History of Bacardi

In the beautiful port city of Santiago de Cuba, a small family enterprise purchases a distillery and revolutionizes rum-making on February 4, 1862.

The first samples of a smooth, light-bodied spirit - what the world now knows as BACARDI premium rum - originated from a humble tin-roof distillery with bats in the rafters.

Working with close family members, founder Don Facundo Bacardí Massó pioneered key rum-making techniques, including the isolation of a single strain of yeast from nearby sugarcane fields. This closely guarded ingredient delivers the consistent quality and taste that makes BACARDÍ rums the world’s favorite and is still used today.

The new BACARDÍ blends were a delight to Cuban residents who had known only the harsh and fiery local "ron." They welcomed the taste of smooth, mixable rums branded with an elegant and intriguing black bat on the label.

It was Don Facundo’s wife, Amalia, who suggested using a bat for the company logo. It was an insightful choice, because according to Cuban and Spanish lore, bats symbolize good health, good fortune and family unity. Soon this revolutionary, smooth-bodied rum became known as "the rum of the bat."

Another fascinating Bacardi symbol: El Coco, a coconut palm planted prominently at the opening of the distillery by the founder’s son. As its roots took hold so did a popular legend: "... the Bacardi company will survive in Cuba so long as the coconut palm lives ..."

While the rum quickly began winning awards for quality and technical innovation, the new company faced major adversities: earthquakes, epidemic disease and financial distress. But the Bacardi family persevered ...

During the 1890s, Don Facundo’s third son, Jose, opened a sales office in the city of Havana.

The unique, light balance of BACARDÍ rum inspired simple, thirst-quenching mixers to combat the Caribbean heat.

An American engineer working in Cuba invented the BACARDÍ Daiquiri in 1898. He offered it as a refreshing treat for his copper-mining crews, using fresh-squeezed local lime juice, sugar, shaved ice and BACARDÍ Superior rum.

In 1900, American soldiers celebrating victory after the Spanish-American War requested their Coca-Cola® be mixed with BACARDI rum. They toasted to a free Cuba, introducing the Original Cuba
Libre

These and other popular BACARDÍ rum cocktails helped the Company flourish. In 1910, Bacardi became Cuba’s first multinational company, opening a facility in Barcelona, Spain and, soon after, another in New York City.

By the 1930s, Bacardi owned facilities in Mexico and Cataño, Puerto Rico — now the largest premium rum distillery in the world.

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LOGO

In the roof of the building lived a family of fruit bats, considered to be a good luck omen in Cuban mythology. To this day, the official logo of the Barcardi Company bears the likeness of a fruit bat in flight.