Humble and simple, as his colleagues remember him, this man from Santiago could not perhaps imagine that his first surname would name the contents of a bottle that reflects everything for which he worked for more than 40 years.

On September 10, 2020, an unfortunate illness ended Navarro’s life. Time later, in the warehouses of San José, he would follow the tribute. Members of the Cuban rum masters movement came together to select, mix and create a spirit as special as his mentor.

Havana Club Don Navarro. It was the first time that a rum would bear the name of a master rum maker. “It was a collective selection. We were looking for a sensory profile that would represent the character of whoever our guide was. We chose several bases, including Centenario, created by Navarro and which gave rise to the birth of extra-aged rums”, says Juan Carlos González, current leader of the Movement.

Molecules of 40-year-old rum, the same one that Navarro distilled, are in this product that the company Havana Club International S.A. has just launched on the market. A very exclusive edition, of only 1,000 bottles each year, available – at a price of 125 USD – in very select places in Havana, Varadero and Santiago de Cuba. Also exclusively internationally, through the online sales site The Whiskey Exchange.

For Asbel Morales it was a challenge to make a rum with the name of the eternal defender of the Cuban rum culture. “In this liquid is the aroma of Cubanness, of Cuban light rum, just what Navarro always wanted,” she says.

“We are bringing to our country and to the world a rum made from the heart, which we intend to identify Navarro, with a very strong charisma, a happy and simple people. An excellent professional,” adds Salomé Alemán, the first female Rum Master in Cuba.

The bottle presents a sober, warm design, attributes that characterized the Master. Outlining the label, finely drawn chains are found as a symbol of union between all the masters of Cuban rum and of continuity, by the legacy passed down from generation to generation.

Navarro, doubly Master

One day in 1988 Salomé would obtain her degree in Chemical Engineering. At that time Navarro was already walking between rows of large barrels and his invention, the Havana Club 7 years, would have been created for a decade. “The foundational rum”, they would say, because it gave rise to rums as complex as those that today make up the Havana Club prestige range.

When Salomé began social service at the Santa Cruz Rum Factory, it had been 17 years since Navarro’s first visit to a distillery. That day he would enter that ship to never leave the world of the smell of brandy and wood. He left behind a time of teaching work at the Universidad de Oriente. But he would take with him the gift of teaching.

Navarro became the mentor of a whole generation of teachers and although he worked in the rum factory in Santiago de Cuba, he participated in the production processes of all the factories in the country. “When someone asked him a question, he took a piece of paper and explained it. Many still treasure those little pieces of paper with annotations from the Master”, says Salomé.

He was a reference for all, an example of a man, a friend, a father and a teacher, sums up Juan Carlos González.

The challenge of maintaining know-how

Cuban light rum is the result of a culture that has more than 150 years of history. It was born in 1862 in the city of Santiago de Cuba marking a technological turn with respect to the rest of the rums produced in the Caribbean area. Since then, the complex mixtures have spread, in successive aging stages, transmitted from generation to generation.

After the revolutionary triumph, the challenge of maintaining that know-how began, especially – Salomé recalls – due to the departure of great producers such as Bacardí.

When Navarro joined the rum industry, he did so with the challenge of continuing to perfect those practices. “He was able to interpret how the barrels work, by type and in various stages, according to their position and temperatures. His way of doing things and his ability to work was ingenious”, highlights Maestro Manuel Calderón.

However, the responsibility to internalize inherited traditions is perennial. How to maintain the aroma and flavor of a liquor even if it is aged up to 40 years is, in the opinion of Asbel Morales, the great challenge of the rum masters. “How did we do it? Because light rum was created and we have never betrayed it. Because it is given historical continuity in the ways of doing things”.

Teachers, adds Salomé, must be prepared to identify in their sensory memory, from the raw materials to the finished rums. “Rum is the happy son of sugar cane, but its production is not easy, it is a complex process.”

