This Week Put the Sunset on the Month of February, Man I'm Ready for the Warm

     February is traditionally the coolest month here in Key West, and this week we put it behind us.   Now the air can start to warm up and hopefully the winds begin to die down and we will enjoy what the Keys are all about.  It is time for the wonderful water and warmth that are so much a part of Key West.

Saint Croix Rum Festival “Flavor of Rum”

     St. Croix Rum Festival “Flavor of Rum” is an annual event to promote St. Croix’s historical culture of spirits, food, music and arts. St. Croix Rum Festival takes place on Sunday, May 29, 2016 at the historical Fort Frederik in Frederiksted, St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands; overlooking the magnificent backdrop of the Ann E. Abramson Marine Facility. Flavor of Rum is a one day event full of fun experience!   Sunday, May 29, 2016 at 3:00 PM - Monday, May 30, 2016 at 1:00 AM   Fort Frederik in Frederiksted - St. Croix VI.

     This is going to be a very fun event.  I'll be there and involved in the judging for the event.  I'm really looking forward to this event in May.  I has all of the earmarks of being one the years really great events.

     Whether you are ther for the party and the event or maybe going to be a part of the event for the "Flair Bartender Competition or the Bikini Contest, we're looking for you.   In-Box Sweetz Moore or George Moore for more information. 

You must be 21 years of age or older to enter!!! 

Coming May 29, 2016 to Fort Frederik in Frederiksted, St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands!! ‪#‎stcroixrumfestival ‪#‎flavorofrum‪#‎STXRumFestival

The Caribbean Journal Hosts a n Evening with Damoiseau Rhums

Guests Tasting the Damoiseau Expressions

     The Rhum of the French Caribbean Island that make up Guadeloupe remain something of a mystery to the wider world unfortunately so — as they are among the best in the world.   While those of nearby Martinique receive their due praise, Guadeloupe’s rhums tend to remain under the radar, a treasured privilege reserved largely for those who make the trip to the archipelago south of Antigua.

     When it comes to the rhums of Guadeloupe, Damoiseau is perhaps the most famous.  The company is based at its distillery in the town of Le Moule on the eastern island of Grande-Terre, is the market leader in the Guadeloupe Islands. It out sells the other rhums sold in Guadeloupe two to one.

     I have been lucky enough to be invited to a tasting hosted by the Caribbean Journal at their Miami offices.  Damoiseau is presenting their White, VSOP, and XO expressions for our pleasure.  It was a fabulous experience being able to taste these wonderful expressions and being able to talk with the people from Damoiseau.

     This is an experience that I really appreciate being invited to.  I have to say thanks to Alexander Britell of the Caribbean Journal and all of the people from Damoiseau for having me there to enjoy these wonderful expressions.

     Rhum Agricole has been produced at the Bellevue Distillery since the end of the 1800’s on Guadeloupe. The Damoiseau family took over that distillery since the 1940s. Their VSOP is made from fresh, island-grown sugarcane juice.  Damoiseau VSOP Rhum Vieux Agricole  is aged a minimum of 4 years in ex-bourbon casks that have been re-charred to enhance the flavor.  VSOP has an exotic aromas of dried fruits and spices, with a long finish of charred sugarcane and peppery spice notes .

     The Damoiseau XO Rhum Vieux Agricole is aged a minimum of 6 years in ex-bourbon barrels.   Damoiseau X.O. Rhum has a unique combination of power and finesse for an aged Rhum Agricole.   A heavy oceanic character has given an opulent depth and the wood and sugarcane come together to release burnt citrus, spices and notes of tobacco.

Damoiseau Cane Rhum is created from fresh pressed sugarcane juice from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.   This is a silky smooth white rhum, distilled once and aged for 6 months in an oak vat before being  slowly lowered to bottle proof with the distilled natural spring water.   The nature of the rhum is a mix of savory aromas and tropical flavors made in the Guadeloupian style of fine Rhum Agricole.

