• With those restrictions in mind, I recently flew to Cuba from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Canada neither 'rumbles' nor places restrictions and obstacles on travel to Cuba and you can buy Cuban rums freely in any Canadian liquor store – Havana Club (original) and Santiago de Cuba (available in Quebec).
That's how we show our “support for the Cuban people” – sans politics or censure – including the thousands who make a living from "businesses affiliated with the Cuban military".
Oh, USA, "land of the 'FREE'"! "...but you have to be asleep to believe it." (GEORGE CARLIN)
PS: El Floridita in Havana, once patronized by Hemingway and the U.S. Mafia that ruled Cuba until 1959, is a reputed, overpriced tourist trap frequented today mostly, if not exclusively, by U.S. tourists looking to 'channel' Hemingway.
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@Robert Coane I went to El Floridita in Havana and while it is most certainly touristy, and like most discerning travelers, I loathe touristy, I still found it charming - the music was good, the drinks were cold, the vibe was positive. Overpriced? Not by LA standards that's for sure. I'd love to get back to Cuba and explore Santiago, which I missed on my first trip.
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@Deb
Try comparing to prices in local restaurants and bars – Havana Club Añejo 1 oz, $6 @ La Floridita; $.95 @ Café Europa, excellent food and 'floor show' – NOT LA.
When in Cuba the rum we always searched out was Anejo Matusalem.
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Ron Santero. It's good, try it
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If youre in Miami try a Mentirita, just don't order one whilst in Cuba.
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Santiago de Cuba is beautiful, but tourism is state owned in Cuba and your dollars will be supporting the government. The government is a dictatorship which keeps political opposition in jail without charges or enforces exile upon anyone wanting democracy and speaking up about it. In good conscience is it ethical to support the government for a beach and rum vacation that can be done on any number of nearby islands with democracies? We shouldn't let curiosity and bargain hunting blind us to the fact that we're supporting what in the case of the Castro Dictatorship amounted to turning the entire island back into the 17th century slave plantation it used to be, sugar wealth for a few families in the capital and unpaid labor for everyone else. That isn't communism, just cynicism.
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@Arthur It is ironic that millions of foreign tourists are making analogous arguments about visiting the U.S. under the Trump regime and are electing to go elsewhere.
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@Arthur, agree with your historical perspective, but as a victim of that regime, who has witnessed the brutality of that tyranny, I feel that perhaps it is also worthwhile for people to meet and learn from each other rather than rely on intransigent and ossified perspectives that sometimes block change and compromise.
IMO one can visit Cuba without moral qualms that they are supporting a repugnant regime. There are many ways that a visit there directly support the Cuban population. Stay in a casa particular, eat at a local paladar. The magical allure of Cuba is not its beaches or bars, it is its people and culture.
If we as a free people limit our choices and experiences because they may somehow support what we consider an immoral or illegal cabal, we could also preempt our ability to influence the changes we desire.
We make many choices which upon further reflection could further unrealized evil. Visiting Cuba is not one of them.
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Bacardi is a good Cuban rum, but as good or better is Ron Santa Teresa, of Venezuela, and even the more popular Ron Pampero. Besides its regular rum, the Santa Teresa produces a delicious rum that is mostly available only to the family. It's dark and to be sipped slowly after dinner. Unfortunately, Venezuelan rums are seldom found in the US, and most bartenders are surprised when one asks for them. I don't know the reason for this, though I suspect it is aggressive selling by Cuban interests; but the Venezuelan rums are excellent, and should be tried by experts and written about by cognoscenti.
@ Ignacio Gotz Point Harbor, NC
"... produces a delicious rum that is mostly available only to the family" -- well, this is not very helpful to those without the privilege of belonging to the family?
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I've been to this bar, and I wasn't overly impressed. The 12 year old rum was decent, but the rest didn't seem that interesting. We spent two weeks travelling around and found the best mojitos (and by extension rum) in Trinidad, Cienfuegos and Baracoa - completely off the beaten track and in local places. But it's always good for people to go beyond Havana and try new things.
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The rum I’ve had to date seems like vodka + a hangover. That said, I do like a good mojito. I’d be happy to learn about better rums.
Rum in the US has always tasted awful to me, as does rum and coke.
But Havana Club and TuKola [sort of Cuban Coke]; better than ice cream, better than Dulce de Leche, better than anything you have had to drink since you were weaned.
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It was so nice of the Bacardi family to donate their distillery to the Cuban government?!? Seriously, you need to at least do some perfunctory research before writing about the history of rum production in the Caribbean.
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@NG
"The distillery is unrelated to the modern Bacardi company" is misleading at best. It was expropriated.
Not to mention the fact that the Havana Club brand and facilities were also seized illegally. I'll pass on the stolen rum, thank you!
Read Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba, by Tom Gjelten, to answer many of the Qs here about ron Santiaguero. Great book.
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To: Dump Drump Jersey & Marge Keller Midwest
Dear Co-readers,
As much as I would welcome the lifting of the US embargo and being able to taste Santiago de Cuba rum, accompanied by good Cuban cigars in the US, your touchingly warm praises of things Cuban cannot ignore the changing political situatiation in Cuba since 1896 or even earlier.
I think that if the US drive to expand within its domain of "Manifest Destiny" included annexation of Cuba, Philippines, and Japan, the world and, importantly, many things gastronomical in the US would have been different.
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Ah, to be able to enjoy the rum of Santiago de Cuba, accompanied by noble Cuban cigars ...
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Love a classic daiquiri rather than one you usually get in US that is gimmicked up and/or usually out of slush machine.
Would love an original in Santiago and even with lemon.
One has to wonder though of the lack luster reviews of Santiago de Cuba rum, why many other brands emanate from the same distillery, the pricy anejos, and why the original Bacardi facility does not host visitors even as they have the room set aside
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I’m not a drinker, but I loved this article. I want to fly down to Santiago with my husband to see Mr. Corona spend 10 minutes “making a mojito, a process that begins with a barrel stave doused in Santiago de Cuba rum, which he lights on fire; he catches the smoke in a tumbler glass, where he then builds the drink. It is refreshing, not too sweet — and delicious.” This description is reflective of a master at his craft and something to witness in person. My husband treasures his occasional glass of rum and would love to taste some of that Bacardi original distillery rum and see for himself of the “prized rich, complex flavors . . . and how it affects the aging process, along with its proximity to the ocean and the salty air brings out notes of tobacco and vanilla.”
I wish Eduardo Corona continued success as a refined and gifted bartender at El Traguito. I just hope this beautiful and enticing article does not ruin the refreshing and alluring scenery of Santiago and that it’s special charm and elegance will not be diminished nor compromised by hordes of tourists. I would truly love to be one of the “untouched tourists” and blend in with the crowds at the bar, enjoying mojitos and daiquiris, “reveling in their city’s open secret”.
Thank you Clay Risen and the NYT for sharing this relaxing and intriguing article.
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