Havana Club Selección de Maestros
Loved by Johannes G, Golden Hind & 31 moreA solid stepping stone Cuban rum that balances woody spice, caramel and vanilla with a touch of tobacco. At 45% it has more punch than standard Havana, working both neat and in classic cocktails. Backed by 255 RumX reviews as one of the brand’s better price‑performance options for Spanish-style drinkers looking beyond basic mixers.
- Woody spicy profile
- Good price‑performance
- Versatile neat/mixes
Details about Havana Club Selección de Maestros
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How does Havana Club Selección de Maestros taste?
Aggregated from 261 community reviews.
Balanced, woody Cuban allrounder A solid stepping stone Cuban rum that balances woody spice, caramel and vanilla with a touch of tobacco. At 45% it has more punch than standard Havana, working both neat and in classic cocktails. Backed by 255 RumX reviews as one of the brand’s better price‑performance options for Spanish-style drinkers looking beyond basic mixers.
Spanish-style fans and cocktail lovers wanting a more characterful Havana than the standard range, with extra oak, spice and tobacco but still easy to drink.
Those chasing deep complexity, very sweet dessert rums, or ultra-smooth 40% sippers—some alcohol bite and dryness may feel a bit sharp.
How is Havana Club Selección de Maestros rated?
RumX's 0–10 scale is strict — 7.2 lands squarely in the "Good" band. 59% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 3% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Rum reviews
A selection of the most popular reviews from our community. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by Henry Davies
In my view one of the best balanced Spanish style Rons. Delicate nose with toffee, malt and caramel notes. Body is really well balanced with a spicy edge, caramel, and oak. Finish is slightly short, with leather and vanilla the main components. Not exceptional but punches well above its weight and worth exploring for those into Barbadian and Jamaican rums.
Review by Johannes G
For me in the Havana Club range, a really nicely balanced but still typically Cuban racy rum. Very pleasant smell, which is clearly more fruity than the taste. In the finish short but rough. From the price-performance ratio for me the best of the Havanas. And this was tried from 10 to 190 € some from the house Havana Club.
Review by Stefan Persson
Almost all Havana Club rums are overpriced in my opinion even if they taste good, but this one is much more price worthy than the 15yo. The nose is woody and smoky with an aroma of vanilla. At the palate and during the medium long finish it’s woody, spicy with some sweetness and flavors of fruits and vanilla.
Review by Golden Hind
Sehr gut. Solider Rum.
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
The rum is too thin and meaningless for me, you're not doing yourself any favors. It's better to go for the HC 15 años if you have the opportunity, even if it's three times as expensive. Update 2024-12-25: Surprisingly, today, three years after the first tasting, I find the rum much better than at the time, when I only gave it 64 points. Unmistakably Cuban, beautifully woody, vanilla and dry, with an appealing level of alcoholic power. I would have expected a lower rating for this re-tasting, as my tastes have moved a long way away from such standard Spanish-style bottlings - but no, this rum turns out to be a rock-solid all-rounder that can definitely satisfy everyone on a relaxed evening in an average small-town bar with rum newbies (and on top of that outclasses the much sweeter Havana Club Barrel Proof). The fact that it has virtually no finish - no problem. Just pour it again right away. 😉
Review by FL_RumRunner
As I improve my tasting skills, I go back to this bottle. I get more and more notes every time. It’s smooth and sweet with a nice medium finish. The nose is beautifully complex with lots of sweet caramel and brown sugar notes with some other lighter notes from the barrel and some dried fruit. Overall an excellent rum, but I prefer a little sweeter.
Review by Mirko Frosini 🇮🇪
Un buon rum. Un havana club che si distingue dai classici reserva e 7 anni e che dimostra le doti della distilleria. Purtroppo gli havana di fascia superiore costano troppo per me per poter capire le vere potenzialità del marchio. Finale medio. Note di cacao/cioccolato miste a vaniglia e fugace barile. Non capisco perché i rum spagnoli si ostinino ad allungarli.
Review by paulgi86
Finally!!! The rum equivalent of the Arran 10YO - affordable, great quality and great delivery of flavour. It may be considered “simple” in terms of complexity BUT it certainly delivers what it does excellent A proper permashelf item this is!!
Review by LukaŽiga
7,5:The nose of this rum is clear and rather frank. It's a traditional Spanish rum, simple and effective. One senses the warmth of roasting nuts, toasted wood and leather. Caramel and vanilla are treated with finesse and delicacy. The cane with pear/apple notes shines through. A well-crafted, balanced nose. On aeration, a certain sweetness compensates for the alcohol emanating from the glass. This is a rather light rum, with a caramelized woodiness. Through this woodiness, hints of mango add dynamism. Smaller, drier notes of straw and hazelnut powder are enveloped in reduced cane syrup. 8,3:On the palate, simplicity is still the order of the day. We savor crushed red berries that are immediately sprinkled with woody caramel and molasses, which brings tobacco, with a whiff of smoke.The palate then becomes drier, with a toasty woodiness that releases a few roasted spices, all is well rounded, balanced and oxidized now. 7,4:The finish remains in continuity, rather dry and woody, fruity, with burnt caramel.. Edit:14.2.25, 20.6.25
Review by Leslie Haigh
brilliant 1st Cuban drink I have drank gose down very easy 45% hardly any burn a must try in my opinion
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
This is a pretty good rum especially thinking about the price tag. Probably a really good rum for mixers.
Review by Ryan Stuivenvolt
Perfect taste!
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
nice round and also somewhat more complex Havana, easy to drink, nice pear and nougat chocolate note with some nut. definitely one of the best PLV Cubans from Havana Club. Alcohol could be slightly better integrated. But makes a really tasty old Cuban!
Review by Jakob Deiner
Mit dem tue ich mich etwas schwer, da ich mir als Fanboy eher einen (noch) edleren Havana 7 wünschen würde als ein doch ziemlich anderes Geschmacksprofil beim Step-up.. Ist auf keinen Fall schlecht, holzig, Eiche, etwas Vanille und etwas Frucht, man merkt die 45% Alkoholgehalt, dafür aber relativ wenig brennen. Drinks: - Pur: 4/5 - Rum Fashioned: 4.5/5 - Rum Cola: 4.5/5 - Rum Mule: 4/5
Review by Oliver
Quite edgy (in a positive sense) Cuban. I like it best in the Havana Club lineup.
Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by Rum nagykövet
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Expert review by The Auditor Reviews
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Community purchases
718 bottles logged by 52,000+ RumX members. The ratio of closed / opened / emptied, indicates whether this rum is meant to be drunk or is a collector's item.
Also on the wishlist of 134 members.
About the Havana Club distillery
The Havana Club distillery is located in Cuba. Rums from Havana Club have been reviewed 1,782 times with an average of 6.8/10.
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Oliver · FounderBy rum lovers, for rum lovers
I'm Oliver — together with Jakob, Robert and Lukas, we started RumX in 2018 as a small passion project in Stuttgart, back then under the name Rum Tasting Notes.
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