2016 Miami Rum Renaissance Festival

     It is that time of year again, time to make your reservations and get your tickets for one of the most fun events of the year.   It is time for the 2016 Miami Rum Renaissance Festival.  This year it will be starting on April 15 and running through April 17.  Get your reservations at the Doubletree by Hilton Miami Airport Convention Center, before the rooms are gon and there are a maximum number of tickets being sold for the event.

     Savvy consumers come to the Miami Rum Festival to discover a truly remarkable range of fine rums from the Caribbean region, as well as North, Central and South America, Europe, Asia -- and from the furthest reaches of the world.

     Rum producers from all over the world come to introduce new products, meet with importers and distributers, buyers and retailers, as well as consultants on the distillation, packaging and marketing of rum worldwide.

Robert and Robin Burr

     For consumers, the Miami Rum Renaissance Festival is one of the world's premier international rum events, presenting a unique and exciting range of great rums to be sampled. For professionals, this is the world's largest and most important trade exposition for rum.

     Enjoy a grand three-day exhibition of the best rum brands, the excitement of the Island Lifestyle Showcase, celebrity seminars, workshops and cocktail competitions, the annual RumXP competition and awards, an opportunity to rub shoulders with dignitaries and notable experts, and more.

          Miami Rum Festival takes place in the sub-tropical wonderland of Miami at the world class Doubletree by Hilton Miami Airport Convention Center. This spacious, Miami hotel was recently renovated and is the ideal location for a large international gathering of rum experts and enthusiasts. Here you will sample the world's finest rums in the center of the rum universe.

Another Beautiful but Chilly Day at Bahia Honda

     This weeks trip to Bahia Honda was not without purpose.   In order to do more traveling out with the "camper" it needs a tender.  we bought a kayak to use a tender.  This allows us to carry it on the hardtop and can be easily gotten on and off the boat.

     When the waters get too shallow for the camper and we want to explore, we can drop the kayak into the water and we can either use the pedal system to propel it or we can paddle it.  Either way, is is the perfect craft to get to shore with.   That doesn't even count the fun of just cruising around and getting some good exercise at the same time.

      This made for a perfect day trip.  My friends Don and Patti and I got to enjoy a beautiful day on the water going up there.  The got to hang out by the beach and on the boat enjoying a cocktail waiting for the kayak to arrive.   All in all just another day of this wonderful way of living ing the Keys.  End of February an out on the water,  A bit chilly, only in the 60's, but clear and the winds had dropped off for a while making for a fun trip.

Spring Cocktail Time is Getting Close

     The end of winter is in sight finally.  Daylight savings time goes into effect this month and the
days are already starting to warm up.  This gets my mind moving to tropical breezes and deserted islands in the keys.  A place I love to bring a thermos of great fruity cocktail and an ice chest filled with ice to be able to sit and sip these wonderful tiki style libations.

     One that has come to mind is a Don the Beachcomber creation call the Sumatra Kula of "Sippin`Safari.  This is a mix of several fruit juices and some really great rums that tastes great especially in the warmth of the sum

Sumatra Kula

• 1 ½ oz. Smith and Cross Rum
• 1 oz.  Damoiseau VSOP  Rhum Vieux Agricole
• ½ oz.  Fresh Lime Juice
• ½ oz.  Grapefruit Juice
• ½  oz. Orange Juice
• ½ oz.  Honey-mix
• 3 Oz. Crushed Ice

Put everything in blender, saving ice for last, blend at high speed for no more than 5 sec.   Pour into a tiki mug and add crushed ice to fill. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Honey Mix Recipe

Equal parts honey and water, warm up to mix, let cool and bottle, keeps in the Ice box for about a week.

Bailey Pryor on What Rum Really Is

Bailey Pryor

     Bailey Pryor, Founder and CEO of Real McCoy Rums has produced a video for Youtube that is a very informative lesson about the reality of rum.

Richard Seale

     During his research for the documentary, Bailey traveled to Barbados where he met Richard Seale. Together Richard and Bailey began to discuss the development of a classic Barbados Rum that  would adhere to the ‘no additives’ philosophy of rum production.   The rums would be blended from both pot and column distillates produced from black strap molasses. The distillates are then matured in heavily charred ex-bourbon American oak barrels.  The Rums have won a many awards from very well known events, all were well deserved.

