Pernod Ricard leads rum war at the Havana Club

"MIAMI, Aug 18, 2006 (AFP) - The well-dressed crowd swayed to tropical jazz and the Cuba-chic mood was tinged with a touch of nostalgia as exiles sipped Havana Club, a famed rum now at the center of a bitter trademark dispute.
Cuban-born jazzman Arturo Sandoval belted out notes at his Miami club as bar staff concocted Cuba Libres, mojitos and other Cuban cocktails, pouring out liberal measures of the rum many associate with sultry Havana nights.
Havana Club, which had been absent from US markets for decades because of a trade embargo on communist-run Cuba, is now making a comeback as a Puerto Rican rum.
Bacardi, which produces the new incarnation of the old favorite, insists its product is the real stuff, based on the original recipe it bought from the original owners after the communist government seized their assets in Cuba.
But Pernod Ricard � which sells Cuban-produced Havana Club around the world, except in the United States, in a joint venture with the Cuban government � says Bacardi has no rights to the brand and is misleading customers."