This is the story of the - AND THEIR SPIRIT. Bacardí family, THEIR ATTITUDE
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This is the story of the
Bacardí family, TH EIR ATTITUDE ,
AN D TH EIR SPIRIT .
NEXT
IT’S THE STORY
of how, back in 1862, ONE MAN
and kept going until
HAD A V I S I O N ,
HE M ADE IT A REA L ITY.
It’s the story of how E ACH GE NE R AT I ON
followed their passion for rum
in a different way and turned
a S MAL L C U BAN BUSINESS
into a world-famous name, and a
FAMILY-MADE RUM into the
W O RLD ’S FAV OU RIT E RU M .
NEXT
the story of
BACAR DÍ FAMILY
THE
T HE S T ORY OF
DON FACUNDO
BACARDÍ MASSÓ
FAT E DI DN’ T HAND D O N FACUND O BACARD Í MASSÓ AN
E AS Y S TAR T. . .
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF T H E
RUM
MAK I NG R UM I S A HOT, STICKY BUSINESS – PARTICULARLY IF
IT ’ S T HE F I R S T T I ME YO U’VE TRIED...
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF T H E
BAT
I N T HE T R OP I CS, T HE ABUNDANCE O F FRUIT AND HEAT
ME ANS T HE R E AR E A LOT O F BATS...
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF
EL COCO
T HE BACAR DI COM PANY NOW HAS O FFICES IN CITIES ALL
AR OUND T HE WOR LD. BUT THEY ALL HAVE O NE THING...
REA D MORE
MOJITO
T HE S T ORY OF T H E
NE CE S S IT Y I S T HE MOTHER O F INVENTIO N – PARTICULARLY
W HE N YOU’ R E S AI LING ARO UND THE WO RLD WITH...
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF
EMILIO BACARDI’S FIGHT
FOR CUBAN INDEPENDENCE
T HE BACAR DÍ FAMILY HISTO RY IS RO OTED FIRMLY IN THE
F I E L DS AND S T R E ETS O F CUBA. AS THE FIRST MEMBER...
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF
EMILIO’S
CIVIC DUTIES
CUBA’ S WAR S OF IND EPEND ENCE FINALLY END ED IN AUG UST
1898. E MI L I O BACARD Í MO REAU RETURNED FRO M PRISO N...
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF
S OME COCK TAI L S ARE NAMED AFTER THE BARMAN WHO
I NVE NT E D T HE M, OR THE HOTEL WHERE THEY WERE FIRST...
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF T H E
AUTHENTIC
DAIQUIRI
I N HI GH S UMME R , C UBA G ETS HOT. BAD ENO UG H IF YO U’RE
OUT I N T HE OP E N, STILL PRETTY D RAINING IF YO U’RE...
REA D MORE
THE STORY OF
US
PROHIBITION
OCTOB E R 28T H, 1919, WAS A BAD DAY FO R G O O D TIMES. THE
US CONGR E S S PASSED THE VO LSTEAD ACT...
REA D MORE
THE STORY OF
PROHIBITION
US
TOURISM
PROHIBITION
I F YOU W E R E T R Y I NG TO MAKE ALCO HO L IN AMERICA,
P R OHI B IT I ON WAS CLEARLY TERRIBLE NEWS FO R BUSINESS...
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF
FACUNDITO
F OR DON FACUNDO’S G RAND SO N, ‘FACUND ITO ’, NOTHING
MAT T E R E D MOR E THAN THROWING A PARTY...
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF
BACARDI AND
MUSIC
T HE BACAR DÍ FAMILY ALWAYS KNEW THAT HOWEVER G O O D
T HE Y MADE T HE I R RUM TASTE, IT NEED ED TO BE ENJOYED...
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF
EL EDIFICIO
BACARDÍ
I N 1930, A NE W BAR O PENED IN HAVANA. D ESPITE BEING IN
T HE OF F I CE B UI L D ING O F AN INTERNATIO NAL CO MPANY...
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF
INTERNATIONAL
EXPANSION
I N 1910, E NR I QUE SCHUEG – D O N FACUND O BACARD Í
MAS S Ó’ S S ON-I N-LAW, AND THE THIRD PRESID ENT O F...
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF T H E
COMPANY’S
EXILE FROM CUBA
P E P Í N B OS CH WAS D O N FACUND O ’S G RAND SO N-IN-LAW.
AF T E R A DI F F I CULT 1940 S , CAUSED BY WO RLD WAR II...
