Havana Club hosted an intimate tasting of their aged Cuban rum with visiting Maestro Ronero, Asbel Morales which included the rare and luxury rum, Havana Club Máximo Extra Añejo.
Photography © by Kevin Burke for Gourmantic – Copyright: All rights reserved.
Speaking through an interpreter, Asbel Morales led the tasting starting with Havana Club 7 Años, the benchmark of Cuban style rum. Rich gold in colour with viscosity in the glass, the rum has strong notes of vanilla, cacao, tobacco and tropical fruit. Viscous and luscious on the palate, notes of raisins, dates along with toffee and some spice make is a fine sipping rum.
Havana Club Selección de Maestros is the collaboration is all rum maestros as all have to agree unanimously about the blend. The rum has no age statement but it is said to contain on average 9 to 10 year old rums. Warm amber in colour and less viscous in the glass as the 7 Años, the nose is lighter with more spice, oak, toffee and tobacco. Full bodied on the palate with a silky mouthfeel, the oak is again more pronounced and leaves a warming spicy and long finish.
Only 58 barrels per year are produced in total for the Havana Club 15 Años Gran Reserva. The rum is bright and vibrant in colour with strong fruit notes such as raisins and dates with honey sweetness. Very smooth on the palate with less spice than the Selección de Maestros, it has notes of chocolate, coconut along with a sharp oaky and short finish.
Havana Club Máximo Extra Añejo (40% ABV) is handcrafted by Havana Club’s premier Maestro Ronero, Don Jose Navarro using the oldest and most mature rums. Dark amber in colour, aromas of oak and smoke intermingle with fresh pear and coconut. The palate is rich, ultra smooth with an oaky character along with vanilla, chocolate and a delicious spicy finish.
Havana Club Máximo Extra Añejo comes in a hand-blown decanter with a crystal stopper that bears the image of Giraldilla, the symbol of Havana etched on the surface. The bottle is individually numbered and signed by master Glassmaker, Paul Miller and is encased in a wooden box inspired by cigars.
Toko in Surry Hills are the first stockists of Havana Club Máximo in Australia. The luxury rum is also available through travel retail at $3500 per bottle.
The Havana Club tasting with Maestro Ronero Asbel Morales was held on Wednesday 1 October 2014 at the Roosevelt Bar & Diner.
[…] on the shelving above the piano and adjacent to His Masters Voice gramophone, including the luxury Havana Club Maximo Extra Anejo. This is a rum collection that would make a pirate […]
[…] Havana Club Máximo Extra Añejo is crafted from using oldest and most mature rums resulting in an ultra smooth spirit with oak, vanilla, chocolate and spice on the finish. The luxury spirit comes in a hand-blown decanter with a crystal stopper and is available through travel retail at $3500 per bottle. […]