Xinhua 2022:12:19.08:16
HAVANA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) — Cuba has increased its commitment to the production of its rum after the knowledge of its master rum makers was recently inscribed on the United Nations Educational Organization-sponsored List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Science and culture (UNESCO).
One of them, the first rum master César Augusto Martí, 46 years old and who started in this world in 2000 after graduating as a chemical engineer from the Central University of Las Villas, told Xinhua his satisfaction at the worldwide recognition.
“The Cuban liquid taste is characterized by four major aspects, such as the tradition we are heirs to, the climatic conditions for growing sugar cane, the very Cuban way of making our rum and the contribution of generations of Cubans who… dedicated to trying to preserve that legacy,” he said.
Along with him, a select group of master rum makers from the Caribbean country, fewer than a dozen, are responsible for ensuring that the island’s rums retain the flavor and texture that have characterized them for decades.
Speaking to Xinhua, another of Cuba’s first two rum masters, Juan Carlos González, 71, said it is a work of dedication and constant improvement, to which they devote arduous days of study to keep up with trends in the industry.
“I was born in the middle of the sugar cane fields and I smelled like sugar cane. My parents and uncles worked in a sugar mill. The Cuban nation was shaped by the development of the sugar industry,” he said.
The island’s tradition of light rum-knowledge dates back more than 150 years, since its beginnings in the city of Santiago de Cuba.
According to official statistics, there are more than thirty brands of rum in the Caribbean country, distributed at territorial, national or internationally recognized levels.
Exports of rum, along with those of nickel, honey, tobacco and seafood, helped the island’s economy earn $816 million more this year than it did in 2021, according to a report by Cuba’s Ministry of Economy and Planning.
There are just over 40 rum factories of various sizes in the country, with Havana, Villa Clara and Santiago de Cuba being the main centers for the production of this spirit.
One of them is the modern rum factory in the municipality of San José de Las Lajas, which is one of the main centers for the production of Havana Club, the island’s most famous rum.
Rum factory director Noelvis Castellano told Xinhua that it is vital for Cuba that its rums retain wide acceptance in the international market due to the quality of its brands.
“Making rum in the country is national culture. This recognition is an economic potential to continue to grow. This will contribute to the development of the nation as rum is a product that generates a lot of added value,” he said.
The inclusion of the knowledge of the masters of light Cuban rum in the Unesco list was approved on November 30th during the 17th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Morocco.
(Web Editor: Rosa Liu, Zhao Jian)