Bacardi (Bakardi)

For at least the past 60 years, Bacardi has been the most popular brand of rum in the world. It is possible that she deserved this honorary title much earlier, just in the old days, statistical studies were not as comprehensive as they are now.

Among the giants of the alcohol industry, Bacardi ranks fourth, behind only Diageo, Pernod Ricard and United Spirits in terms of alcohol sales. The founder of the company, Senor Facundo Bacardi, developed the technology for making light Caribbean rum, which is known and loved by connoisseurs on all continents.

History of Bacardi rum

In the first half of the 1830th century, Cuba was a rich and prosperous Spanish colony, where poor people from the European provinces of the kingdom came in search of a better life. At the invitation of relatives in 16, four Bacardi Masso brothers arrived in Santiago de Cuba. One of them, Facundo, was only XNUMX years old. Their father was a simple bricklayer from the Catalan town of Sitges, so the young people only had enough money for the road.

With the help of relatives, the brothers opened a tiny haberdashery shop in Santiago. As Don Facundo later recalled, at first the profits from trade were only enough to keep from starving. However, after 15 years, Bacardi already owned one of the best stores in the city.

In 1843, Don Facundo married Amalia Moreau, a wealthy Creole woman. Thanks to his wife’s dowry, he founded his own trading company.

Things were going great until in 1852 Santiago was destroyed by a strong earthquake. Thousands of people were left homeless, a cholera epidemic broke out in the city. Senor Bacardi’s two younger children also became infected. To save themselves, the family was forced to leave for Sitges. When the Bacardi returned to Santiago three years later, the stores and warehouses they owned were completely looted. All the savings were spent on moving across the ocean, so in 1855 Don Facundo had to declare himself bankrupt.

But soon Señora Amalia inherited a small estate from her godmother. Don Facundo met one of the tenants, José Leon Butelier, who served as manager of a cognac distillery and experimented in his spare time with ways to purify rum.

In the middle of the XNUMXth century, slaves worked on sugarcane plantations in the Spanish colonies. As a result of another uprising in Haiti, sugar production stopped there, and Cuba became the main supplier to Europe. A real sugar boom began on the island, new factories were built everywhere. But a problem arose: where to put the molasses.

Cheap low-quality molasses rum in Cuba was driven in almost every estate. They called it aguardiente (translated from Spanish – “fire water”, and simply – moonshine). Mostly the poor drank this rum, and it was strictly forbidden to export aguardiente to the mainland by royal decree, “so as not to contribute to the deterioration of morals.”

But in the 50s, the treasury was so empty that the king canceled the previous prohibitions and announced a reward to those who find a way to purify aguardiente and turn it into a drink “which would not be shameful to be consumed by the best people in the country.” This is the award that Señor Butelier sought to receive.

Don Facundo came from a province famous for its wine-making traditions. Even aguardiente was driven there from grape pomace. In the most difficult times, Bacardi refused to sell cheap molasses swill. But he willingly took part in the experiments of a new friend.

Over the next seven years, Bacardi and Boutelier made four discoveries:

• found a resistant strain of top yeast, similar to cognac. The fact is that Cuban cane has a high sugar content. Because of this, the temperature of the wort can rise uncontrollably, which kills the normal yeast and interrupts the fermentation process. The continuous fermentation method discovered by Bacardi and Boutelier is still in use today;
• invented the technology of cleaning aguardiente with special activated carbon obtained from the wood of tropical trees and coconut shells;
• calculated the optimal proportions of mixing rum from two components: a practically tasteless base (purified by Aguardiente) and a special distillate (Redestillado), which gives the rum a pleasant aftertaste;
• developed a technique for aging rum in white oak barrels.

Of course, the experimenters had to support their families (Bacardi had a sixth child in 1861). Light, slightly sweet rum, which was distilled on a small alambic owned by Butelier, was successfully sold in his shop by one of Don Facundo’s brothers. From clients there was no release.

