Skip advertisement Advertisement

Cubano

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (84)
Cubano image
Measurements in:
Serves:
1
Ingredients
1 fl oz Caribbean blended rum aged 6-10 years
1 fl oz Amaro Montenegro
1 fl oz Cherry (brandy) liqueur
12 drop Chocolate bitters

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above.

How to make

Glass

Photographed in an Urban Bar Fluet Old Fashioned 34cl

Prepare

  1. Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.

Method

  1. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  2. STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).

Garnish

  1. EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Cubano contains 268 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.5 standard drinks
  • 22.76% alc./vol. (45.51° proof)
  • 20.6 grams of pure alcohol

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

History

There are numerous cocktails named Cubano; this recipe is so named because it was originally based on Havana Club 7-year-old Cuban rum. It was discovered at a bar in Glasgow, Scotland, by fellow Discerning Drinker Robin Lee, but its origins are unknown.

Review

A tasty digestivo/late-night sipper that's just on the sweet side of bittersweet.

Difford’s Shop logo
$4.12 per cocktail*

Makes a minimum of 25 cocktails.
Shipping and applicable tax calculated at checkout.


Orders are processed by a licensed Fulproof retailer. The buy now button is added simply for convenience.

Checkout

* May not include all ingredients. Price per cocktail is an estimate based on cost of one cocktail with ingredients shown above and does not include shipping.

Visit Difford’s Shop USA

Gallery

Comments & Discussion

Sebastian Rykowski
I recently made it with homemade cherry liqueur (more fresh fruit flavor) and 15-year-old rum (lots of old barrel flavor). To balance out the frivolous freshness, I added some Fee Brothers tobacco bitters. I feel like I got exactly what you'd expect from a drink called Cubano. Cheers
score: 1
Rick Stark
A little too sweet. Reduce the Cherry Heering by half.
score: 1
Caspian Berggren Premium Member
The initial mouthfeel is incredibly thick, like syrup, but it's surprisingly not that sweet. The bitterness and the rum counteracts the amount of sugar that I'm sure must be in there. I actually really like the flavour though. The chocolate, rose and cherry are obviously there but there's enough complexity to want you to sip more. Maybe dial the Heering back a bit in favor of the rum if you want to reduce the sweetness but to me it's balanced as is.
score: 1
Dan Casselman
It looked like it would be to sweet for my taste so I kept the same volume and dropped the Cherry Heering and Amaro to 20 ml each. It was still very tasty and rich. I'll keep using the drier version, its a keeper.
score: 1
Stephen C
Cherry heering dominated and was bit too sweet.
score: 3
Andrew G
I didn't have Heering or an equivalent, so I subbed in cherry bitters (1/2 oz) plus a maraschino cherry (with syrup) for sweetness.

Very happy with the result, can dial in your preferred sweetness with more or less syrup.
score: 1
Andy Parnell-Hopkinson
Tried twice and approve, but next time I'm trying Cuban rather than Jamaican as I think it dominates the other flavours.
score: 1
Andy Parnell-Hopkinson
I see I had the same reservation with the closely related Vanessa Polk. Maybe it's just me.
score: 2

View 6 comments and discussion

See more...

After dinner/digestif Cocktails

After dinner/digestif Cocktails image

After dinner or digestif cocktails, or digestive cocktails, often contain bittersweet liqueurs.

View more

Autumn/fall Cocktails

Autumn/fall Cocktails image

Cocktails using ingredients or appropriately named to suit serving during the Autumn/Fall season.

View more

Bittersweet (e.g. Negroni) Cocktails

Bittersweet (e.g. Negroni) Cocktails image

Bittersweet cocktails are often made with Italian red bitter or amari liqueurs.

View more

Nightcap/sipping Cocktails

Nightcap/sipping Cocktails image

Cocktails suited to late-night drinking, often more spirit-forward and rich in style.

View more

Winter Cocktails

Winter Cocktails image

Cocktails with a winter theme, often served hot.

View more
Difford’s Shop logo
$4.12 per cocktail*

Makes a minimum of 25 cocktails.
Shipping and applicable tax calculated at checkout.


Orders are processed by a licensed Fulproof retailer. The buy now button is added simply for convenience.

Checkout

* May not include all ingredients. Price per cocktail is an estimate based on cost of one cocktail with ingredients shown above and does not include shipping.

Visit Difford’s Shop USA

Beach House

Beach House Image

Reminiscent of a Naked & Famous turned tropical.

View more

Borough

Borough Image

A Manhattan variation created to help promote US-made Dubonnet Rouge, but is best made with French Dubonnet Red, or indeed another red quinquina.

View more

Roman Punch

Roman Punch Image

This recipe (by yours truly in August 2026) combines elements from various vintage Roman Punch recipes to produce a cooling fruity sour laced with...

View more

The Aftermath

The Aftermath Image

Most bartenders would stir this cocktail, as per Robin's original recipe. However, when shaken, this cocktail develops an attractive foamy head and a...

View more

Difford's House

Difford's House Image

My old tom gin version of the classic Holland House, mostly leaning on the recipe in Harry Craddock's 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book.

View more

Tango (by Mattia Capezzuoli)

Tango (by Mattia Capezzuoli) Image

A Cleansing riff on a Paloma with subtle bittersweetness.

View more