Over a barrel: lack of sugar throws Cuba’s rum industry into crisis

[El Presidente]

 

 

Over a barrel: lack of sugar throws Cuba’s rum industry into crisis

This year’s tiny harvest casts doubt on the spirit’s recent resurgence, once a bright spot in the island’s economy

Ruaridh Nicoll in Havana

Fri 30 May 2025 06.00 EDT

It’s a crisis that would have sent a shiver down Ernest Hemingway’s drinking arm. Cuba’s communist government is struggling to process enough sugar to make the rum for his beloved mojitos and daiquiris.

As summer rains bring the Caribbean island’s 2025 harvest to an end, a recent analysis by Reuters suggests that Cuba’s state-run monopoly, Azcuba, is likely to produce just 165,000 metric tonnes of sugar this year. That compares with harvests of 8m in the late 1980s.

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[chris12381]

"But with the supply of molasses drying up, all this work is threatened. 'I think the fourth quarter will be particularly tough,' said the executive. 'There won’t be any alcohol.'" 

Yikes. 

[Chas.Alpha]

😳

[SCgarman]

As long as the distilleries in Scotland keep cranking out aged barrels of single malt, I'm a happy camper! 

[Kenton1971]

2 hours ago, SCgarman said:

As long as the distilleries in Scotland keep cranking out aged barrels of single malt, I'm a happy camper! 

You also have a very nice little distillery two hours south of you in Charleston that is really starting to put out some nice whiskey as well...

[Çnote]

2 hours ago, Kenton1971 said:

You also have a very nice little distillery two hours south of you in Charleston that is really starting to put out some nice whiskey as well...

Which???

[helix]

SNAFU.

[BlueRidgeFly]

Truly sad for Cuba and their rum industry. Yet another blow on top of the rest of the devastation for the country. I wish things would turn there, I know we all do.

On top of that, there is SO MUCH competition in the global rum market. I’ve been sipping two spectacular rums tonight, from Thailand and Oaxaca, for example. It’s just the tip of the iceberg of all the great alternatives out there.

[Kenton1971]

On 6/1/2025 at 4:46 PM, Çnote said:

Which???

https://highwiredistilling.com/    I've had their wheated bourbon and a 6.5 year old rye bourbon (barrel pick for Seelbach's).  Both were excellent.  

Here's quick video that is pretty cool as well:  

Last link I promise! This is to a bourbon patreon group that selected a barrel pick earlier this year that was just released the other week. I passed on it due to incurring some medical bills but the selection sounds incredible:  

[Çnote]

2 hours ago, Kenton1971 said:

Both were excellent

Highwire is -very- good. I had forgotten exactly where they were. Their sorghum whiskey is very fun & the jimmy red corn is fabulous as well.