the Cuban lifestyle, come together in this festival to seal a much-anticipated alliance. This is no doubt the chance of a lifetime to take a closer look at the finest matching between the most selected Cuban rums and Habanos.

For any Cuban, sipping dark, well-aged Cuban rum while puffing on a Habano is a highly cherished idea that also brings longstanding pleasures back to life. Expert Fernando Fernandez, the top animator of the Sommelier Club of Cuba and coordinator of the national training program –with 25 years of experience under his belt– says that aged or extra-aged rums are very classy spirits, dark rums –the famous English dark rum– that are told apart by the aging time they have spent in oak barrels. Today, the different brands on the island nation feature one or more aged rums in their arsenals –up to 18 dark rums– broken down in different categories, a stock that offers a huge assortment of combinations that can be matched with Habanos S.A.’s vast portfolio. The Top Dark Rums Dark rums are those that have been aged for 7, 12, 15, 18, 20 or 25 years. Those are legitimate heavyweights, like the 15-year Havana Club Gran Reserva, or more recently the new addition, Seleccion de Maestros, launched by the same company and with good market acclaim. This rum is so refined and so good that the finest experts have hailed it as an indispensable benchmark drink for Habano matching. Even though for ordinary Cubans rum and cigars make up an unbreakable unit –no matter the brands– most experts agree in pointing out that Cuban dark rums are by and large the very best to match with Habanos. Both Barbaro Edel Vega, chairman of the Havana Chapter at the Cuban Bartender Association (ACC is the Spanish acronym) and sommelier Yosbel Cardenas, a finalist of the 2011 National Habanosommelier Contest, identified that connection with the nationality, an expression of their culture, something that can be considered as a form of tradition. Long before that, Cuban sage Fernando Ortiz had called people’s attention on the close ties among rum, Habano and coffee, like a love affair of what he defined as “the island’s three diamonds,” tokens of our identity that have made the rounds in the world’s finest halls and saloons, acclaimed by sybarites and big-time consumers everywhere. Wielding quasi-scientific arguments, Fernando Fernandez has fessed up his preference for the Cohiba Siglo VI if he’s going to have a drink of Havana Club’s Seleccion de Maestros, a combination equally extolled by Barbaro Edel. In the meantime, Cardenas mentions brands like H.Upmann, Gloria Cubana and Rey del Mundo for medium-aged rums. “Taste goes hand in hand with preferences,” Fernandez insists, and in that sense he draws a bead on the noble spirit of Romeo y Julieta Habanos for having halfway notes that provide adaptability with soft-type rums. For those rums that flex their muscles with an additional kick, Partagas, Bolivar or Ramon Allones are superb matches. The contrasts of the Cuban spirits allow for a good hookup with Habanos and coffee produced in this neck of the woods. In the Caribbean there are different types of rum, like light rums that sway between 45 and 55 degrees of alcoholic content, and others that run between 48 and 58 degrees. Cuba and Puerto Rico are the two leading producers of light rums in the region, while the second tier belongs almost entirely to Jamaica and other small islands of the West Indies. However, tradition, the tasting of it, its refining, the natural environment, throughput levels and variety, in addition to unique experience and expertise in the hands of Cuban rum makers, have turned spirits hailing from the largest Caribbean island into the best-known brands across the region. Moreover, these rums share a long common history with Habanos that harkens back to little after Christopher Columbus’ arrival in 1492. The fact that both products enjoyed exceptional weather conditions for their development in Cuba, gave way to an industry, a culture and a way of living marked by economic and spiritual features. It’s all about a blend of sweat and pleasure that has lifted itself to the category of identity, and that’s the nitty-gritty of this festival and a good reason to hold this event, by far one of the most important ones in the program.

Even though for ordinary Cubans rum and cigars make up an unbreakable unit –no matter the brands– most experts agree that Cuban dark rums are by and large the very best to match with Habanos

Participating companies in the Habano-Cuban Rum Alliance Cuba Ron Havana Club International Corporación CIMEX Tecnoazúcar