Aroma visualization from community tastings
Havana Club 5 Años Añejo Especial
Anyone who lives for a good Cuba Libre will get the most out of this one. It's a light Cuban column-still rum: caramel and vanilla up front, a little spice and oak, and a sweetness that shows the added sugar. Most tasters find it thin and a touch sharp neat, but "goes well with cola and lime" — that's its real home.
The community says- Great in Cuba Libre
- Contains added sugar
- Thin, sharp neat
View price history
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The look inside the bottle
How does Havana Club 5 Años Añejo Especial taste?
Aggregated from 311 community reviews.
Sweet, light Cuban built for cola Rated middling and known for one job: mixing. Members reach for it in Cuba Libres and longdrinks, but call it too sweet, thin and slightly hot to sip neat.
Cuba Libre and longdrink drinkers wanting an easy Cuban mixer
Anyone wanting a complex neat sipper or avoiding sugar
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
42 of 311 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
How is Havana Club 5 Años Añejo Especial rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 6.1 sits in the “Pleasant” band. 9% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 30% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Live auctions
Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
Community voices
What does the community say?
49% rate it between 6 and 8. 20 selected write-ups from 311 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
One of the community's most-rated rums
Review by Sim Rhum
Most helpful positive review
Parfait pour boire avec du coca en sortie
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Most helpful critical review
I use this one for my Cuba libre. 4 cl Havana Club 1 cl lime juice 10 cl Coca Cola
Review by w00tAN
My evergreen, great for a nice long drink or in cocktails, but can also be drunk neat if you don't have a nice bar nearby or are out and about. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with it ;)
Review by Timo Groeger
One of the better Havana Club rums. It's not a must-have, but it's still good. Tastes slightly nutty to me, but still just manageable. An ok rum if you compare it with the other Havanas.
Review by cigares
A not bad Ron, rather balanced and easy to drink, but without any other interest.a very caramel nose with vanilla and a kind of peach. A short but not unpleasant finish with apricot.
Review by Chrischi78
Joa, drinkable, but nothing special. A little sweet, a little spicy, but also kind of boring. You can mix it, but you don't have to. Not really suitable for drinking neat, there are many, many better things.
Review by Tim
This rum from Havana has a better price-performance ratio, because it is often available at the same price as the Havana Club 3. For mixing quite good.
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
Drank on the spot and found to be bad. Inexplicable and unpleasant sharpness. Didn't get any better in the local TúKola.
Review by Steve the Barman
All my Tastings and Scores are purely based on “Rums under £50”. I rarely look at Rums over £50 for my YouTube.
Review by Rumpalumpa
classic for Cuba Libre. Especially as it's really cheap. over all its surprisingly similar to the Havana 3 yo. a little spicier and with some caramel and wood so i prefer it for mixing with coke. But no Daiquiri etc
Review by rum_sk
The nose does not offer very much. You can smell some hints of fruity flavor (orange peel) with various spices but it is all covered in alcoholic odour. Taste however, is a different story. Sweetness is very well balanced and you can taste the fruity aromas, mostly orange and orange peel, that are very well balanced with vanilla, caramel and spices. The finish is pleasant while at some point you can feel the copper on your tongue as an aftertaste. Overall pretty pleasant rum for the sipping as well as a component of your favorite drinks such as cuba libre. I had it on several occasions and I still quite like it as it is cheap, accessible and tasty.
Review by zabo
Bought purely as a mixer. Yes, you can drink it, but you don't have to. That's all you need to say about it. Unfortunately, it's really not the best on its own, but as a low-budget mixer it does justice to its price range.
Review by TheJackDrop
Mouais, we've seen worse... and better
Review by heckto🥃
This rum is not for drinking straight. It is above average in the Havana family but still not good. It tastes of caramel, vanilla and tropical fruit and finishes a little spicy. In a mixed drink, however, it is absolutely acceptable.
Review by Stevie Slick Probert
Nose of vanilla, dried fruit, wood and liquorice Tastes of dried fruit raisins treacle and liquorice and woody aftertaste with a alcoholic kick and the end
Review by Rumbaer
This is my current choice for the classic Cuba Libre. Don't go for the Havana Club 3 or Captain Morgan, go for this one. It brings a little more spice to the long drink than its two competitors. Still not for drinking straight but purely for mixing. #### 24.05.25 downgraded because of the reduction from 40 to 37.5%. A disgrace. Now much too thin for mixing...
Review by MAARTEN
Good one for Cuba Libre! Neat it’s terrible in my opinion but that is normal when I prefer much more mature and aged rums neat in my glass!!
Review by Decky Hicks Doughty
The nose is dominated by spice and wood with some charred notes and a touch of vanilla in the background. On the palate the wood is less present but there's more sweet notes of caramel and it's quite rounded. In the finish orange peel comes almost out of nowhere. Overall it is pretty middle of the road but it is available in most shops for a cheap price.
Review by Émile Shevek
Ok per cocktail
Review by Rumclub Latvia
For cocktails
No reviews match this filter.
Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by The Fat Rum Pirate
Read full review →Abuelo or Legendario spring to mind or even a Santa Teresa Gran Anejo. As an entry level mixing rum this doesn't pull up any trees but the new formula has improved it. It's not going to excite anyone too much but it makes a decent enough mixed drink. Best bought...
Details about Havana Club 5 Años Añejo Especial
A Column Still Rum from Cuba, distilled by Havana Club, at 40%.
Community purchases
867 bottles logged by 665 collectors.
A drinker's rum.
41% opened, 201 emptied and repurchased.
What does Havana Club 5 Años Añejo Especial cost?
Community paid 10–25 €.
Current best price: 30.24 € – above the typical community range.
What members actually paid for their bottles. A typical range, not the current shop price. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
+5 purchases in the last 3 months.
Added to collections, last 12 months — dark bars are the last 3.
867 purchased · 344 tasted · 56 wishlist · as of
About the Havana Club distillery
The Havana Club distillery is located in Cuba. Rums from Havana Club have been reviewed 1,950 times with an average of 6.8/10.
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Oliver · FounderBy rum lovers, for rum lovers
I'm Oliver, and RumX began in 2018 as a small passion project in Stuttgart, back then under the name Rum Tasting Notes.
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