With President Obama's executive order to bring back diplomatic relations with Cuba, come the potential for a rum ware between tow of the largest producers of rum in the world. Bacardi and Pernod Ricard will be back at it over the "Havana Club" brand name. Below are excerpts of and article I ran across in the
Forget a real war with Cuba. Enter the
prospect of a rum war. With the Cold
War in the rear view mirror, President Obama's decision to loosen American trade
restrictions on Cuba has made a diplomatic détente possible-but could also set
off a corporate skirmish with potentially billions of dollars at stake. It all has to do with the Cuban rum Havana
Club, which was first manufactured in the 19th century. Following the Cuban
revolution in the late 1950s, the communist government seized the brand's
distillery, without compensation. But communist cadres aren't natural
rum-makers, so the regime began a partnership with French company Pernod
Ricard. Bacardi, another company that
saw its assets famously expropriated by the regime, purchased the American
"Havana Club" trademark from its original owner in the late '90s. 
So in America, "Havana Club" is
made by Bacardi in Puerto Rico and can be found in five states. Everywhere else
in the world, it's Cuban-made and distributed by Pernod Ricard. Assuming that America's trade relationship
with Cuba continues to improve, this could mean that the Cuban-made Havana Club
could soon be available in the United States. But whose version will it be?
"The
central question now is who will get to bring Cuban-distilled Havana Club rum
back to the U.S.A.: Bacardi or Pernod. The mellowing of U.S.-Cuba relations
could well spike a D.C. rum war," said Charles Benoit, a lawyer
specializing in alcohol legal issues.
Read More at http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/19/why-congress-hates-your-cuban-rum.html
The only question is where will "Havana Club" sold here in the states be "Havana Club" or "Havanista"?
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