Museum of Rum is situated in the historic district of Habana Vieja ("old Havana"), the museum is housed in a renovated 18th-century "solar" (colonial townhouse).

Downstairs is a shady patio, with its broad stone columns and ferns, yuccas and potted palms. A bell signals the start of the museum tour, and you follow the guide up a flight of stone steps.

The first landing presents a view of the cooper shop, demonstrating the craftsmanship required to build and prepare the oak casks inside which the fine rums will age. An upstairs gallery features an authentic mule-driven cane mill used in the earliest "ingenios" (sugar refineries).

A historically accurate model of a steam locomotive reminds us that Cuba was the first country in Latin America to use a railway for the transport of sugar cane. The next door leads to a much larger model, the achievement of a master Cuban craftsman. This masterpiece captures the essence of the great sugar refineries and rum distilleries, whose immense chimneys rise as landmarks over the Cuban countryside.

Entry fee: 7 Cuc (around 6 €)