    In this video  I think you will find it very interesting to listen to his philosophy and the basic trues about how rum is made and derived. 

   

Enjoy the Video The Truth about Rum at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZpdn6jjbfc 

Happy Birthday 95th to My Mother

     95 Years ago today, my mother was born in Middleborough, Massachusetts.   I just want to take a few minutes to say thanks to this amazing woman who has see me through my nearly 70 years and mad my life a really wonderful one.  Thank You for everything and Happy Birthday.  I love you Mom.

The Latest Zacapa Reserva Limitada is Out

     Zacapa. one of the titans in the premium rum sector.   Often the only premium aged rum that non rum-drinkers can name.  this is due in part to the superb Diageo distribution network. Famous for being aged “above the clouds” in Guatemala, talented master blender, Lorena Vazquez and identified in the store by it's woven palm-leaf bottle adornment.   Zacapa has always been known as an excellent rum, but the ultra premium XO is an especially nice expression.   If you go to the source in Guatemala, you'll find something else: Zacapa’s limited edition blend.

     "Zacapa releases a special edition each year, for sale within Guatemala and select markets around the world (although not the United States).     And Rum Journal was lucky enough to grab a bottle on a recent trip to Guatemala City.      Zacapa’s 23-year blend has rums as old as 23 years; the 2015 Reserva Limitada, however, has a blend of rums between six and 24 years." The rums are matured in American white oak barrels that had formerly held sherry, Pedro Ximenez wine and American whiskeys.

     "The Limited has a rich, slightly dark caramel color.   It has a sweet aroma of vanilla, pepper, candied fruit and the slightest hint of citrus peel.   The flavor profile is marked by tropical fruit, molasses (although this is a sugarcane-juice rum), some vanilla and some spice.   The finish is peppery and oaky."   How is it different from the Zacapa 23 you’re used to?     It’s got a different kind of warmth, a different complexity,  but also a bit more of a raw quality.   Often rums with more aging are a little softer around the edges — this one isn’t — this one has some fire in its belly. And that’s a good thing. "

Read More at http://caribjournal.com/2016/02/19/rum-journal-the-latest-limited-edition-from-ron-zacapa/?utm_source=Caribbean+Journal&utm_campaign=1a94b4a092-Caribbean+Journal&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ea4e1e4090-1a94b4a092-188868865

The New Angostura No.1 is Finally Available in the U.S.

Angostura No. 1 Second Edition

     Americans are now able to enjoy the exquisite flavors of the newest of the Angostura No. 1 Cask Series Collection.   This is the second expression released in the series.  This one is finished in French Oak Casks.  This is the first Angostura Rum to be finished in French Oak Casks.

Angostura No. 1 First Edition

     This new expression with it's purple colored label has a fruity aroma compared to the more nutty and oaky aromas of the first one version which was aged exclusively in American Oak Casks previously filled with bourbon.   On the palate, you taste flavors of dried fruit, nuttiness and a hint of floral.  This is a medium bodied rum much like the original one,   This expression has a very dry finish with a very soft fading away, where the original had a much shorter finish wit hints of chocolate and fruit.

     Both of these wonderful rums are wonderful, but quite different.  The effects of the different barrels is defiantly noticeable.   There are very few of the original Angostura No 1 left around and I doubt that these will last very long either.  I enjoyed this at the Rum Bar in Key West on Sunday and they do have a good supply for you to give it a try.

What is the Top Spirit in Panama?

     I think that you are in for a surprise.   With all of the fine rum produced in Panama, like Abuelo, Don Pancho Origenes, Zafra, and others, but the number one spirit in Panama is Seco Herrerano, a neutral spirit fermented and distilled from pure sugarcane juice.   I had an opportunity to visit the Varela Hermanos Distillery that produces Seco Herrerano in Pesa, Panama in 2011.  This is a very clean spirit that is fermented and distilled no 200 yards from where the cane is cut.   The spirit is passed through 4 column stills, charcoal filtered and bottled.