REA D MORE
T HE S T ORY OF T H E
BACARDÍ
FAMILY
MOR E T HAN 150 Y E ARS AND EIG HT G ENERATIO NS LATER,
BACAR DI I S S T I L L A FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS...
REA D MORE
C H APT ER 1
T H E S T O RY O F
DON FACUNDO
BACARDÍ MASSÓ
FATE DIDN’T HAND DON FACUNDO BACARDÍ
MASSÓ AN EASY START.
DON FACUNDO BACARDÍ MASSO
Don Facundo travelled from his birthplace of Sitges, Spain to work with his
brothers in Santiago de Cuba. There he saved long and hard while working in
their general store. Eventually in 1844, Don Facundo was able to establish a
mercantile shop of his own.
Less than a decade later, disaster struck. In 1852, an earthquake tore through
the city, wrecking churches and triggering landslides. The earthquake,
aftershocks, and subsequent cholera outbreak claimed the lives of one in
three inhabitants of Santiago de Cuba, including Don Facundo’s son Juan
and daughter María.
Devastated, Don Facundo fled to Spain to keep his family safe. When he
returned to Cuba, the store that he had saved so long to create was looted,
and with economic conditions at rock bottom, he had no choice but to file
for bankruptcy.
But for Don Facundo in this darkest of times, there was an opportunity.
In the mid-19th century rum was viewed as nothing more than a cheap,
sugary firewater, but Don Facundo knew it could be much, much more than
this. With bankruptcy bringing a chance for a fresh start, there was nothing
to stop him pursuing his passion.
He persevered, spending all of his time developing and distilling at home,
never losing sight of what he instinctively felt rum could be.
And finally, in 1862, he was ready to unveil the drink that he had strived for.
Don Facundo’s light-bodied, refined rum was the product of the secret recipe
and rum-making process that he perfected over ten years.
AND STILL TODAY, every bottle of BACARDÍ
comes FROM THE ORIGINAL RECIPE.
B AC K HOME NEXT
C H AP T ER 2
T H E S T O RY O F T H E
RUM
MAKING RUM IS A HOT, STICKY BUSINESS –
PARTICULARLY IF IT’S THE FIRST TIME YOU’VE TRIED.
AND IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO GET IT RIGHT.
So when Don Facundo Bacardí Massó had
the idea for a light-bodied, refined rum, the
task called for some creative thinking.
Watching a friend making boiled sweets and
brandy, Don Facundo figured that the same
equipment could be put to a different
purpose, and he started to experiment. There
was no guidebook for working like this, and a
lot of trial and error followed.
With the equipment eventually mastered, REFINING THE RUM
Don Facundo then set about improving every
aspect of the production process: he tried Finally, he had the perfect combination of
local Cuban yeasts before settling on a ingredients to make sure that every glass of
particular strain, he tasted and tested until he BACARDÍ tasted the way it should. It took
found the best molasses for fermentation, and ten years, but by the time he’d finished, Don
he bought American white oak barrels to rest Facundo had a new standard for the entire
his rum bases in. rum industry.
B AC K HOME NEXT
C H AP T ER 3
T H E S T O RY O F T H E
BAT
IN T H E T R OP I C S, THE ABUNDANCE OF FRUIT AND HEAT
MEAN S T H E RE ARE A L OT O F BATS. T HE ORIGINAL BACARDÍ
DISTILLERY H AD C O L O N IE S O F TH E M , HANGI NG FR OM T HE R AFT ER S
AN D N E STIN G IN TH E DARKE ST COR NER S OF T HE R OOF.
Don Facundo Bacardí Massó’s wife, Doña
Amalia, was well aware of the positive
symbolism of bats. To Cuba’s extinct native
people, The Taínos, bats were regarded as the
possessors of all cultural goods. To the
Spanish, they were thought to bring good
health, fortune, and family unity.
More importantly, Doña Amalia was a
woman ahead of her time. She had already
worked out before anyone else that if her came stamped with the black outline of a bat
husband’s rum was going to reach a wider burned into its head. Everyone – from all
audience, it needed a strong visual identity. walks of Cuban society – could identify the
She was aware that a huge number of Cubans sign and be safe in the knowledge that where
couldn’t read or write, but if they saw a logo they saw the bat, their rum was guaranteed
they recognized they could still order their pure and light-bodied, and could only be
favorite drink. So from that point on – thanks BACARDÍ. And it’s the same to this day –
to Doña Amalia – every barrel of BACARDÍ there’s still a bat on every bottle.
