The Maestros del Ron Cubano and Havana Club unveil today Havana Club Don Navarro, an exclusive limited edition crafted by Cuba’s leading rum Masters in tribute to their historical leader, the late Primer Maestro José Pablo Navarro Campa.
Under the leadership of Havana Club’s Primer Maestro Juan Carlos González, Maestros and Aspirantes from all over the island gathered at the Havana Club distillery to honor Don Navarro’s extraordinary contribution to the Cuban rum tradition. Don Navarro devoted 50 years of his life to his passion for rum making, constantly learning, innovating – for example by creating Havana Club 7 in the 1970s using continuous ageing – and paving the way for both exigence and excellence for a whole generation of Maestros.
An assemblage of aged rums from Havana Club exclusive reserves, Havana Club Don Navarro contains some of the Centenario base which was created by Don Navarro himself in the 1970s and gave birth to what is known today as extra aged rums.
The epitome of Cuban rum craftmanship, this new Havana Club expression results in a rum with a unique color and exceptional profile: smooth, elegant but, at the same time, strong and fervent like Don Navarro was.
Anne Martin, Global Marketing Director for Havana Club, says: “It’s an honor to pay tribute to the father of modern aged rum as we know and enjoy it today with an extraordinary offering from the Havana Club cellars. When we welcomed all the Maestros to our San José Distillery, we remembered Don Navarro who used to say that ‘Rum is not born from a magical combination. It is a cultural heritage that is transmitted from Maestro to Maestro, from heart to heart, from Cuban to Cuban.’”
With a limited production of only 1,000 bottles, Havana Club Don Navarro will be available in Cuba at RSP of $125 from October 2022 and exclusively through The Whisky Exchange in the UK, at an RSP of £130 from November 2022.
Tasting Notes for Havana Club Don Navarro
Colour: Deep amber, both dark and coppery.
Aroma: Incessant, balanced, with outstanding notes of dried fruit, honey, bitter chocolate. Notes of spices, which are balanced by the delicacy of the wooden notes of oak and a subtle aroma of aged tobacco.
Taste: Dry and sweet, intense, concentrated on the palate, with a broad flavor and notes of nuts and spices that are tanned towards a finish that lasts for minutes, combined with classic notes of chocolate, tobacco and coffee.
Dry glass: Reveals the incessant capacity of aromas and the ease with which they come out of the glass with an emphasis on chocolate and vanilla notes that demonstrates the final stage of aging.
Final Note: Long and spaced finish in the mouth.
Our dear Maestro Navarro
Born in Palma Soriano, in 1942, José Pablo Navarro Campa studied thermodynamics during his youth. After he visited a distillery in 1971, he realized the technical challenges that this activity faced, and immediately went about learning and improving the production process, and thus achieving a higher quality spirit.
Later he created Havana Club 7, which he described as “the quintessence of Cuban rum” or “the Foundational Rum”, as it paved the way to excellence, giving rise to rums as complex as those that today make up the Havana Club Prestige range.
Often considered the creator of modern dark rum, Navarro became the mentor of a whole generation of Maestros, to whom he passed on his experience and knowledge for more than 40 years, as well as his philosophy on the cultural and patriotic value of Cuban rum.
In 2000, he received the title of Primer Maestro del Ron Cubano, the most prestigious award in the sector, in recognition of his experience and passion, as well as his devotion to perfecting the craftsmanship in the rum-making process.
After his death, his transcendental contribution to Havana Club and the Cuban rum sector can surely be summed up in this wise observation: “Rum is not born from a magical combination. It is a cultural heritage that is transmitted from teacher to teacher, from heart to heart, from Cuban to Cuban.”
by: Havana Club International S.A.
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