Since last month, when President Obama announced his intentions to significantly alter US policy on relations with Cuba, there have been a lot of questions about how, exactly, that chilled standoff would thaw. Who would be able to travel to the island nation now, and for what purposes? How would visitors get there, given that no US carriers currently fly to Cuba? And, perhaps most pressingly, how much delicious Cuban rum and fat Cuban cigars would aficionados now be able to guzzle and smoke?Yesterday, the Obama administration clarified the situation, announcing in detail the steps the US will take to reestablish relations with Cuba. While the new rules—which go into effect today—fall short of officially lifting America's decades-old embargo (for that, Obama needs the cooperation of Congress, a dubious proposition), they go far towards freeing up the movement of people and goods between the two nations. Enticingly, the new provisions allow tourists returning from the island to bring back $400 worth of goods, $100 of which can go towards alcohol and tobacco. OK, that's actually a pretty paltry sum—it could buy you, perhaps, a few good bottles and box or two of cigars. Nevertheless, it got me thinking about all the boozy possibilities of an increased amount of Cuban rum in my (liquid) diet.Currently, those possibilities are extremely limited. Although most of us are quick to associate rum with Cuba, the trade embargo means that the brands we have access to here in the US are, without exception, distilled in other parts of the world. Bacardi's Havana Club rum name-checks the capital city right on its label, but the spirit is actually distilled in Puerto Rico. The bottle of rum gracing your home bar right now was probably distilled in the Caribbean, with its long history of growing and processing sugarcane: Appleton is made in Jamaica, Cruzan in St. Croix, Gosling's in Bermuda, for example. So it's only a very select group of Americans who have even tasted true Cuban rum.That will change, albeit slowly. The rum that will be allowed through US customs won't be eligible for resale, so your corner bar won't be able to serve you an authentic Cuba Libre anytime soon. But even though it's been decades since Cuba has been able to export its rum to the US, that doesn't mean its distilleries have shut down. Brands such as Cubay, Mulata, Varadero, and Santiago de Cuba are all still produced on the island and exported to countries including China, Spain and Italy. So travelers that meet the new criteria for visits to the country will be able to bring back a wide range of authentic Cuban rums, from clear to dark, young to aged, relatively low-proof to super hangover-inducing.I hope that one of my friends is among those lucky groups of travelers, and that they bring me back a bangin' bottle for me to splash into my daiquiris. And I'll take a hand-rolled cigar with that, please.
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