There are few cultures more wonderfully persistent than the Cubans.
They have a beautiful resistance to time and change which gives a nostalgic magic to the country and more importantly the people. Granted, their circumstances are not by choice, but the way the Cubans face it makes a mockery of what many would deem discomfort.
Quite the contrary in fact, rather like a grape when crushed and fermented can be rebirthed as wine, so the Cubans’ vivacity lives through their music, cuisine and every aspect of their colourful lifestyle, including their famed Cuban Rum.
There is this inherent connection between the Cubans and their art forms, a special union.
Ahead of the launch of the latest Iconica edition in Paris, I sat with Havana Club Maestro del Ron Cubano, Asbel Morales. I last met Asbel was a year ago in Havana, Cuba where he was paying an emotional tribute to the late great Don José Pablo Navarro, the man to whom Cuban rum – and rum in its entirety – is indebted. Known as the “Maestro of Maestros”, along with many other firsts, Navarro pioneered the continuous ageing technique behind Havana Club’s more complex rums and most famously Havana Club Añejo 7 Años, which he created in 1978.
Fast forward to the present, the continuous ageing process has been on display throughout the Iconica collection, with Asbel continuing the legacy his mentor – and great friend – began.
When asked about the choice and timing of the liquids, Asbel paused for a moment and then said:
“It’s not a decision of the marketing team; it’s a decision of the maestros.”
Continuous ageing is a sensory journey, a series of decisions based on the character and potential of particular rums: which liquids are to be retained, or returned to cask to use in subsequent blends.
This ‘liquid comes first’ approach is one that all at Havana Club are keen to reinforce, the rum belonging as much to the Cuban people as it does the business, evidenced by the pride they show in being associated with the brand in any way. On every street corner in Havana you’ll see Havana Club merchandise being sold, its logo akin to street art—such is its popularity and the frequency with which it appears.
Here in Paris, it was time for a new story to be told, of culture, community and gastronomy — Iconica Unión. The original iteration of Unión was birthed in 2014, created by Asbel with input from renowned Cuban cigar sommelier Fernando Fernández, to be the perfect rum to pair with a cigar.
But this latest iteration takes that notion one step further, a celebration of all things Cuban, encapsulating the rich cuisine, vibrant music and colourful people in a luminous blend of flavour.
“Unión, historically speaking, comes from a relationship between the rum and the cigar as two icons. We discovered and we realised that this union should be wider than just the cigar.”
Asbel Morales, Maestro del Ron Cubano, Havana Club
This new blend combines four distinct rums from Havana Club’s prestigious reserves, and to demonstrate continuity, part of the original Union blend was returned to cask, matured for a further 12 years and incorporated into the new Iconica Unión – the epitome of continuous ageing.
In terms of taste, in this new Unión you can clearly see the gastronomical focus, visually being lighter than its predecessor and that carries over to its flavour profile too. This is a complex rum, but not weighed down, with caramel, dried and honeyed fruits giving way to citrus notes and that hint of tobacco. The last is long and rich, slightly dry at the end.
“The profile should be more open,” Asbel tells me, alluding to the broader personality of this release compared to its predecessor; while it’s a rum that retains its connection to cigars, it finds a place within a wider range of cultural and gastronomic experiences.
That said, for the full Cuban experience, pair it with a cigar – the brand recommends a Partagas Linea Maduro – and the experience changes, allowing the tobacco notes to blend with flavours from the cigar, giving Union a more subdued sweetness and an elegance you may not have noticed before.
The bottle itself is sculptural in its beauty, designed with an hour-glass fixation; gold lines indicating the passing of time, reminding you of the journey that continuous ageing entails.
Not only a blend of culture and rum, but of generations, Iconica Unión has been fittingly brought to life by a Maestro Navarro himself trained, in a vibrant example of Cuban culture. It doesn’t get more authentic than that.
Launched globally in September 2026, Havana Club Iconica Unión is bottled at 40% ABV and has a recommended retail price of €350.
