Facts of Havana Club and Cuban Rum

Rum factories

Cardenas

The Rum Factory of Cardenas is located in the province of Matanzas and was founded in 1878 by Jose Arechabala Aldama, a young man from Gordexola, Spain that began operating a small alembic. Then called La Vizcaya, this factory occupied more than 600,000 m2 and is one of the oldest spirits, eaux-de-vie and rums distilleries of Cuba. Arechabalas industries produced the popular rum Havana Club and within a few years it became the largest employer of Cardenas. In 1883, after the death of Don Jose, the business started to be directed by his stepson, who named the company with the same name of the person who founded and led to a fruitful development. The direction of the facility continued under family´s control for many years. After 1959, the factory took the name of Jose Antonio Echeverria and in 1993, when the Cuba Ron Corporation SA was founded, part of its infrastructure was intended to cover the creation of the current factory. Read more about the Arechabala S.A.

San Jose de las Lajas

By the mid-2000s, Havana Club case sales presumably had grown to the point where they needed additional distillation and aging facilities to keep up with demand. In 2007 the new distillery was opened in San José des las Lajas. Havana Club said the costs were about $ 66,000,000. The most modern distillery in Cuba with a capacity of 12,0000 bottle per hour. They are just producing brown rum. 

In following video you can see the production steps of the most modern distillery of Havana Club

Santa Cruz del Norte

The Rum Factory of Santa Cruz is located in the municipality of Santa Cruz del Norte, Mayabeque province. It has a total area of 35.1 hectares and a covered area of 73788 square meters. Its construction dates back to 1919 and it initially was only a distillery to produce alcohol and other spirits. The rudimentary factory was built in a village environment among fishermen´s ranches, who enjoyed the benefits of the sea in a suitable climate for sugarcane production and to obtain its derivate. Closer in time, specifically in the decade of the 70s, a total refurbishment of the old building was made. The factory was remodeled and new facilities such as another distillery, a production plant and bottling spirits aging stores and offices were constructed. When Cuba Ron SA Corporation is created in 1993, the Santa Cruz rum gets integrated to its corporate system. Currently, there, white and gold rums Havana Club brand are produced.

Santiago de Cuba

Located at Peralejo street No. 103, between San Antonio and San Ricardo, Santiago de Cuba, it occupies an area of 16,430 m2. Founded in 1862, it is the oldest factory in the country in which they have maintained the tradition of Cuban light rum, an enriching and inseparable part of the national culture. It highlights the aging winery Don Pancho, known as the Cathedral of Rum, located so close to the railroad tracks that, as the legend says, the barrels cringe in their path, influencing the aging process. 1862? Yes, in this year also Bacardi started producing rum. It is the factory of the Bacardi family. A perfectly preserved winery, remains using barrels of over 90 years, which, along with other newer, give qualities to our rums. There are several types of rums, wines, spirits and liqueurs that are manufactured there. The Santiago de Cuba, Varadero and Caney brands are produced here. They are distinguished by the high quality that determines the selection of brandy, successive mixtures of aged bases, the traditional and natural aging in barrels of American white oak which are subjected to the jealous care of Masters of Rum during the production process. All these qualities allow them to hold the protected Designation of Origin Cuba (DOP CUBA). They also often produce specialties for commemorative dates of the founding of the city, or to celebrate tributes as the 150th Anniversary of the Creation of the Cuban Light Rum, which gave origin to Ron Siglo y Medio.

Santo Domingo / Villa Clara

The Central Rum Factory "Agustin Rodriguez Mena" was founded in 1972 and is located in the municipality of Santo Domingo in the province of Villa Clara.The closest rum-making tradition that is known in this central area, is located in the current Cienfuegos, in a distillery from the early nineteenth century named San Lino which dedicated to the production of eau-de-vie. That tradition reached in the 70s, and in the same province, the distillery Bodegas Jagua, a facility that suffered a tragic fire that destroyed half of the facility in 1972, and the owners were forced to move the centenarians aging wineries to a former cotton factory that was in Santo Domingo, Villa Clara. There, after long and uninterrupted working hours came to life the current Central Rum Factory. Ron Cubay is the most famous rum from here.