Good rum to bring back from Cuba?

[ebslcc]

I need some help from experts knowledgeable about rums available in Cuba.

 

What are good "every day" under $10 rums to bring back from Cuba for use in rum and coke and rum cakes?  

 

What are good quality under $20 sipping rums for gifts for relatives in Alberta Canada? I read that rums from Cuba are available in Canadian liquor stores e.g. http://www.liquorconnect.com/Search/Pages/results.aspx?k=Cuban rum  What would be the discount in Cuba vs. purchase in Canada? 

The varieties available from Canadian liquor stores is probably not as good as what's available in Cuba?  Is $20 too little for good quality rum?

 

I read that prices are pretty much the same in Cuba everywhere since the stores selling rum are owned by the government. Is this still true?

 

We will have more time in Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos.  What are good places to go to buy rum there?

 

Is there any chance getting inferior quality 'counterfeit' rum from tourist shops?

 

We will ask our tour guides but if anyone have advice on where to best buy rum please share.

 

Thanks!

Laurence

[richardb]

Our guide took us to a cigar/rum store in Havana, where we bought two bottles of Havana Club 7 year rum for 18 CUC each. In Cienfuegos, we went to a corner grocery, where the same bottle was about 8 CUC. We ended up buying 2 bottles of Havana Club Reserve for 10 CUC each.

 

I was prepared to pay duty or maybe even have two bottles confiscated (official limit is 2 liters) when we returned to the US, but the CPD officer didn't even ask what we had bought.

 

I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to sell tourist "counterfeit" rum in Cuba. That would most certainly get them a long prison term. Cuba is VERY interested in increasing tourism and is very protective of it's reputation of being "crime free", which leads me to wonder why so many places had bars on the windows 😦

Edited October 21, 2018 by richardb

[pbenjamin]

http://yulcigars.blogspot.com/

 

Government issued prices for Havana Club in link above (rum near the end).  Havana Club is available in Canada and the price in Cuba will be a little better, but I would suggest getting something that would be harder to find outside of Cuba, such as Ron Cubay, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba or Ron Varadero.  Realize that most brands of rum will have several varieties.  In general, the older the better (and more expensive).

[ebslcc]

11 hours ago, richardb said:

Our guide took us to a cigar/rum store in Havana, where we bought two bottles of Havana Club 7 year rum for 18 CUC each. In Cienfuegos, we went to a corner grocery, where the same bottle was about 8 CUC. We ended up buying 2 bottles of Havana Club Reserve for 10 CUC each.

 

I was prepared to pay duty or maybe even have two bottles confiscated (official limit is 2 liters) when we returned to the US, but the CPD officer didn't even ask what we had bought.

 

Thanks!!!  Good to know.   May be your guide got a commission from bringing you to a tourist shop?  From the list in the last post the government price for Havana Club Reserve is 8.00 so what you got from the grocery store is about right!

Havana Club Anejo Reserva

0,00

0,00

0,00

8,00

700ml

03-25-18

 

Quote

I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to sell tourist "counterfeit" rum in Cuba. That would most certainly get them a long prison term. Cuba is VERY interested in increasing tourism and is very protective of it's reputation of being "crime free", which leads me to wonder why so many places had bars on the windows 😦

I have read about fake rum from tourist shops!  

From TripAdvisor review of House of Rum in Santiago:

Quote

 

Hello, my spouse and I went to visit this museum, very friendly and we bought two bottles of rum in the museum. There is no shop to speak of, you choose the rum you want from the bottles exposed in the window and the guide will then look for them in another room to which you do not have access. Problem: when we left Santiago we realized that the bottles we had bought in the museum were not sealed. A bit like if they had been reused. So we wonder if she sold us real rum santiago, or if we were ripped off and the bottle Santiago was filled with less rum ... I find it very strange! Has anyone bought rum recently and found the same thing? Thank you in advance for your answer.

 

From Lonely Planet https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/americas-cuba/cuba/rum-price-and-best-place-to-buy:

Quote

Our neighbor in Havana is the CDR rep. She collects empty rum bottles and sells them to counterfeiters....she would say they were for tomato sauce...lol.... My wife had been giving her empty bittles for years. i susoected it was bs so I did a small experiment. I tore the corner off one of the labels and my wife dropped them off. She comes back 2 minutes later with the same bottle. The woman would not take it because of the imperfect label. She also had the gall to insist people that gave her bottles, washed them completely.

She doesn't get our bottles anymore.....lol

 

Here is another one: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147272-i2058-k4383509-Fake_rum-Camaguey_Camaguey_Province_Cuba.html

 

 

 

 

 

[ebslcc]

7 hours ago, pbenjamin said:

http://yulcigars.blogspot.com/

 

Government issued prices for Havana Club in link above (rum near the end).  Havana Club is available in Canada and the price in Cuba will be a little better, but I would suggest getting something that would be harder to find outside of Cuba, such as Ron Cubay, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba or Ron Varadero.  Realize that most brands of rum will have several varieties.  In general, the older the better (and more expensive).

Thanks for this!!!  I will bring the list along.  

[ebslcc]

Here is another good thread on Cuban Rum: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147271-i387-k12073725-o20-Cuban_rum-Havana_Ciudad_de_la_Habana_Province_Cuba.html#95996712

 

Re: "a reliable place to buy rum is the Casa de Havana stores. Buying from a street merchant is asking for trouble. With cigars, it's almost certain you will not get what you think you are paying for if you buy on the street or the beach."

"Just ask for a Casa de Havana store. If you are staying at a resort, the resort store will have a pretty good selection of rum and cigars." "Local merchants are one of the sources of refilled rum."

[ebslcc]

Here is another one: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147270-i91-k11371506-Possible_fake_Havana_club_7-Cuba.html 

[ebslcc]

Re: how many bottles of rum we can bring back from our cruise.

On another thread I saw this "I asked the customs agent what the duty is per bottle over the one limit. He said that we could bring in several bottles and nobody would care as long as it was for personal consumption. Same with cigars."

 

I looked up U.S. Customs and Border Protection and looks like as of October 17, 2016 there is no longer a limit on how much rum or cigar to bring back from Cuba. 

See: https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/82/~/importing%2Fbring-cuban-cigars-to-the-u.s.-for-personal-use. "Note: OFAC removed the previous monetary value limits, (merchandise for personal use that had a value of $400 or less, with no more than $100 of such merchandise consisting of alcohol and tobacco products)."  So as long as it's for personal use you can bring back as much rum and cigar as you want!!!

 

https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/14/americas/cuba-cigars-us-embargo-lifted/index.html

 

The limit on other merchandise from Cuba (not alcohol, not cigar) is only $100!  So if you buy art and crafts > $100 you have to declare it and may be subject to duty.  Chances are USCBP will let you pass without having to pay. "The importation into the United States of merchandise from Cuba or Cuban-origin merchandise from a third country intended as gifts is authorized, provided that the value of the merchandise is not more than $100, the merchandise is of a type and in quantities normally given as gifts between individuals, the merchandise is sent and not carried by a traveler, and the merchandise is not alcohol or tobacco products"  See: https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_faqs_new.pdf

 

Laurence