Simon Wittenberg takes a look at the fifth addition to Havana Club’s prestigious Tributo Collection.
Havana Club has unveiled this year’s exclusive ultra-prestige rum named the Tributo 2020, marking the 5th anniversary of the arrival of its Tributo Collection. The series was unveiled back in 2016. The annual editions use the finest aged rum reserves and pay tribute to the unrivalled excellence in Cuban rum production, while also showcasing the variety and richness in flavour, colours and aromas associated with authentic Cuban rum.
The 2020 limited edition made its debut at the Habanos Festival in the Cuban capital Havana, and only 2,500 70cl bottles (40% ABV) are available globally priced at €400 each. The Havana Club Tributo 2020 pays homage to the unique successive ageing and blending process used in Cuban rum, carefully carried out according to the Cuban traditions handed down by the Masters.
After each batch of Havana Club is blended, part of it is put aside and returned to casks for future production. In creating the Havana Club Tributo 2020, Asbel Morales, Master of Cuban rum, hand-selected a small number of exquisite rum reserves from previous Tributo releases. These had been kept and re-aged. Asbel then combined them with a unique rum drawn from an extraordinary batch of 100 exclusive casks that have not been sold commercially.
The overall result is a fine spirit with a depth and complexity with a rich hint of smoke derived from the Tributo 2018 release bases. Notes of dark chocolate, coffee and spice also come to the fore.
Each of the Havana Club Tributo 2020 bottles comes in an individually numbered, art-deco styled luxury box. The pleasing design should entice spirit drinkers, rum connoisseurs and cigar lovers. The label and outer packaging hark back to the 1920s, and each box carried the signature of Havana Club Master of Cuban rum.
Asbel Morales, Havana Club’s Maestro del Ron Cubano, said: “This year we celebrate an important milestone in the Tributo Collection, with the fifth edition in the range. It has been a great honour to be involved in the creation of all the spectacular Tributo editions – with each one paying tribute to different elements of Cuban rum production process.”
He added: “I am thrilled to present Tributo 2020, a rum created with reserves kept from the previous Tributo creations which have been re-aged and blended with other rum bases that have never been used before. This year’s edition is a tribute to the Cuban rum process of continuous ageing and blending, which I am confident that cigar aficionados, rum collectors and discerning drinkers will enjoy!”
For more information on the Havana Club Tributo 2020 edition, visit www.havana-club.com.
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