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Cana Brava Light rum

Cana Brava Light

Panama | Light | 40% ABV

6.8/10
28 ratings
Tasty, but not quite great
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28 Cana Brava Light Ratings

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mistercoughy 🇺🇸 | 239 ratings
Posted over 7 years ago

You need to try this rum. It's molasses based, yet with the aromatic vegetality of a fine agricole and enough fruity overtones to make it an outstanding sipping rum. Really distinctive in every aspect. If you're lucky enough to find a bottle, turn it around and admire the beautiful paintings on the back of the front label, as seen through the rum.

Everything about this product - but especially the taste - is top notch. You will not find a better white rum for any price.

Falcon91Wolvrn03 (PREMIUM) 🇺🇸 | 563 ratings
Posted almost 7 years ago

This rum is a little on the dry side, but has just enough sweetness to make it good. Smells and tastes of sugarcane, allspice, with just a hint of vanilla, citrus, and oak.

Nice, though I slightly prefer other lights such as Diplomatico, Selvarey, and Koloa.

Atomic1970Cuda 🇺🇸 | 2 ratings
Posted over 3 years ago

This is an Absolute Gem of a White Rum, It is discontinued so you must grab a Bottle. For my Birthday this year I was Planning the Best Mojitos down to the Bamboo Straw-fast forward do to the U.S Embargo on Cuba no Havana Club 3 yr available, searched Forums, Youtube, etc. Finally out of Divine luck I came across Cana Brava, Located in Panama and made the same way since 1922. Francisco "Don Pancho" J Fernandez the Master Distiller made Rum in Cuba for over 35 Years mastering the Cuban Method before moving to Panama. This is no exaggeration this Rum is Delicious and would be willing to bet it even surpasses some Aged Rums with lesser Distillers.
I would pay twice as much for this and at $18 a bottle I was a Modern Day Rum Pirate!

Cory Wid 🇺🇸 | 97 ratings
Posted 6 years ago

Makes one of the best traditional daiquiris I've tried (and really good mojito, too). Its light, no doubt. Column-still rums have no weight, making them ideal for easy-going aromatic drinks, or for a relaxed sipping experience. It mixes very well in general, with very little conflict, making it one to return to again and again at the bar: a benchmark for the style. I believe it uses many rums older than 3yrs to create the ideal blend. About $30 for a bottle.

Kieron wood 🇬🇧 | 621 ratings
Posted almost 7 years ago

This is another white rum that can pass me by ... Foul flavour with harsh afterburn

Border Rum Guy 🇺🇸 | 69 ratings
Posted almost 8 years ago

I could enjoy CBL all day its just the right touch of sweetness and easy on the throat making it a true delight.

Jason Noel 🇺🇸 | 5 ratings
Posted 8 years ago

I feel like when people are rating white rum they tend to forget what it is supposed to be.

Caña Brava is something very special. Significant thought seems to ave gone into this rum. From the bottle being shaped for different holds and volume markings on it so you can reuse it in the future, to to full flavor that approaches but does not go over the top - I love it. Used in a traditional daiquiri with cane syrup it is spectacular. For me it has taken the "warm up" aperitif cocktail to a whole new level. I do think its flavor profile may be a bit rich if your looking for it to play well with other light modifiers - i.e. an Airmail

I historically don't pay more than $18-$20 for a bottle of solid white rum. Caña Brava is my new exception to this rule and pull it out when I want something a bit more special in a daiquiri or a more forward but not overpowering presence in a tiki cocktail.

007Glenn 🇨🇦 | 6 ratings
Posted 1 year ago

I tend to like inhaling deeply prior to sipping so it is a bit ruined from the start. If you get past the definite isopropyl aroma, it is palatable, but just. It has a pretty nice mouth feel at first, and has a fairly sweet taste when held in the mouth, however that ends after the swallow and becomes fairly sharp with alcohol. The last redeeming quality is that the flavor doesn't linger too long.
Definitely not a sipper. I'm sure the price point led most there to begin with, but I will try virtually any Rum naked once.

Mujuru 🇺🇸 | 152 ratings
Posted 1 year ago

This rum was a collaboration between Don Pancho Fernandez (former Director of Research and Development overseeing the rum industry in Cuba) and The 86 Co. out of California. I believe this was Don Panchos first independent foray into a Cuban style light rum. It was, in effect, a precursor of sorts to Selvarey White and Panama Pacific 3 Year. This is a molasses based rum produced on an antique copper column still from hand harvested sugar cane grown in the Herrera province of Panama. It was then aged for 3 years in ex-bourbon barrels before being bottled at 43% ABV, slightly higher than your run of the mill light Cuban style rum.

Taking it on the nose, it is more pungent and slightly more complex than I anticipated. The nose reveals Pear, Roasted Marshmallow, and Lemon. But it also reveals a combination note that took me quite a while to decipher. The best I can describe it is a combination of Woodsmoke and Burnt Sugar combined together in a very pleasant way. That is both different and a bit more complex than I had imagined. I thought it would mirror Selvarey White, Havana Club 3 Year, and Panama Pacific in the pure “Lime, Lemon, and Toasted Marshmallow” combination. I did not expect Pear and the unique Woodsmoke and Burnt Sugar combination.

Taking a sip the palate comes much closer to what I had anticipated, and closer to the other related rums above, but at a more intense level. Here I get Lime, Lemon, Limoncello, and Toasted Marshmallow of the other Don Pancho rums but also the Apple note of oxidated Havana Club 3 Year but at a more intense level than all of the above - probably because of the higher ABV. This rum also has an herbal characteristic to it that none of the above rums have, again, I think due to the slightly higher ABV. (This note seems to be “pillowed out” in the other lower ABV Cuban style light rums.

The finish here is a single note but presented strongly. It’s Lemon Drops hard candy all the way.

This is an interesting rum. Yes it compares quite similarly to Havana Club 3 Year, Selvarey White, and Panama Pacific 3 Year…but it’s stronger and more pungent than any of those rums. Yet I am not sure that more intense and more complex necessarily make it better than the other rums it compares to. While I greatly enjoy the profile, even straight, the higher intensity causes it to lose synchronicity and mouthfeel and makes it slightly more bitter and herbal. I am sure some rummies would trade the mouthfeel for greater intensity, but for me personally I am not sure it works quite as well on the whole.

For my own personal preference for this style I rate them as follows:

Panama Pacific 3 Year > Selvarey White > Caña Brava 3 Year > Havana Club 3 Year (these are all head and shoulders above Bacardi Superior…and by good margin)

Short Description: a significantly more intense and pungent, but less synchronous, version of Havana Club 3 Year

ABV 43%

Country of Origin: Panama

Province: Herrera

Nose: Pear, faint Woodsmoke, Burnt Sugar, Roasted Marshmallow, Lemon

Palate: Lime, Lemon, Apple, Limoncello, Toasted Marshmallow, slight herbal undertoneAn excellent light Cuban style rum

Finish: Lemon Drops (strong), faint Poolwater

Yohobro 🇨🇦 | 79 ratings
Posted over 1 year ago

($40CAD)
Aged 3 years, this carbon filtered rum smells of spice and citrus. Very intriguing.
Taste has heavy pepper upfront with a little bit of lemon. It is lemon and pepper through and through. The lack of another element leaves me wanting more from this spirit. It is unique in flavour, I’ll admit that, but without more complexity it doesn’t leave me wanting to buy another bottle. Perhaps this one is better saved for mixed drinks.




Brand Details

Name: Light
ABV: 40%
Type: Cana Brava
Raw Material: Unknown
Process: Unknown
Distillation: Unknown
Women leading Rum: No

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