¿Cuba? Si. ¿Libre? No.

In the introduction to And a Bottle of Rum, I wrote a bit about the Cuba Libre bar and restaurant in downtown Philadelphia. I liked the place — it offered a very good selection of rums (about 65 varieties), and nice explanatory menu introducing different types of rum cocktails. It also had a comfortable neighborhood bar feel to it, if your neighborhood was old Havana.

A bigger, brasher sister property with the same name opened three years ago in a casino in Atlantic City. I was transiting through New Jersey the other day and made a detour to see how it compared to the original.

Short answer: it doesn’t. The Atlantic City Cuba Libre has in its sights a more mass market and transitory audience, which makes sense since anchors a heavily themed section of the Tropicana Hotel called “The Quarter.” (What quarter, I wondered? Latin Quarter? French Quarter?) The interior is fun in that Las Vegas faux exotica kind of way, and everything is supersized — the soaring interior, the loud Cuban soundtrack, even my bartender must have been six-foot-five.

But the rum drinks? Very disappointing. Cuba Libra Atlantic City doesn’t have the depth of the shelves at the Philadelphia property (Matusalem was about exotic as it got here), and the cocktail menu leans heavily toward sugary drinks and flavored rums. I counted 15 “mojitos,” including classic, watermelon, pineapple, passionfruit, and cherry (made, lord help us, with Three Olives cherry vodka — wasn’t I just writing facetiously about the impending invasion of vodka mojitos?). There was also an “Energy Mojito” made with Red Bull. If you’re looking for proof that mojitos are the new martini, and not in a good way, look no further.

I ordered a Caballito — described on the menu as a Cuban Manhattan — made with the house label dark rum, sugar cane juice, mint, lime, sweet vermouth and a cherry. (Well, the cherry promised on the menu didn’t actually appear the drink.) The drink was a chore to finish — watery, sweet, and with hardly any hint of rummy goodness.

A few minutes later, a customer came to the bar from his table to complain about his mojito — it just was uninspired and uninteresting, he said, claiming to be from Cuba and knowledgeable about mojitos. The bartender heard him out, then said, “I guarantee you, sir, that your drink has the full ounce-and-a-quarter in it.”

The full ounce and a quarter? For $9? The man asked if the bartender could add a dollop more of rum to give the drink a little actual flavor. Sure, the bartender said — $8 for another shot.

The man shook his head sadly and walked away.

Which is pretty much what I did after finishing my drink.

Cuba Libre, Atlantic City