Havana Club rum launches cocktail flavourings

Havana Club rum is looking to strengthen its position in the on-trade with the launch of a range of cocktail flavourings inspired by its Añejo 7 Años expression.

Havana Club has launched a range of cocktail flavourings, called Essence of Cuba

The Pernod Ricard-owned brand has launched four flavours in the Essence of Cuba range: Island Fruit, Aromatic Leaf, Coffee and Honey, which have been designed to “highlight the natural flavours and aromas of Havana Club Añejo 7 Años”.

The range has been developed in collaboration with The Bitter Truth, a cocktail supplying company set up bar bartenders Stephan Berg and Alexander Hauck in 2006.

“With The Essence of Cuba range, we want to go one step further and give bartenders a whole new opportunity to experiment with the flavours of Havana Club Añejo 7 Años, without losing the intrinsic Cuban character of this now legendary expression,” said Nick Blacknell, global marketing director for Havana Club International.

“The initial response to the range from the bartenders who competed at the Havana Club Grand Prix earlier this year was really encouraging, so we’re looking forward to seeing how it is received by Havana Club fans around the world as it appears in markets this autumn.”

Pernod Ricard said each flavour is crafted using natural ingredients through a slow maceration process with Havana Club Añejo 7 Años as the base using a combination of traditional and modern production techniques.

Stephan Berg, co-founder of the Bitter Truth, said: “Havana Club Añejo 7 Años is blessed with a wide variety of characteristic flavours ranging from honey to cocoa, sweet tobacco to lush tropical fruits, so we have crafted a range of natural intensifiers that would harmoniously bring out the dominant single aromas found in this legendary rum in simple signature serves.”

The range will be available in 24 markets, including Cuba, Germany, France, UK, Greece and Spain from October 2014 in 20 ml and 200ml formats.