     Why is this not technically a rum?  It is lake Cachaca in Brazil, it is a neutral spirit.  In Central and South America the spirit must spend 2 years in a barrel to call it rum.  Seco is distilled to 95% ABV which will kill all of the flavor in the spirit and bottled at 80 proof.  Though it is made from sugarcane juice, it is truly a neutral spirit like Vodka.

    “When people try our Seco cocktails, they can’t believe it tastes so good because Seco’s reputation isn’t very sexy,” says Jose Carles whose Donde Jose restaurant offers more than 20 flavors of Seco infusions.  Seco takes on the flavor of what ever it is mixed with, neutral spirits have no flavor of their own.  It is a smooth spirit that infuses well with almost any mixer.  One of the favorite mixes in Panama is milk.   

Cubaexport Secures United States Havana Club Trademark

     This is the press release from Pernod Ricard announcing the renewal of their "Havana Club" trademark until 2026.

     Havana Club: Trademark Renewal in the USA Pernod Ricard S.A. confirms that Cubaexport, the Cuban entity that owns the U.S. trademark registration for Havana Club rum, applied for and received a specific license from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control allowing it to renew the trademark registration in the United States. The Havana Club trademark registration has been renewed at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office through January 27, 2016. A renewal of the trademark registration through January 27, 2026 has also been submitted.

     This marks the start of another long and drawn out court battle between Pernod Ricard and Bacardi over the trademark here in the U.S..   “We are filing this Freedom of Information Act request because the American people have the right to know the truth of how and why this unprecedented, sudden and silent action was taken by the United States government to reverse long-standing U.S. and international public policy and law that protects against the recognition or acceptance of confiscations of foreign governments,” said Eduardo Sánchez, Bacardi’s senior vice president and general counsel.

Read More at http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/international-business/article57948323.html#storylink=cpy 

     The good news to this is there is very likely to be quite a bit of time for all of these proceedings to be concluded before the United States Congress gets around to lifting the embargo.   This is still somewhat of "hot potato" in this presidential election year.   I'd be willing to say that it will not come to be until the elections are over in November.

"Rum Lovers" to WIRSPA Toward Purity and Honesty in True Rum...

     This is a petition that is being circulated by the "Save Caribbean Rum".  It is interesting to see what they are asking for.   I find that the majority of the industry is looking for the same results.  The biggest thing in my mind is that of honesty of ingredients.  I have no problem with blenders adding ingredients to the blend, but if they do, that information should be made available to the consumer, allowing the buyer to get the rum that they really want and know what is in the mix.  

 

    One of the petition signers Richard Seale of Foursquare Distillery in Barbados says "The Caricom rum standard does NOT permit the addition of sugar and WIRSPA must not pretend that it does just to suit the practices of certain members."   This has been a long ongoing issue and it will be interesting just what effect that the petition has in the larger scheme of things.

 Petition published by Save_Caribbean_Rum  on Feb 16, 2016

Target: WIRSPA (West Indian Rum & Spirits Producers Association, CARICOM, EU, TTB

Region: GLOBAL

Website: https://www.facebook.com/save.caribbeanrum

Celebrating Don the Beachcomber's 109th Birthday Today

     Today we celebrate the works of a man that was arguably the Father of the Tiki scene.   Born in New Orleans on February 22, 1097 and named Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt.    Gantt made do in the Depression economy through his wits and odd jobs.   he would work in restaurants in Chinatown, parking cars, and doing a bit of freelance bootlegging in the months prior to the end of Prohibition.  His sociable and charming personality allowed him to befriend such Hollywood personalities as David Niven and Marlene Dietrich.   Through them he was able  to find occasional work as a technical adviser on films set in the South Pacific.

     A couple of years after he arrived in Los Angeles, Gantt happened upon a newly vacated tailor shop at 1722 North McCadden Place,  just off Hollywood Boulevard.   Where he built a little bar that seated about two dozen customers and scattered a few tables around the rest of the area. The decorations for the place were his South Pacific mementos, along with some old nets and pieces of salvaged boats he scavenged from the coastline.    His watering hole became Don the Beachcomber.