In 1862, the partners acquired the Nunes distillery and registered a new company. On the opening day of the plant, Bacardi’s 14-year-old son, Facundo Jr., planted a coconut tree (El Coco). The boy’s father spoke prophetic words: “Los Bacardí de Cuba va a sobrevivir hasta que el El Coco vivir” (“Bacardi will live in Cuba while El Coco lives”). A few years later, Butelier retired, and Don Facundo bought out his share in the company.

In those days, most of the population of Cuba was illiterate (40% of the population of the island were slaves). Doña Amalia came up with an original way of advertising rum. For the Spaniards, the bat is a symbol of good luck and prosperity, for the Indians and blacks it is a symbol of unbreakable fidelity. In addition, fruit bats feed on pests and pollinate sugarcane flowers with their tails. A family of such mice has just made a nest under the roof of the distillery. Señora Amalia considered this a good omen.

Since then, a stylized image of a winged rodent has flaunted on a bottle of Bacardi rum. And the unread workers and sailors soon began to demand “el ron del murciélago” – “rum with a bat” in all bars.

To make Bacardi rum memorable for upper-class buyers, Don Facundo personally signed the label of each bottle.

royal rum

In 1877, the father of the family retired, passing the company to his three sons. The enterprise was headed by Emilio Bacardi – an educated person of advanced views, a journalist and a writer. He was a consistent supporter of Cuban independence and donated large sums to underground activities. After sending the women of the family to Jamaica, he joined the rebels. Don Emilio was captured and spent four years in prison for his beliefs, but he never betrayed them. When Spanish rule was replaced by an American protectorate at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, Bacardi continued to finance opposition parties.

The political struggle of the management did not interfere with the financial success of the company. In 1888, Queen Maria Cristina of Spain visited a liquor exhibition in Barcelona. Her Majesty liked Bacardi rum so much that she ordered that the manufacturing company be appointed the official supplier of the royal court.

In 1892, Maria Christina’s son, King Alfonso XIII, who was then 6 years old, fell ill with a fever. The child burned out from the high temperature. The court physician gave the boy some Bacardi rum, and the patient immediately fell asleep, and woke up completely healthy in the morning. The royal secretary wrote a letter of thanks to Don Emilio. Thus was born the motto of Bacardi rum: “El Rey de los Rones: El Ron de los Reyes” (“King of the Roma, Rum of Kings”).

Bacardi cocktails

All the most popular rum cocktails were created on the basis of Bacardi rum. One of them, Cuba Libre (rum with Coke), was first mixed by a US Army officer in 1900 to mark the end of the Spanish-American War. The invention of another cocktail, “Daiquiri” (rum with lime juice and sugar), is attributed simultaneously to the American mining engineer Mr. Cox, who worked in the mining town of Daiquiri, and the famous sommelier from the Floridita La Habana bar, Constantin Rubalcaba Werth. The first time such a cocktail was served to customers in this bar was in 1898.

John F. Kennedy and Ernest Hemingway confessed their love for the Daiquiri. The famous writer had friendly relations with representatives of the Bacardi family. When he received the Nobel Prize in 1954, the company’s management organized a celebration in his honor. Especially for Hemingway, who suffered from diabetes, the sugar in the cocktail was replaced with Maraschino cherry liqueur.

The Mojito cocktail was invented by sailors long before the company was founded. But it was Mojito with Bacardi rum that became the most popular Cuban liquor during the years of Prohibition in the United States.

The company’s competitors were not idle. In many bars, rum from other manufacturers began to be added to cocktails instead of Bacardi rum. In 1936, the company went to court, which issued a ruling that is still valid today: “Bacardi cocktails can only be prepared with Bacardi rum.”

Drunk Capital

In 1919, the United States passed a law prohibiting the production, transportation, sale and importation of alcohol into the country. In warehouses in New York, where Bacardi had a bottling factory, 60 cases of rum (000 bottles) remained. Senor Enrique Shug, the executive director of the company, came up with a way out: he registered a joint-stock company, declared the contents of the warehouses to be the authorized capital, sold the shares, and then divided the “authorized capital” among the shareholders. In New York, the expression “drunken capital” was in use for a long time.

