Rums in Aruba?

[craig]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana_Club

http://www.havana-club.com/

(Bacardi (now) also makes a run called Havana Club for the US market, but it isn't quite the same thing.)

Havana Club 7 Años (7 years old) (sometimes called HC7 dry) is the classic Cuban sipping rum. Definitely worth trying. Do not mix. A waste. For mixing:

HC Añejo Reserva (5 yr, sorta) is slightly less expensive than HC7, but seems much less complex to me. The AR bottles and the older style HC7 bottles are very similar, so be careful (and that is why I have a bottle of AR). Can be sipped, but makes an awesome rum and Coke

On the more expensive side, HC Cuban Barrel Proof (now called Selección de Maestros) is supposed to be a cut above HC7 and older, and is now about twice the price of HC7 (it wasn't that much more expensive than HC7 a few years ago). It is also 45% instead of the usual 40%. (Having some CBP as I write this :-)

HC15 is MUCH more expensive. HC Maximo is ridiculously expensive. I can't afford either :-).

Note HC7 is one of the most heavily counterfeited spirits. I don't know about the new design bottles, but the old design HC7 bottles had a plastic one-way valve in the neck to prevent refilling.

Note also that due to the way ageing is done in rum, years of age aren't strictly comparable between brands - or between spirits.