Ron Matusalem prides itself on being a Cuban style of rum with a history in Cuba they trace back to 1872 when two brothers, Benjamin and Eduardo Camp, together with a partner, Evaristo Álvarez opened a distillery in Santiago de Cuba. According to the information I found last April on the Matusalem website, the rum they were producing began to win acclaim by the first quarter of the 20th century. The distillery apparently operated until the 1960′s when due to the Cuban Revolution the Álvarez family was exiled, and the rum they made disappeared from the landscape.
The brand was resurrected by Claudio Álvarez Salazar, who is the great-grandson of Evaristo Álvarez. Of course, it was not possible, given the political situation in Cuba, for Claudio to produce or bottle the rum in Cuba. Apparently, it is produced (presumably by a third-party as Ron Matusalem does not own a distillery) in the Dominican Republic, and then bottled in Lawrenceburg, Indiana by Proximo Spirits.
The subject of this review, Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva 18 is not an 18-year-old rum as many people believe, rather it is aged according to what the Matusalem company calls a solera aging process. According to the website descriptions, the average age (not the youngest age) of the rum in the blend is 18 years.
You may click on the following excerpt to read my full review:
Review: Ron Matusalum Gran Reserva 18 Rum
Please enjoy my review which includes a nice recipe for well aged rums, The Rum Old Fashioned!
Cheers!
Ron Matusalem prides itself on being a Cuban style of rum with a history in Cuba they trace back to 1872 when two brothers, Benjamin and Eduardo Camp, together with a partner, Evaristo Álvarez opened a distillery in Santiago de Cuba. According to the 
The Matusalem Gran Reserva is a “Solera Blended” rum which means that the red “Solera 15 Blender” stamp on the bottle does not indicate the youngest rum in the blend, rather it denotes the age of the oldest rum in the blend. (
The Ron Matusalem company has a fascinating history dating back to 1872, when the brand was established by Benjamin and Eduardo Camp and Evaristo Alvarez. A marriage between Evaristo Álvarez daughter, and the son of Eduardo Camp, at the turn of the next century begat a family tradition of the original founders that has through five generations controlled the company. The family fled Cuba in the 1960s and reestablish the company on U.S. soil in the state of Florida. The reestablished company produces their Cuban style rum which is now blended in the Dominican Republic.
The Rum Howler Blog 