It would seem that with the introduction of Prohibition, the alcohol-producing company had two options: to completely stop its activities in the country or to engage in smuggling. But the enterprising Cubans went the third way. Soon, all Americans visiting the island were given free postcards with images of Havana bars seductively shining with lights and captions that read: “Cuba is great. There is a reason. Bacardi.

Even more eloquent was a postcard with a huge bat, on the hind leg of which hung a cheerful Uncle Sam with a cocktail glass in his hand. On the card was written: “Forward, out of the desert!”.

Visitors sent free postcards to friends and relatives. Even meticulous American justice found no formal signs of alcohol advertising in these printed materials. But an estimated 90 US tourists visited Cuba every year during Prohibition to drink Bacardi rum. Many did so once a month, or even more often.

Triumph and betrayal

In 1944, the company was headed by a man who belonged to the Bacardi clan not by blood, but by spirit. José Bosch, husband of Enricetta Shug Bacardi (Don Emilio’s granddaughter), was noted for his business acumen and forethought. He believed that it was dangerous to concentrate all production in one place. The company, in addition to the Cuban enterprise, also had a Barcelona rum bottling plant, built in 1910. Senior Bosch modernized the existing production and opened two new distilleries: in Mexico and in Puerto Rico.

Don José (his friends called him Pepin) dreamed of overthrowing the corrupt Batista regime and carrying out democratic reforms. Since the 50s, Bacardi has generously funded Fidel Castro and his associates. Senor Bosch promised to keep jobs for all employees of the company who wished to join the Castro units in 1958. Having decided on an open confrontation with Batista, Don Pepin tried to secure the company. He re-registered all patents and technologies in the USA, and evacuated the documentation, the most expensive equipment and the yeast strain to Puerto Rico.

The Bacardi family reasonably expected that the victorious Fidel Castro would show elementary gratitude to those who helped him in difficult times. Confidence in the future was added by the fact that the daughter of the executive director of the company, Vilma Espin, married Raul Castro.

But in 1960, the Bacardi enterprises were nationalized, and family members who did not have time to leave the island ended up behind bars. Soon the hundred-year-old El Coco palm tree, planted on the opening day of the plant, withered.

Billionaires in exile

The company suffered serious losses: it lost a huge factory, warehouses, all stocks of rum aged in oak barrels. The main office from Santiago de Cuba had to be moved to San Juan (Puerto Rico). It was only thanks to the foresight of Senor Bosch that the Bacardi clan did not go bankrupt, like its competitor, the Arechabala family, which did not have time to create foreign branches of their company.

Later, Don Pepin admitted that having lost the “family nest”, the company received a powerful impetus to development. Already in the 60s, the most beautiful skyscraper Casa Bacardi was built in Miami, which is still shown to tourists as one of the attractions of the city. And the production complex in Cataño is called the “Cathedral of Roma”.

Senor Bosch firmly decided, if not to take revenge on the treacherous Castro brothers, then at least to thoroughly poison their existence. For 20 years, not a single anti-Cuban provocation was complete without the financial participation of the Bacardi clan. The company spent $10 million over 3 years just lobbying for sanctions laws against the Castro government.

Don Pepin’s successors adhere to the same principles. Even family members who were born in exile consider Cuba their homeland and believe that someday they will return there. Until now, the label of each bottle of Bacardi rum states: “The company was founded in 1862 in Santiago de Cuba.” And only at the end of the XNUMXth century, by a court decision, the proud inscription “Cuban rum” was replaced by an inconspicuous line: “Made in Puerto Rico.”

Bacardi Limited has significantly expanded its product range through the acquisition of several large enterprises, including the famous firm Martini & Rossi, the Cazadores tequila brand. Senor Facundo Bacardi (great-great-grandson of the founder), who became chairman of the company in 2005, always emphasizes that its employees try to preserve the history and cultural characteristics of the acquired brands.

