The Bacardi Legacy: A Story of Revolution, Rivalries, and Resilience
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The Origins of Bacardi
Almost everyone has heard of Bacardi. It’s the the most sold rum globally, and has been holding down that top spot since becoming a commercial product in 1862. But few people know the journey filled with revolutions and tribulations that this spirits company has gone through to survive.
Before rum was a thing, aguardiente was the spirit being produced with sugarcane. On the surface, there isn’t a massive difference between the two, aguardiente is basically unfiltered rum, fresh off the still. It’s harsh, hard to drink, and not all that enjoyable–most would say. Facundo Bacardi must have agreed, as he was one of the first to tinker around with the filtration process, separating the harsher alcohols and creating a smoother, cleaner sipping spirit, what we now call light rum.
As soon as this new discovery started to circulate, it became wildly popular not just in Santiago, but this new rum quickly became one of Cuba’s top trade goods. Unfortunately, when supply surmasses demand, Facundo never had time to finish what he started, as pumping out as much rum as the people could drink never allowed him to return to perfecting the distillation process.
The Second Generation: Revolution in the Family
When it came time to pass the torch, Emilio Bacardi took the mantle. For Emilio, it was never about the rum, but what he could do with his rum company. Cuba wasn’t free, and he spent his early days as a poet, hanging with the revolutionaries, dreaming of a day where the country could again be theirs.
Again, instead of perfecting making a better rum, he went full-forced into funding the revolution, becoming a leader in the cause. Interestingly enough, during the wine blight in the 1850s, wine and cognac production came to a screeching halt. During this time, the world needed a new spirit, and many countries turned to Bacardi rum, including Spain, who Emilio himself was at war with back home.
It came to a point where Emilio would be attending a gala in Spain as the face of Bacardi, while all the while sending secret letters and orders to the revolutionary guard back home. He was almost caught for his insurgence numerous times, and spent years in prisons. But all that work paid off, as in 1898, Cuba was once again free, and Emilio found himself the new mayor of Santiago, his home town.
The Third Generation: Global Expansion
When it came time to pass the torch again, the Bacardi family unanimously agreed that no Bacardi heirs were suited to take the mantle. Instead, a long time family friend, and business manager of the brand took over the role of steering the ship.
During his time, he sought to make Bacardi the most sold spirit globally, and his biggest competition was the Russian-American vodka, Smirnoff. The Bacardi team tried to match the up-and-coming marketing techniques, seeing a huge bloom of success during prohibition, luring thirsty travelers over to Cuba to imbibe in peace.
While Bacardi became a global giant, it has always needed a lot of mix to be consumed enjoyably. This is largely because for Bacardi, it’s always been a story of supply and demand. Sixty years after the birth of the company, and they never had time to perfect the product that Facundo originally created. In the mid 1930s, a new Cuban competitor entered the market, Havana Club. A rum that many people agreed was significantly nicer to drink. But it wasn’t long before both of these surging rum companies had a similar enemy–Fidel Castro.
The Havana Club Rum Dispute
In 1959, Fidel Castro took control of Cuba, and his first order was to nationalize every business, including the rum giants, Bacardi and Havana Club. Both companies, and their entire families had to flee the country in exile, or they’d have had to give up all they had to the government.
For the Bacardis this meant war. The company quickly rebuilt in Miami, New York, and the Dominican Republic. For Havana Club, this meant defeat. They sold their licensing to the Bacardi family in hopes that someone could keep producing their beloved rum.
The Cuban government had a similar idea, as with Bacardi gone, the country needed to resume rum production. And so, they partnered up with the French conglomerate, Pernod Ricard, to begin producing a new Havana Club rum–and where would it be produced? At the old Bacardi distillery. Wild, right?This move led to countless court cases, laws lobbied by Bacardi, and even had a large impact on the trade embargo between Cuba and the United States.
A Global Spirits Empire
Today, Bacardi has grown from a single-family business into one of the world’s largest spirits companies, owning over 200 brands worldwide. However, critics argue that the focus has always been on sales rather than refining the product. Bacardi ages its rum for only the legally required one year, compared to Havana Club’s three years, yet both are priced similarly—making Havana Club the clear choice for those seeking a smoother rum.
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