A prestigious rum collaboratively crafted by the legendary rapper and Havana Club’s Maestro del Ron Cubano Asbel Morales

Havana Club and international music icon Skepta are proud to announce the next chapter of their global collaboration, a limited-edition rum created by the artist himself. Following the creation of two unique Havana Club 7 Rum bottles in summer 2020 and 2021, Rum of Skepta is the pinnacle of a journey which has celebrated the cultural links between Cuba, creativity, community, and Skepta’s homeland of Nigeria.

Rum of Skepta marks an exciting new venture for Havana Club, as the brand’s talented Maestro del Ron Cubano worked alongside a musician for the first time to create a spirit designed to appeal to the next generation of rum drinkers with a natural affiliation to rap music and street culture. The maturation of the Havana Club’s ongoing partnership with the record-breaking artist, Rum of Skepta was made to encapsulate a feeling of refined elegance, achievement and luxury – symbolic of Skepta’s own journey from inner-city London suburb, Tottenham, to global grime sensation.

The rum was created by Skepta alongside Maestro Ronero Asbel Morales in Cuba, during a visit in early 2020. Asbel presented Skepta with different casks and characters of rum bases from Havana Club’s exceptional aging cellars to choose from. The chosen blend reflects this mood with a round, balanced flavour profile, full body and bold finish with subtle notes of cacao and tobacco. It is the result of an exceptional meeting of two artists at the top of their respective fields and continues a proud tradition of exemplary rum creation in the country.

The collaboration between Havana Club and Skepta began in 2019, when Skepta first visited Havana, Cuba. Struck by deep and entwined links between Cuban traditions and those of his own West African Yoruba heritage through paths of migration, the first two chapters of the collaboration – a pair of redesigned Havana Club 7 Rum bottles – captured this cultural infusion in their labels, which featured traditional Nigerian symbols. This sense of discovery also brought Skepta to the metaphysical Cuban concept of aché, “the universal energy behind all things,” as he describes. “It is what empowers each and every one of us, every day.”

The concept of global community and cultural exchange, which has driven the collaboration to date, continues with Rum of Skepta. The apex of a symbolic journey which began last year, this chapter was inspired by Skepta’s home city of London. The namesake rum captures this sense of achievement, elegance and luxury within both the bottle’s design and blend.

Rum of Skepta will be produced in a limited-edition batch of just 3,000 bottles and stocked at The Arts Club in Mayfair, a storied London members’ club which has provided a haven for artists, writers and musicians for over a century, as well as luxury Knightsbridge department store Harvey Nichols. In Cuba, Rum of Skepta will be found at the historic Museo del Ron Havana Club. It will also be available to purchase online in the UK at an RRP of £85 and several other European countries including Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Spain.  

A cinematic short film and photographic series capturing Skepta’s multifaceted career will accompany the release.

Anne Martin, Global Marketing Director at Havana Club International, comments: “As the leading makers of super premium rum, we are incredibly proud to introduce Rum of Skepta. This exceptional rum highlights our continued commitment to collaboration and community as we seek to create outstanding rums that will excite existing rum fans and resonate with a new audience of Gen Z consumers, of legal drinking age.

“We are honoured to once again be working with Skepta, one of the most influential voices of his generation, to drive relevance and credibility with our key consumers on a global scale. Rum of Skepta showcases the artist’s unrivalled success and the extraordinary talents of our Maestros who continue to define the modern-day rum category.”

Find out more about the collaboration and how to purchase the limited-edition bottle on Havana Club’s website.