However, rum is still the staple of Bacardi. The research center equipped with modern equipment is engaged in the creation of new varieties of the drink. In addition to Bacardi rum, the company produces the equally famous Havana Club rum, the recipe of which was bought from the Arechabala family in 1994. For the right to produce this drink, the company has been suing for more than 20 years with the French concern Pernod Ricard, which received permission to use the Havana Club brand from the Cuban government.

Today, the Bacardi clan has over 600 members. Every year on February 4th, the anniversary of the founding of the company, most of them gather in the assembly hall of the main office. In front of the building there is a bronze bust of Don Facundo Bacardi Masso, and next to the pedestal stands the El Coco coconut tree, planted in 1960.

Recipe for Papa Doble aka Hemingway’s Daiquiri:

• 125 ml of Bacardi Carta Blanca rum;
• 6 drops of Maraschino liqueur;
• 100 ml grapefruit juice;
• 50 ml lime juice;
• crushed ice.

Types of rum Bacardi

The following types of Bacardi rum and cocktails are produced:

• Bacardi Carta Blanca (Superior) – colorless transparent rum (40%). The drink has been produced since 1862 according to a recipe created by Facundo Bacardi. Rum has a light aroma of vanilla and oak, suitable for any cocktails;
• Bacardi Carta Oro (Gold) – golden rum (40%) with vanilla-caramel flavor. Banana, orange peel and milky toffee flavors smoothly turn into a warm aftertaste with an astringent note of burnt oak;
• Bacardi Carta Negra (Black) is a dark amber-colored rum (40%) with a caramel-vanilla flavor, mixed with notes of tropical fruits. There is a hint of molasses in the aftertaste;
• Bacardi Añejo – red-brown rum (40%) 6 years old. Its soft fruity-nutty taste is complemented by oak bitterness;
• Bacardi 1873 Solera is a dark amber rum (40%) 3 years old, prepared according to an old recipe. Due to its very mild taste, the drink is recommended to be served as a digestif. They drink it in small sips, savoring it like cognac;
• Bacardi Gran Reserva 8 Años – 8-year-old red-amber rum (40%). On the palate, hints of plum, apricot, vanilla and nutmeg are intertwined;
• Bacardi Gran Reserva Maestro de Ron – colorless transparent rum double exposure (40%) with a hint of pear, red currant, honey and walnut;
• Bacardi 151° is a deep golden rum with a strength of 75,5%. The drink is fragrant with vanilla and oak, leaving a pleasant fruity aftertaste. It is recommended to dilute rum with water;
• Bacardi OakHeart is an amber-colored spiced rum (35%) with a burnt oak and dried fruit aroma. The velvety taste gradually reveals halftones of honey, vanilla and maple syrup;
• Bacardi OakHeart Smoked Cinnamon – OakHeart rum with the aroma of cinnamon and smoke;
• Bacardi OakHeart Bacardi Cold Brew Cola – OakHeart rum with a touch of cola;
• Bacardi OakHeart Bacardi Cherry Stout – OakHeart rum with smacks of smoke, cherries and malt;
• Bacardi Limon – colorless transparent rum (35%) with lemon flavor;
• Bacardi Raspberry – rum (35%) with raspberry flavor;
• Bacardi Coconut – rum (35%) with coconut flavor;
• Bacardi Tangerine – rum (35%) with the taste of tangerine (fruit of the citrus family);
• Bacardi Orange – rum (35%) with orange flavor;
• Bacardi Mango – rum (35%) with mango flavor;
• Bacardi Grapefruit – rum (35%) with grapefruit flavor;
• Bacardi Dragonberry – rum (35%) with the taste of pitaya (dragon pear);
• Bacardi Pina Colada;
• Bacardi Pina Colada Light;
• Bacardi Mojito;
• Bacardi Mojito Light.