     It was Gantt’s outgoing personality and the uniqueness of his cocktails that proved irresistible to the locals as well as the Hollywood celebs.    Among the first drinks was the Sumatra Kula, which cost a quarter. A well-dressed man named Neil Vanderbilt came in one day and ordered one, then another and another. He said it was the best drink he’d had in years. He was a writer for the New York Tribune, and he soon came back with friends, including Charlie Chaplin. Word of Don the Beachcomber began to spread through Hollywood and beyond. “If you can’t get to paradise, I’ll bring it to you,” is what Gantt would tell his customers.

     Today he is best remembered for being the "father of the Tiki scene" and his famous Zombie cocktail.  This is a man from the past that is still having a huge influence on the cocktail world today.

Evening is Staying Brighter for a Longer Time These Days

The sun is setting a bit later as we move toward the spring solstice, Heading out on the water gives us some new views for the trip to the Hurricane Hole and cocktail time.  The clouds give such an ominous impression.  It is got a bit of rain in the clouds, but mostly just bluffing as we scoot across the waters of Cow Key Channel.

BACARDI DEMANDS US REVERSES HAVANA CLUB RULING

Bacardi has formally requested that the US government revokes a license allowing Pernod Ricard and the Cuban Government to renew their joint venture trademark for Havana Club.  Litigation between Bacardi, the Cuban government and Pernod Ricard is continuing.

     The Bermuda-based drinks group said it has “demanded” that the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) reverse its decision to grant the renewal of Cuba-made Havana Club’s trademark in the US, reiterating that it is the “current and lawful owner of all rights and claims” related to the mark in the country.   In January this year, the OFAC and the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) granted Cubaexport, the Cuban entity that owns the US trademark registration for Havana Club, permission to renew the brand’s mark in the US, where Bacardi sells its own brand of Havana Club Rum.

     Bacardi acquired the US rights from Havana Club’s founders, the Arechabala family, and has been selling the Puerto Rico-made rum in the market since the mid-1990's.   Pernod Ricard owns the trademark for Havana Club in the rest of the world as part of a joint venture with the Cuban Government, which seized the Arechabala family’s business assets during the Cuban revolution more than 60 years ago.

Bacardi has expressed outrage since its competitor was given trademark approval last month and has now outlined to the OFAC what it calls a “history of fraud” of the Cuban government in relation to the matter.

 “OFAC’s decision to grant the license to the Cuban government reverses it prior decision in 2006 to deny that very same license and contradicts its own defense of that decision in various US courts,” said Eduardo Sánchez, senior vice president and general counsel for Bacardi.   “OFAC has acted in violation of well-settled US law and Congressional intent in a covert action that is unjustified in law. We request that OFAC revoke License 837-1 retroactively to prevent Cuba – and its business partner Pernod Ricard – from their continued trafficking in illegally confiscated property.”   He added: “OFAC should comply with the letter and spirit of US law and revoke Cuba’s license.”

     Speaking to the press in London today, Alexandre Ricard, CEO of Pernod Ricard, said it was “big news” for the company when Barack Obama announced that relations between the US Cuba would be normalized, with the hope that the trade embargo would be lifted.   “The US represents 40% of the global rum market,” he said. “Pernod Ricard managed to make Havana Club the third biggest rum brand in the world without having access to this market.   “We always said when the embargo is lifted we will try to be the first one to launch a beautiful Cuban Rum in the market. Our job is to be ready.”

Read More at http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-bacardi-havana-club-idUSKCN0VA3R8 

Bahama Bob's Maple and Ginger Daiquiri

   This week I was talking to some friends from Vermont and the subject of Pure Maple Syrup came up.  I went and got me a small bottle of it and went to work.   Ginger is an interesting flavor and the use of King's Ginger Liqueur is a great place to go for that flavor. .

     The base is Siesta Key White Rum and it makes for the perfect clean and pure rum without all of the sugar and other flavor additives.  Wit this type of cocktail the pure flavors are what you need.
If you want to put a little bubble in the cocktail a little bit of Barritt's Ginger Beer is always good to put a fizz to the cocktail.

