Havana Club
Product brand
UnclaimedHavana Club is a Cuban-origin rum brand whose principal international business is operated by Cuba and Pernod Ricard, while a separate Bacardi product uses the name in the United States.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
Havana Club is a rum brand created in Cuba in 1934 by José Arechabala S.A., a family-owned company whose distilling operations in Cárdenas dated back to 1878. The brand was sold in Cuba and the United States before the Cuban Revolution. Following the nationalization of private industry, the Arechabala business was taken over by the Cuban state, and the family largely left the country. Production under the Havana Club name resumed as a state enterprise and was later moved to a new distillery at Santa Cruz del Norte in 1977. The brand’s modern international structure dates from 1993, when Pernod Ricard and the Cuban government established a 50:50 partnership involving Pernod Ricard and Corporación Cuba Ron. This partnership develops, produces and markets the Cuban version of Havana Club in international markets. Its products are associated with Cuban rum-making, the Havana skyline and the Giraldilla weather vane, and are sold in more than 120 countries. France and Germany have been especially important markets, while the brand has also expanded through markets such as India, where it has been bottled since 2008. Havana Club is offered in several styles and aging categories, ranging from white rum intended for mixing to aged sipping rums and premium limited releases. Its portfolio has included Añejo Blanco, Añejo 3 Años, Añejo Especial, Añejo Reserva, Añejo 7 Años, Añejo 15 Años, Selección de Maestros, Unión and the highly limited Máximo Extra Añejo. The range positions the brand across mainstream cocktail use, premium sipping and luxury spirits. The company also emphasizes the role of Cuban rum in cocktails and the pairing of aged rum with cigars. The brand is inseparable from a long-running ownership and trademark dispute. After nationalization, the Arechabala family ceased production, and the original United States trademark registration lapsed in 1973. The Cuban government later registered the mark in the United States and assigned rights connected with its international commercialization to the Cuba-Pernod Ricard partnership. Bacardi, whose owners had also left Cuba after the revolution, acquired rights claimed from the Arechabala family and began producing a Puerto Rican rum under the Havana Club name in 1994. The two versions have been separated by geography and labeling. Pernod Ricard’s Cuban Havana Club has generally not been sold in the United States because of the U.S. embargo and related restrictions. Bacardi’s version is made in Puerto Rico and marketed in the United States, where its packaging identifies its Puerto Rican origin. Litigation and regulatory disputes have taken place in the United States, Spain and at the World Trade Organization. After U.S. trademark developments in 2016 and further litigation, a Virginia federal court dismissed a Bacardi lawsuit in favor of Pernod Ricard and the Cuban government in January 2025. Outside the United States, the Pernod Ricard/Cubaexport version remains the principal international expression of the brand.
History
The history of Havana Club begins with the Arechabala family’s rum business in Cuba. The family established a distillery in Cárdenas in 1878. The enterprise later became José Arechabala S.A. and introduced Havana Club in 1934. Before the revolution, the brand was sold in Cuba and exported to the United States, making it an established Cuban rum name rather than a later international invention. After the Cuban Revolution, the state nationalized the company. The Arechabala family maintained that the takeover occurred without compensation and under coercive circumstances. Family members left for Spain and the United States, while others were imprisoned. The state subsequently operated the business and used Havana Club as an important national rum brand. From 1972, Cuban production was promoted especially in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In 1977, manufacturing moved from Cárdenas to a new facility at Santa Cruz del Norte. A new phase began in 1993, when Pernod Ricard formed a 50:50 partnership with the Cuban government through Corporación Cuba Ron. The partnership internationalized the Cuban state’s Havana Club products and created the principal version sold outside the United States. Pernod Ricard contributed international distribution and spirits-marketing capabilities, while Cuban production and rum-making expertise remained central to the proposition. The brand’s export identity has been built around Cuban origin, traditional rum production and visual references such as the Giraldilla of Havana. The U.S. market developed separately. The original U.S. registration associated with the Arechabala business expired in 1973. Cuba later registered the mark, while Bacardi acquired rights claimed from the former owners and launched a competing rum made in Puerto Rico in 1994. Initial sales were limited, but Bacardi later expanded distribution. Pernod Ricard and Bacardi then pursued a series of trademark and unfair-competition disputes in the United States, while related proceedings occurred in Spain and before the WTO. The 1998 Bacardi Act changed the legal position of Cuban expropriation-related marks in the United States; the WTO later criticized the measure. The dispute continued through a second wave of U.S. cases from 2009 to 2012. Bacardi prevailed in that phase, and Pernod Ricard considered the Havanista name for a U.S. expression. In 2016, the U.S. government awarded a Havana Club trademark to the Cuban government, leading to another Bacardi challenge and political lobbying. In January 2025, a Virginia federal court dismissed Bacardi’s lawsuit against renewal of Cubaexport’s mark, again favoring the Cuban government and Pernod Ricard in that proceeding. Commercially, the Cuban Havana Club portfolio has developed from basic white and aged rums into a tiered range that includes premium blends, competition-recognized expressions and limited luxury bottlings. The brand has expanded across Europe, Asia and other international markets, while its absence from the United States has made the name unusually dependent on jurisdiction-specific trademark rights and trade restrictions.
