Havana Club Anejo Blanco (PR)

This is much better than Bacardi IMHO. I would choose it over and over for a budget rum to make mixed drinks

If you like Bacardi silver for your mix drinks but don’t want to look like a basic white guy this is the rum for you!

If you like cheap vodka you will love this rum!!!

The flavor is between rubbing alcohol and vodka! no rum goodness at all!!!!!!

This is literally the worst rum I have ever had!!!

George Ocean is the same price and a million times better for a white rum to mix with!!

This is a Bacardi rum, rebranded. I was not a fan, was bland with a serious burn. Not quite as bad a perfume, but you could do better.

A very smooth white rum that’s easy on the wallet with only catch being that it’s pretty difficult to find where I live. Seems to be light on the flavor but I do get a light coconut flavor along with maybe a little nuttiness? As it’s aged for a few years, it is a very smooth white rum that’s under $17 in the US. I use it for mixing but it certainly wouldn’t be a terrible sipper if that’s what you wanted to do with it.

Tasted at Laka Lono 8/28/19 at a Kill Devil Rum Club tasting.
Clearly I was not impressed; the notes read "I feel like they are trying to make a point that does not need to be made."

I don't feel this is the swill some others say it is...when mixed it goes down easily, though I won't be buying it again.

Sampled at the Laka Lono Rum Club Tasting on 9/28/19. Pours clear. Almost no aroma. Tastes slightly better than isopropyl alcohol. Numbs the lips. Yuck. Does Bacardi intentionally make this swill to confuse people looking for real Havana Club?

I usually don’t like Blancos but this one is different. I tried this at house of blues and was surprised. My choices were this or Bacardi so I guess it was limited at that time but I was happy that this rum was pretty good.

On the Puerto Rican version on the nose I get Key Lime Pie, Vanilla, faint toasted Marshmallow, and a hint of ethanol. The alcohol note is light and does not diminish the other notes. The predominate note is Key Lime Pie with Merengue.

Taking a sip I get Key Lime Pie with Merengue, Vanilla, and a slightly more pronounced note of toasted Marshmallow. The palate here is sweeter, not from added sugar, but more along the lines of how Probitas has a sweet note.

The finish is straight Vanilla and Lime. Simple but fairly well pronounced and of medium length.

I am actually quite pleasantly surprised by the Bacardi Havana Club. I had read that it is a shell compared to the Cuban version; but that is not the case to my tastes. They are a bit different but I am pleasantly surprised by the Bacardi version. The Cuban version is fruitier and fuller, but the Puerto Rican version has a very nice harmony to it. No it’s not complex but it is far better than what I anticipated and have read about. The Puerto Rican version was designed for Mojitos and I am willing to bet that it will indeed make a killer Mojito. This compares right up there close to the Cuban version, maybe just slightly shy of it…but certainly not by much. At its price point of $15 per 750ml Bacardi Havana Club Añejo Blanco, is actually surprisingly a good buy.

*Update*

After mixing with this for a while, it hides too much in cocktails, which is not the case with Cuban Havana Club 3 Year. As usual Bacardi should go easier on the filtering and leave more character in the rum.