Cuban rum maker, Havana
Club has developed a new and experimental range exclusively with bartenders in
mind. The
Havana Club Professional Edition range, which has also been developed in
collaboration with bartenders, was first unveiled at trade show Bar Convent
Berlin a couple of weeks ago. The
first bottling in the small-batch series, Havana Club Professional Edition A, is
the result of a collaboration with the Cuban Bartender Association as part of
celebrations for Havana bar El Floridita’s 200th anniversary. The white rum is a blend of three aged rum
bases and pure aguardiente that has been matured in large oak barrels for up to
four years. It is filtered using an “innovative approach that retains the
character yet still lightening the color and palate”. 
Havana
Club Professional Edition B has been created in collaboration with cocktail
authority Nick Strangeway. The rum is a blend that includes one component
finished in smoky Islay whisky casks, along with three other Havana Club 7 Year
Old rum bases. “Since the launch of
Havana Club 7 Year Old 40 years ago, we have been committed to inspiring
bartenders to create new rum cocktail experiences and the Professional Edition
range is our latest expression of this,” said Nick Blacknell, global marketing
director at Havana Club International. “It
was through the world’s best mixologists that rum drinkers were introduced to
the Daiquiri, Cancha and Mojito cocktails – we hope that our new range provides
the inspiration, through new flavor profiles in rum, for bartenders to craft
the next generation of authentic Cuban rum cocktails.”
Further
editions will be added to the Havana Club Professional Edition range in the
future, created using input from leading bartenders. These will be made
exclusively available to mixologists in selected cocktail bars around the
world. Havana Club previously
experimented with smoky whisky casks for the creation of its Havana Club
Tributo 2018 expression.