- 2025
Virginia court dismisses Bacardi challenge
[1]A Virginia federal court dismissed Bacardi’s lawsuit concerning renewal of Cubaexport’s Havana Club trademark.
- 2016
U.S. trademark granted to Cuban government
[1]The United States granted a trademark connected with Havana Club to the Cuban government, reigniting the Bacardi dispute.
- 2008
Bottling begins in India
[1]The Cuban Havana Club product began to be bottled in India.
- 1994
Bacardi launches a competing U.S. product
[1]Bacardi began producing a Puerto Rican rum under the Havana Club name for the U.S. market.
- 1993
Pernod Ricard and Cuba form international joint venture
[1]Pernod Ricard and Corporación Cuba Ron established a 50:50 partnership to produce and market the Cuban version internationally.
- 1977
Production moves to Santa Cruz del Norte
[1]Manufacturing was transferred to a new plant at Santa Cruz del Norte.
- 1972
State-led export expansion
[1]Cuba began selling Havana Club abroad with an emphasis on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
- 1959
Cuban Revolution and nationalization
[1]The revolution led to the nationalization of the Arechabala business and the departure of much of the owning family.
- 1934
Havana Club brand created
[1]José Arechabala S.A. introduced Havana Club as a Cuban rum brand.
- 1878
Arechabala distilling business established
[1]The Arechabala family established a distillery in Cárdenas, Cuba, forming the industrial foundation for the later Havana Club brand.
Products and positioning
Cuban heritage, export rum-making expertise and cocktail culture, with a portfolio spanning accessible mixing rum, aged sipping rum and high-end limited releases.
White rum
Añejo Blanco
A light Havana Club rum aged for approximately one year and positioned primarily as a mixing spirit for cocktails.
Aged white rum
Añejo 3 Años
A three-year-aged rum used in cocktails and associated with the brand’s classic Cuban mixing-rum profile.
Gold rum
Añejo Especial
A blended and aged expression positioned between basic white rum and longer-aged sipping products.
Aged rum
Añejo Reserva
A reserve-style expression intended to provide richer flavor and broader sipping use than the entry-level range.
Dark aged rum
Añejo 7 Años
A dark rum aged for seven years and marketed for sipping as well as for cocktails requiring a deeper, more mature rum character.
Limited aged rum
Añejo 15 Años
A limited release aged for at least fifteen years, positioned as a premium sipping rum and recognized in international spirits competitions.
Premium aged rum
Selección de Maestros
A 45% ABV blend associated with the Cuban Barrel Proof style. It is selected and blended by Havana Club’s master rum makers and has received high ratings in spirits competitions.
Premium rum
Havana Club Unión
A premium blend created with cigar pairing in mind, connecting the brand’s aged-rum positioning with Cuba’s established cigar culture.
Luxury rum
Máximo Extra Añejo
A highly limited luxury expression made from aged rum reserves. The release was limited to 1,000 hand-blown bottles and positioned at the top of the Havana Club portfolio.
Controversies
1998
Bacardi Act and Cuban trademark controversy
The U.S. Congress enacted a measure that protected certain marks linked to expropriated Cuban companies and was widely understood to have been shaped by the Havana Club dispute. The WTO later ruled against the measure’s discriminatory treatment of Cuba.
Marketing campaigns
- El Ron de Cuba
International markets
Pernod Ricard’s marketing presents Havana Club as “The Rum of Cuba,” using Cuban origin, Havana imagery and the Giraldilla symbol to reinforce authenticity and national heritage.
Outcome. The campaign supports the brand’s international Cuban identity.
Brand decisions
2012
Consider Havanista for the U.S. marketStrategyBackground
Pernod Ricard lost a later phase of U.S. litigation over use of the Havana Club name.
Action taken
Pernod Ricard announced plans to market its Cuban rum in the United States under the Havanista name.
Aftermath
Bacardi separately announced broader distribution of its Puerto Rican Havana Club product in the United States.
- Bacardi — Bacardi announced plans to expand national distribution of its own Havana Club product.
1993
Create a 50:50 international joint ventureM&ABackground
Cuba sought international distribution and commercial expansion for its state-operated Havana Club business.
Action taken
Pernod Ricard and Corporación Cuba Ron formed an equal partnership to produce and market the Cuban version of the brand.
Aftermath
The partnership became the basis for Havana Club’s international business outside the United States.
Recent events
Reported
Havana Club collaborates with 88GLAM[2]
Havana Club collaborated with the Canadian hip-hop duo 88GLAM on a story about the duo's career; the collaboration included a trip to Havana and help filming a music video. The article also says a special-edition bottle the duo helped design was expected to drop soon.
Sources2 sources
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