Why two different companies sell rum under the same famous Havana Club name
In short: The Havana Club brand is the subject of a decades-long legal battle between global liquor giants. While one version is produced in Cuba through a state-run partnership, the other is distilled in Puerto Rico by a family-owned company. This conflict has spanned international courts, trade organizations, and legislative acts.
The Havana Club brand originated in 1934, created by the family-owned José Arechabala S.A. in Cárdenas, Cuba. Following the 1959 Cuban Revolution, the company was nationalized in 1960 without compensation, and the family was forced to leave the country. The Cuban government began exporting rum under the Havana Club name in 1972, eventually forming a 50:50 joint venture with the French company Pernod Ricard in 1993 to market the product globally.
The competing version of the brand emerged after Bacardi, another Cuban family that had left the country, purchased the original Arechabala recipe. In 1994, Bacardi began producing its own Havana Club rum in Puerto Rico. This sparked intense litigation over trademark ownership in the United States, Spain, and the World Trade Organization. The legal landscape shifted in 1998 when the U.S. Congress passed the Bacardi Act, which protected trademarks related to expropriated Cuban companies, though the World Trade Organization later ruled this statute illegal.
The conflict remains active, with courts frequently revisiting the rights to the name. In 2016, the U.S. government awarded a trademark to the Cuban government, a decision that faced immediate appeals. More recently, in January 2025, a Virginia federal court dismissed a lawsuit filed by Bacardi regarding the renewal of the trademark. Today, Pernod Ricard’s version is one of the world's largest rum brands, sold in over 120 countries, while Bacardi markets its Puerto Rican-made version nationally within the United States, clearly labeling its origin to avoid consumer confusion.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Havana Club
- Also: Wikidata — Havana Club · CC0
- Also: Wikidata — Havana Club International Cocktail Grand Prix · CC0
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