The Bacardi group, which sells the rum brand havana club Within the United States, it decided to return to its origins and has just launched a limited edition with a label inspired by the one from 1934 and with the same alcoholic content that it had back then: 43 degrees.
Outside the United States, the rights to the Havana Club brand, created by the Spanish José Arechabala that year, belong to the French company Pernod Ricard, who signed an agreement with Cuba’s Havana Club and won the right to use the name in a US court a few years ago. Bacardi tried to get it back, but lost.
“In this way we celebrate the heritage and legacy of Arechabala,” Mayra Barros, director senior of the Havana Club brand for Bacardi.
The spokeswoman described this new edition as “the rum of exile (Cuban)” and confirmed that it is being produced in Puerto Rico. The first edition consists of 36,000 bottles.
Last June, a Florida court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the heirs of Havana Club against Pernod Ricard, which in partnership with the Cuban government manufactures Havana Club International.
The plaintiffs availed themselves of Title III of the Helms Burton Act of 1996 to accuse Pernod Ricard of usufructing assets that were confiscated from them on the island.
Judge Kathleen William, of a court in the Southern District of Florida, did not go into the substance of the matter and argued “lack of jurisdiction” to dismiss the lawsuit.