There are nine master rum makers in the country. For Salomé, this means a personal, “patriotic” commitment, because “it is Cuba, it is its history.” Because rum is not born from a magical combination, it is a cultural heritage that is transmitted from master to master, as Navarro emphasized.

(By: Lissett Izquierdo Ferrer)

Like the country’s iconic cocktails, Cuba’s identity is the result of a fusion of influences that have come from as far as Spain, Africa and China. Drawing from this multicultural spirit, this year’s Grand Prix’s theme is Havana Fusion: contestants are challenged to create the next classic serve by demonstrating the fusion of a Cuban classic with elements of classic drinks that are popular in their own individual unique culture.

Cuba has always been a pioneer in the cocktail world, the evidence being the foundation in 1924 of the Asociación de Cantineros de Cuba, first ever bartender’s association to be created worldwide.

The ACC has been a strong supporter of both Havana Club and the Cocktail Grand Prix for more than 2 decades and remains a major partner on the island. On top of the cocktail competition, the ACC works hand in hand with the brand to train bartenders all around the world with a Masterclass program: between 2000 and 3000 bartenders are trained every year on all continents. On Wednesday June 1st, the guests of the Grand Prix will be lucky enough to attend a whole evening organized by the ACC.

Druing the global finals, held in Havana from 30th May – 4th June, regional champions will benefit from exclusive Cuban rum and cocktail education delivered by a team of globally renowned mixologists during two days of intensive workshops and masterclasses.

Before the intense competition begins, competitors will be invited to the Havana Club distillery where renowned Maestro del Ron Cubano Asbel Morales will explain the importance of Havana Club Añejo 7 Años as the one that led the way to all the extra aged rums with the continuous aging. Being able to taste and learn about one of Havana Club’s lead expressions will certainly provide further inspiration to the bartenders!

Curating this year’s global event in Havana will be award-winning drink historians Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller, authors of over 36 titles including Cuban Cocktails, and the competition will be judged by an exclusive panel of mixologists from the World’s 50 Best Bars.
Sergio Valdès, Export and Development Director of Havana Club, comments: “We’re all looking forward to welcoming some of the world’s best bartenders to Cuba for the 11th Havana Club Cocktail Grand Prix and support them in creating new cocktails that can compete with the Cuban classics that are still so popular today. As one of the most sought-after competitions in the on-trade, the event gathers international talent who flock to Havana to learn from Cuba’s culture and cocktail history, so we can’t wait to see what participants will come up with this year.”

The Cocktail Grand Prix champion will have the privilege to come back home with a bottle of Havana Club Maximo, “the essence of Cuban Rum” says Maestro del Ron Cubano Don José Navarro. And as a first this year, Havana Club will allocate a specific 20 K€ budget to assist the winner with an individual project, linked to the brand and in-line with their ambitions, such as writing a book on rum or creating their own rum bar. Following in the footsteps of 2014 winner Andy Loudon, the winner will also be returning as a judge at the next global final in 2018. As part of his two-year collaboration with the brand, Loudon has travelled with Havana Club to some of the world’s top trade shows including Berlin Bar Convent and London Rum Fest and had his winning cocktail served in bars across Havana and the UK. Let’s wish the next winner the same successful path!

While Bacardi was born in Cuba, it has been based in Bermuda since abandoning the island in 1959. With most Cuban products banned from being sold in the US, Bacardi has marketed a Puerto Rico-made rum under the Havana Club name.

The decision by the USPTO will allow Cuba export to register the brand in the US, after January 27 when the current 10 year brand registration period finishes. The company has already applied to register the brand from 2016 to 2026, according to Olivier Cavil, a spokesperson from France’s Pernod Ricard.

Pernod Ricard and Cuba export jointly own the Havana Club international company. However, Bacardi is still waited for a ruling by the Columbia district court, where it is also contesting the rights to the Havana Club brand in the US. When asked about the impact of the USPTO decision, Cavil said “it is not highly significant… as the embargo remains in place.” Cuban products are still banned from the US due to the economic blockade in force since 1962.

(Xinhua)