B AC K HOME NEXT
C H AP T ER 4
T H E S T O RY O F
EL COCO
THE BACARDI COMPANY NOW HAS OFFI CES I N CIT I ES
ALL AROUND THE WORLD. BU T T HEY ALL HAVE ONE THIN G
I N C O M M O N – W H E RE V E R IT ’ S B A SED, YOU’LL FI ND A
COCONUT PALM.
The tradition traces its roots to Don Facundo
Bacardí Massó’s first distillery on Matadero
Street. His 14-year-old son, Facundo Bacardí
Moreau, planted the tree to commemorate
the opening of the distillery, and the tree
stood firm throughout the tumultuous
decades that followed. While earthquakes,
wars, and distillery fires broke out around it,
the palm kept flowering, just as the men
inside the plant kept on making BACARDÍ
rum.
The local legend was that the Bacardí family’s
company would survive in Cuba just as long
as the palm – or ‘El Coco’ – outside it lived.
This was the case until 1960 when Cuban original tree, Bacardi kept going strong. But
Revolutionary Armed Forces confiscated the palm trees are still found on Bacardi
company’s Cuban assets – the tree withered company premises worldwide as a
and died soon afterwards. Luckily, the local permanent reminder of where BACARDÍ
legend was just a story – even without the rum comes from and how it all started.
B AC K HOME NEXT
C H APT ER 5
T H E S T O RY O F T H E
MOJITO
N EC ESSITY IS TH E MOTHER OF INVENTION –
PAR T I C U LARLY WH E N YO U ’ RE SAIL I NG AR OUND T HE WOR LD W IT H
S I R FR AN C IS D RAKE IN SE RIO US N EED OF A REFRESHING DRINK –
AN D TH E O N LY TH IN G AVAIL AB LE I S AGUAR DI ENT E,
T H E C RU D E F O RE RUNNER OF RUM.
Richard Drake – who had held several notable public positions in
England – served under Sir Francis Drake and made this homebrew
palatable by adding sugar, lime and mint to it until the taste was masked.
The sailors named this concoction ‘El Draque’ and introduced it to Cuba
in the 16th century.
Fast-forward to the 19th century and people started to think that there
might be something worth saving from the old recipe. Nobody wanted to
continue drinking like a desperate sailor, but the same ingredients – mixed
with a very different, charcoal-filtered rum – could create something
completely new. The hunch paid off and the mojito was born – some
of the earliest surviving recipes for the cocktail list BACARDÍ as the
crucial ingredient.
By 1930 and the prohibition era, the drink was in its heyday. For those
travellers escaping America and prohibition, the mojito was the taste of
liberation. It remains just as popular today, and all over the world the
BACARDÍ mojito is the standard by which all other mojitos are judged.
B AC K HOME NEXT
C H AP T ER 6
T H E S T O RY O F
EMILIO BACARDI’S
FIGHT FOR
CUBAN INDEPENDENCE
THE BACARDÍ FAMILY HISTORY IS ROOTED FIRMLY IN
THE FIELDS AND STREETS OF CUBA. AS THE FIRST MEMBER
OF THE FAMILY BORN IN THE COUNTRY (A ND DON FACUNDO’S
EL D EST SO N ) , EMILIO BACARDÍ MOREAU WAS HEAVILY INVOLVED IN
THE BATTLE FOR CUBAN FREEDOM.
Between 1868 and 1898, Cuba fought three
liberation wars against their Spanish
colonizers. In 1895, during the final war (The
War of Independence), Emilio set up an
independent trading company. He then used
his role as a businessman to covertly raise funds
while travelling, and to liaise between the
revolution’s New York headquarters and the
field commanders in the hills outside Santiago
de Cuba.
This act of passing on communication was
highly dangerous; had he been caught, Emilio
would have been sentenced to death. However,
EMILIO BACARDÍ
occupying Spanish forces could never prove
Emilio’s involvement so, in 1879, – unable to
pass a death sentence – they threw him in
prison instead.
Following a second arrest in 1896, Emilio was
separated from his family, and exiled to prison
in Spanish North Africa.
