Actually, it tastes a little gamey to me and I much prefer the version marketed by Bacardi instead of the stolen Cuban version. Here's that story:
Unbeknownst to most Americans, there is an ongoing trademark battle between Big Spirits (Bacardi vs. Pernod and the Cuban government). Long ago, there was a brand of Cuban rum called Havana Club. After the revolution, the distillery and brand were appropriated by the Cuban government. Bacardi also left Havana and set up business in Puerto Rico with corporate headquarters in Bermuda. The Cubans (with financial help from the Europeans, i.e., Pernod) built the international brand of Havana Club which was available everywhere but the US. I have a bottle, procured on my honeymoon in the Caymans, which I smuggled back to the US.
More recently, Barcardi started marketing their own version of Havana Club rum in the US. They claim to have gotten the rights and original formula from the family of the long-dead owner. They are currently engaged in high-stakes litigation over who has the legal right to sell rum in the US under that brand name. Currently, Bacardi does and wants to continue to do so. Bacardi is prohibited from marketing their Havana Club in the rest of the world.
As an aside, I should point out that rum used to be the most popular spirit in the US. Recall that Rhett Butler was a rum runner, not a whiskey runner. Whiskey -- and related bourbon -- dominate the US spirits market, but only became more popular during and after prohibition. In George Washington's day, applejack was the most popular hard liquor. Whiskey is presently losing ground to tequila as the number one spirit in the US, just as Bud/Coors/Miller is losing market share in beer to Pacifico/Modelo/Corona.
5 comments:
I carried Cuban cigars from Toronto back to the states in the front pocket of my suit jacket. Dare I ask how one smuggles a bottle of cognac?
Back when I was hanging around cigar stores we used to discuss what will happen when Castro dies and the embargo is lifted and we can once again legally import Montecristos or Cohibas. Turns out all the same legal battles one sees with cognac apply to tobacco products - who owns the names, who has the right to market those brands, etc. Big mess, but since there is very little chance that Cuba will ever act right and since I no longer can afford to smoke I will allow this to be someone else's problem.
Back in 1969 I worked at McCutcheons making cider. Two old timers showed up with a wooden barrel, stuffed in a bunch of raisins and brown sugar then filled it with fresh cider. They then allowed the batch to ferment thereby creating hard cider. Applejack is a lot stronger - I was just reading up on how that was done back in the day - turns out that freezing the hard cider then removing the ice leaves substances including not only ethanol, but also harmful methanol, esters, aldehydes, and fusel alcohols. Sounds a lot like chemistry to me. My liver is happy that I consume none of those.
As for beer, well, I am so over Corona that I can hardly mask my disgust.
The rum came in in checked luggage.
Ethanol is the best antidote for methanol poisoning. It swamps the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme in your liver and the methanol is excreted.
My old man spent WW2 as a mechanic on an Admirals flight crew. The Admiral commanded the Caribbean. He bounced between Norfolk, Florida, New Orleans and Havana. He fell in love w/ Cuba. The food, the people, the beaches, the cigars and THE RUM. He would bring back bottles of rum in his flight bag. Always said US rum was no comparison. He hated what Castro did to that once great country.
That reminds me of a story line in the show House - a death row inmate has consumed an overdose of copier toner then House gets him drunk on whiskey - the ethanol does just what you said, the patient doesn't die, then is cured of his cancer then he is executed by the state. I love a happy ending.
Odd that commies would be invoking trademark protection on their stolen property.
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