Aroma visualization from community tastings
Havana Club Selección de Maestros
Sip it neat, drop it on ice, or build a serious Cuba Libre — this Cuban does all three. Expect woody caramel, vanilla, tobacco and roasted nuts, with a spicy edge from the 45%. Most tasters call it the best of the Havana Club core range, though a few find the finish short and the alcohol a touch loud.
The community says- Best-of-Havana lineup
- Woody, spicy character
- Short finish
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The look inside the bottle
How does Havana Club Selección de Maestros taste?
Aggregated from 269 community reviews.
Woody, spicy Cuban, easy sipper or mixer The pick of the standard Havana lineup for most: woody, spicy, lightly sweet, easy to drink. Some love it as a sipper, others find it thin with a short finish.
Fans of dry, woody Spanish-style rum and anyone exploring Cuban bottles
People wanting a long finish or bold, high-ester complexity
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
82 of 269 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
How is Havana Club Selección de Maestros rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 7.3 sits in the “Good” band. 59% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 3% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
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Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
Community voices
What does the community say?
78% rate it between 6 and 8. 18 selected write-ups from 269 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
One of the community's most-rated rums
Review by Johannes G
Most helpful positive review
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 F.L.O.
Most helpful critical review
Trinkbar ist fast noch zu gut für den Mist, Aber er macht einen absolut geilen Cuba Libre !!
Review by Henry Davies
In my view one of the best balanced Spanish style Ron’s. 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 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.
Review by Timo Groeger
Huh? Why didn't I rate it? There's not much you can say about this rum. This rum is relatively sweet. Chocolate and vanilla are really clearly recognizable, but still within limits. Actually quite okay for that :)
Review by MarcT
Hm. I grew up with Havana Club, mostly using it as mixer. The 7yo was drinkable as sipper, but this is something different. It has more power (higher ABV) and does really have a nice cask influence. Otherwise I get the spices I am used to. A certain sharpness, that I still need to analyze. Very easy drinkable.
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Expert reviews
3 critics scored it, averaging 7.5/10. 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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Expert review by In Spiritus Veritas
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Expert review by The Fat Rum Pirate
Read full review →I confess I mixed a very small amount with an equally small amount of cola. It was as expected very pleasant but I did feel I was missing out on that wonderful sipping experience! Havana Club Seleccion de Maestros is available from
Details about Havana Club Selección de Maestros
A Column Still Rum from Cuba, distilled by Havana Club, at 45%.
Community purchases
712 bottles logged by 614 collectors.
A drinker's rum.
38% opened, 118 emptied and repurchased.
What did the community pay for Havana Club Selección de Maestros?
Community paid 30–61 €.
What members actually paid for their bottles. A typical range, not the current shop price. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
+11 purchases in the last 3 months.
Added to collections, last 12 months — dark bars are the last 3.
712 purchased · 283 tasted · 140 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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