What images pop in your mind when you hear about Bacardi Rum? Maybe, you think about a clear and warm Caribbean beach, or maybe the latest Latin Party with lots of salsa and merengue or even you imagine yourself tasting a good pi¤a colada under a palm tree. But would you know what country was Bacardi Rum really born in? Mmmmm.Puerto Rico? No. Bacardi Rum was born in Cuba a couple of centuries ago. The following is a brief story of how Bacardi Rum became the world's best selling premium distilled spirit and why the roots of this Brand are unknown by many.
Origins
Rum making in the New World was indirectly begun by Christopher Columbus, who brought sugarcane from the Canary Islands to the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean. At the turn of the 19th century, rum was a liquor considered to be harsh, rough, unfinished, and cheap, once reserved for Caribbean pirates. It was not consumed by the elite society nor served in fine establishments.
In the late part of the 19th century, a wine merchant named Don Facundo Bacardi Mass¢ changed the popular perception of rum. Don Facundo who had emigrated from Spain to the colonial city of Santiago de Cuba started experimenting with the distillation of rum in his own home. His goal was to find a recipe that would "civilize" rum using European methods. He experimented with every step of the process, including the quality of the raw materials, the fermentation, and the distillation. He then added a step never tried before: mellowing the rum through charcoal filtration to remove impurities. Continuing his experimentation with oak barrel aging and blending techniques, Don Facundo catalogued his work like a scientist and evaluated his results like a connoisseur.
At last, Don Facundo Bacardi produced the type of spirit that met his standards. His rums were mellower and more refined than other rums. By comparison, the local rums seemed more brooding, heavy, and medicinal. Don Facundo's surprisingly drinkable new light rum and his dark, rich, aged sipping rums had a unique quality to them.
In the beginning, Facundo delighted his enthusiastic friends and neighbors with his new kind of rums. However, being a true entrepreneur, Facundo soon starting selling it. People would bring their empty bottles and jars to be filled. Still, he saw the larger business potential and purchased and old tin distillery containing a copper and cast iron alembic to start "mass production". He personally tested the quality of each bottle and signed it with his signature.
The popularity of the rum created by Don Facundo soared by word of mouth, but as most Cubans were illiterate at that time, an emblem was needed for everyone to recognize his rum, soon to be sold in its own bottle at local establishments. Bats were identified closely with rum, because during the night, berry-eating bats would crawl their way into the distillery. Considered to be a good luck omen in Cuban tradition the bats were allowed to stay and later were employed as trademark for Bacardi Rum, now still on every bottle. On February 4, 1862 Bacardi y Compa¤¡a (Bacardi & Company) was established.
The initial success of the Company did not last long as the Cuban economy floundered during the 1890s. The company was thrown into even greater turnmoil when the Cuban revolution to gain independence from Spain intensified and Don Facundo's son, Emilio, then head of the company, was jailed and later forced into exile. Luckily, after Cuba gained independence from Spain in 1902, the Bacardi business starting growing again.
Booming Business
For Bacardi, the "Roaring Twenties" were a period of growth and expansion. Prior to his death, Emilio Bacardi, Facundo's son, founded a new distillery in Santiago de Cuba. Meanwhile, the `Architect for Expansion', Don Facundo's son-in-law Henri Schueg, began to set the groundwork for growth in the trade. During that decade, he supervised the construction of two bottling plants, one in Barcelona, Spain and the other in New York City.
Meanwhile, due to the Prohibition, the bottling plant in New York City was forced to close its doors while Cuba was fast becoming the destination for many American tourists attracted by Bacardi's early advertising campaigns: "Come to Cuba and Bathe in Bacardi rum". Intellectuals, and artists from all over the world flocked to Havana, known at that time as the "Paris of the New World" to enjoy the extravagant life. Tourists flocked to the grand casinos, where they played roulette, smoked a Cuban cigar, sipped aged rums and enjoyed daiquir¡s, mojitos or cuba libres.
The 1930's were a time when Compa¤¡a Ron Bacardi S.A. continued its expansion outside of Cuba. Prior to the repeal of the Prohibition a bottling plant was opened in Mexico City and later a distillery was constructed in Puerto Rico. But, due to protectionism and unfair practices, the Company became involved in two court cases whose outcome would ultimately determine the future of the Bacardi rum brand.
While acting as the fourth president of the Company, Henri Schueg successfully defended the right for the Bacardi company to use its name on Bacardi rum produced in Puerto Rico. His second victory came in New York, during the Bacardi Cocktail case when it was determined that "a Bacardi Cocktail is only a Bacardi Cocktail when made with BACARDI rum."
The 1940s were ravaged by the upheaval of World War II. In New York City, the Company founded Bacardi Imports, which became the U.S. marketing and sales branch of the Puerto Rican company. In the 1950s, Bacardi started the construction of the La Galarza distillery in Mexico, a new distillery in Puerto Rico and a bottling plant on the outskirts of Mexico City. Plans began for the construction of another Bacardi distillery in Recife, Brazil.
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