Bahama Bob's Maple and Ginger Daiquiri

 

·         2 oz Siesta Key White Rum

·         3/4 oz Ginger Liqueur

·         Two Dashes of Fee Bros. Lemon Bitters

·         Real Maple Syrup

Coat inside of a cocktail glass with maple syrup, then place the remaining ingredients into a shaker and shake until chilled.  Strain into the cocktail glass and garnish with  lime wheel.

Don Q is Aiming to Elevate the It's Rum with Two New Launches

Don Q is gearing up to release two new rum expressions later this year, including a limited edition single barrel expression and a “sophisticated” spiced variant.

Don Q Signature Release Single Barrel

 This is the first single barrel rum from the brand.  Just 6,000 bottles of the Don Q Signature Release Single Barrel rum will be launched, with 3,000 4.5 liter cases dedicated to the US and Puerto Rico, and the remaining 1,000 destined for Europe.

Bottled at 40% abv, the rum has been aged for just over 10 years and is described as offering “a really wonderful woodiness, with tanins and sweeter notes” as well.

The launch is part of a planned series of releases beginning with the 2005 vintage, which will be followed by the 2007 single barrel variant next year.  “We love ageing and blending,” commented Roberto Serrallés, Don Q owner and master distiller. “This is the first single barrel expression we’ve released.   “We wanted to start playing around and having fun outside of our comfort zone.   “The single barrel is a beautiful light style rum.”

Don Q Barrel Aged Spice

Furthermore, the firm is also planning to bring out a spiced rum expression mid-2016, aimed as “elevating” the spiced rum category.

Titled Don Q Barrel Aged Spice, the expression has been designed to offer a “next step” to fans of spiced rum and will be a permanent addition to the brand’s portfolio.   The rum has been infused with “natural” spiced, including cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and tamarind.

“The spiced rum segment is growing and it’s an interesting category,” said Serrallés. “Everyone knows the big players in spiced rum, they know Captain Morgan.   “But where do spiced rum drinkers graduate to? Our rum will offer a more sophisticated version of a spiced rum – we want to elevate the category.  “We need to get away from pirates and sea monsters – we’ve talked too much about pirates and forgotten the fantastic properties of the rum itself.   “It has such an amazing taste profile that we think consumers who are interested in spiced rum are going to love.”

Read More at http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/02/don-q-aims-to-elevate-rum-with-new-launches/?article-source=newsletter&source=622&date=2016-02-10

Hopefully Only a Few More Weeks of Winter

    Really slow rum time this week, very little happening.  The weather here in Key West is finally beginning to warm up,  wind, overcast and rain is keeping me in the marina.   Hoping to see the winds die down and the temperature rise here very soon.  The sunset tonight was a bit colorfull initially, but completely disappeared before it hit the water.   Really looking forward to March and the beginning of Daylight Savings time and some better weather.  El Nino really sucks.

Hemingway Not Only Enjoyed His Cocktails, He Put Them Into His Writing

     Papa not only enjoyed a good cocktail ,  but also included many epic drinking episodes in his writing. In his first novel, The Sun Also Rises, 90 years ago this year.    The characters were seldom without an alcoholic beverage in their hands.     According to legend, he created his own eponymous variation of the classic daiquiri, which still appears on at the El Floridita where he created it, and in addition a potent champagne-and-absinthe blend called “Death in the Afternoon”.

     His writing seems particularly relevant today considering the recent rebirth of the cocktail-and that his style of drinking is finally back in vogue.   We as a country seem to be following in his footsteps: In 2015, according to the latest figures released by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States earlier this week, the United States consumed 215 million 9-liter cases of booze, which was up 4.9 million cases from the previous year.   If Hemingway lived today, he'd be found drinking with the people, throughout the United States in its many high quality craft cocktail lounges.

There are so many drinking scenes in his books that drinks historian Philip Greene wrote a fascinating Hemingway cocktail companion called To Have and Have Another, which came out in 2012.   "He wants the reader to feel what the character was feeling," explains Greene. "He's telling you something about the character by what he's drinking and where he's drinking."

