World-class Havana Club Rum Blows Birthday Candles

Execs from Havana Club International, a Cuban-French joint venture, celebrated the tenth anniversary of the company that distills Cuba’s best-known rum and that last year alone sold 1.9 million cases of 9-lt. bottles, mostly to Europe.

“As we speak, Europe is our premier market and it’s there where we’re focusing our attention on,” said Alexander Sirech of Havana Club International, a merger between France’s Pernod Ricard Group and Cuba Ron.

The trademark unveiled a new image of the spirit in Cuba –complete with a new seal and lid specially designed to deter fakers- that now reaches out to a hundred countries with the sole exception of the exclusive U.S. market as a result of the Washington-imposed embargo on the island nation.

Cuba, Italy, Spain and Germany are the main markets for Havana Club, a beverage that ranks fiftieth on the list of the world’s top spirits, according to Impact magazine, a specialized publication.

In recounting last year’s achievements, company executives point to the launch of the Havana Loco Cocktail in Italy during the second half of 2003. That particular brand sold 10 million bottles in the European nation and 362,000 units in Cuba following its premiere on the island.

As to its bitter rift with Bacardi, another leading rum maker, the company’s French president Patrick Ricard extolled the ruling made by the U.S. Trademark Registration Office that eventually upheld Havana Club’s right to own the trademark on American soil.

“We’ve won a battle, but not the war,” said Mr. Ricard in reference to the fact that the trademark is protected until 2006 –the expiration date for making a new registration- unless an appeal is filed in court.

Nicknamed the “War of the Rums,” the lawsuit pitted both firms against each other in a harsh dispute that started out back in the mid 1990s when Bacardi unveiled a spirit distilled in the Bahamas and dubbed Havana Club in the U.S. market.