     According to Greene, though he took Campari and his beloved Gordon's Gin and Rose's Lime Juice  along on an African safari, he wasn't afraid to try new things. "He's going to drink what the locals drink," says Greene. "I think he was an omnivore." 

     It didn't hurt either that Hemingway could hold his liquor for the most part. "He had a prodigious tolerance," says Greene, noting that many of the writer's contemporaries were lightweights. "Fitzgerald didn't have much of a tolerance. Ian Fleming didn't have much of a tolerance."   Hemingway was prone to fabrication, but one drinking yarn we know is true involves the legend of his downing 17 double daiquiris at Havana's famed El Floridita in a single session. 

There are a lot more stories you can read at http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/06/ernest-hemingway-s-adventures-in-alcohol.html

US CONGRESS SCRUTINIZES HAVANA CLUB RULING

A Bacardi executive has testified at a US Congress subcommittee hearing as the group continues to fight what is calls a “sudden and unexplained” trademark ruling over Havana Club rum.

      Lawmakers are scrutinizing the decision to allow Pernod Ricard and the Cuban government to renew their Havana Club trademark in the US.   In January this year, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) granted French drinks group Pernod Ricard permission to renew it's Havana Club trademark in the US, where Bacardi has its own trademark for Havana Club rum.   Due to a trade embargo between US and Cuba, which has been in place since 1961 when the Cuban revolution led to communism, Pernod Ricard has been unable to launch Cuba-made Havana Club in the US.

     Bacardi has been selling its own brand of Havana Club rum, made in Puerto Rico, in the US since the mid-1990's.   However, Pernod Ricard owns the Havana Club trademark in the rest of the world as part of a joint venture with the Cuban government, which seized assets from the founding family of Havana Club during the revolution.   Bacardi has expressed outrage since the US Office of Foreign Assets Control issued its ruling last month, allowing Cubaexport, the Cuban entity that owns the US trademark registration for Havana Club, to renew its trademark in the US.   While Pernod Ricard cannot sell Havana Club in the US due to the embargo, it has previously owned a trademark for the brand in the country. But the US government rejected an application to renew rights to the mark in 2006 since its “contravened US foreign policy”.    As such, Bacardi claims the ruling has “reversed long-standing US and international public policy and law”.

     The US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee has launched an investigation into the matter and recently called Rick Wilson, senior vice president for external affairs at Bacardi, to take the witness stand during its hearing.   “These decisions are unprecedented and shocking because they undo decades of United States law and policy by approving Cuba’s efforts to capitalize on, and traffic, in stolen goods,” Wilson said in his opening testimony.   “Courts in the United States have steadfastly held that foreign confiscations will not be given effect because such confiscations are ‘shocking to our sense of justice’.”

‘Confiscation at gunpoint’

     Wilson also argued that Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), which implement the trade embargo against Cuba, prohibit all transactions involving property, including trademarks, if the Cuban Government “has any interest”, unless authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury. He said a loophole in the embargo was closed in 1998, allowing Bacardi and other companies to “ensure Cuba does not profit off of stolen property, especially through US trademark registrations and renewals”.   Of Cuba’s confiscation of the Havana Club trademark in the 1960's, Wilson said: “What occurred was a forcible confiscation at gunpoint. Pernod Ricard, knowing all of this sordid history, chose to invest with Cuba in this stolen brand.

     “For decades, the United States has prevented Cuba and its business partners from profiting off the United States Havana Club registration – it should continue to do so.”  House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatt said: “This week the IP subcommittee will examine the issue of confiscated property in Cuba.

     “The Cuban government, led by Fidel Castro, has stolen billions in property, including homes and businesses, owned by Americans and American investors. Perhaps the most recognised case is that of the Arechabala Family liquor business, which had its trademark for Havana Club Rum seized by the Cuban government and then licensed to another company against the family’s wishes.

     “As the Obama Administration looks to improve relations with Cuba, important questions remain about how these claims will be satisfied.”

Read More at https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2016/02/us-congress-scrutinises-havana-club-ruling/