B AC K HOME NEXT
C H AP T ER 7
T H E S T O RY O F
EMILIO’S
CIVIC DUTIES
CUBA’S WARS OF INDEPENDENCE FI NALLY ENDED I N
AU GUS T 18 9 8 . E M IL IO BACARD Í M O R EAU R ET UR NED FR OM P R I S ON
TO FI N D H I S H O M E TOWN O F S A N T I AG O DE CU B A DEVAS TAT ED:
U N EM P LOY M E N T WAS RIF E , AN D TH E CIT Y ’S I NFR AS T R UCT UR E WAS
ON T H E B R IN K O F TOTAL C O L L APSE. DESPI TE THI S, THE B ACA R DI
C O M PAN Y H AD SURVI VED.
The chaos of the war years and his time in
prison had done nothing to dent Emilio’s
enthusiasm for politics, and both local people
and the American military (who had fought
alongside the Cubans) viewed him as having a
cool head. So, at the end of the war, Brigadier
General Leonard Wood appointed him Mayor
of Santiago. The pair worked on everything
from public education to street cleaning, in a
campaign to get Santiago de Cuba rebuilt and
working again.
The program proved so successful that, when
elections were introduced in the country in
1901, Emilio became the first Cuban to be
freely voted in by his fellow countrymen as
Mayor of Santiago. He went on to become a
senator in 1906, and devote the rest of his life
to building everything from hospitals to public
parks, for the people to enjoy. Throughout wars,
prison, politics, and the family business, Emilio
worked towards the same goal – that life was
good, but could always be improved.
B AC K HOME NEXTC H APT ER 8
T H E S T O RY O F
THE
CUBA LIBRE
S O ME CO CKTAILS ARE NAMED AFTER THE BARMAN WHO INVENTED
THEM, OR THE HOTEL WHERE THEY WERE FIRST POURED. NOT MANY
WERE INSPIRED BY A REVOLUTIONARY WAR CRY.
The War of Independence ended with Cuba
finally liberated from Spain following
America’s intervention in the conflict. At the
end of the war, the Mambises soldiers from
the Cuban Liberation Army were already
drinking a rough mixture of water and brown
sugar that they called the Cuba libre (‘free
Cuba’) after their liberation salute. But with
independence – and the arrival of the U.S.
Army Signal Corps – the drink got an
upgrade. In 1900 an American soldier was
drinking at The American Bar in Havana
when he combined BACARDÍ rum with cola
and a squeeze of a fresh lime. Raising his glass
with a shout of “¡Por Cuba libre!” (“To a free
Cuba!”), he was joined in his toast by others at
the bar. With the improved taste the name
stuck and this Cuban-American collaboration
went on to become one of the most popular
POR CUBA LIBRE
cocktails in the world. Not a bad legacy for a
soldier’s call to arms.
B AC K HOME NEXTC H APT ER 9
T H E S T O RY O F T H E
AUTHENTIC
DAIQUIRI
IN HIGH SUMMER, CUBA GETS HOT. BAD ENOUGH
IF YOU’RE OUT IN THE OPEN, STILL PRETTY DRAINING IF
YOU’RE IN THE SHADE. BUT E V E N WOR SE IF YOU’RE DEEP
UNDERGROUND, DIG GIN G IN A M IN E .
In 1898, an American engineer called
Jennings Stockton Cox was in the town of
Daiquirí, overseeing the exploration for iron
ore. The miners were already receiving a
monthly ration of BACARDÍ rum to keep
their spirits up after stints underground, but
after experiencing the heat first-hand,
Jennings fancied something even cooler. So
one evening in the mines’ dining room, he
set about mixing the local BACARDÍ rum
with lime juice and sugar, and shaking
vigorously over ice. The drink was a hit with
the miners, and quickly spread elsewhere.
You might not be digging underground in a
Cuban summer, but when you’re feeling the
heat it takes more than a beer to refresh you.
E N J OY I N G A R E F R E S H I N G C U B A L I B R E
B AC K HOME NEXTC H APT ER 1 0
THE STORY OF
US PROHIBITION
OCTOBER 28 TH , 1919, WAS A BAD DAY FOR GOOD
TIMES. THE US CONGRESS PASSED THE VOLSTEAD ACT – BETTER
KNOWN AS PROHIBITION AND IT BECAME ILLEGAL TO MAKE,
TRANSPORT, IMPORT, EXPORT OR SELL ALCOHOL IN AMERICA.
C R AT E S O F B A C A R D Í R U M
Selling the rum wasn’t an option, but destroying it was just wrong. It was
Don Facundo’s son-in-law Enrique Schueg who came up with a solution.
As boss of Bacardi, Schueg announced the sale of 60,000 shares in the
BACARDÍ U.S. Bottling Company. Following this announcement the
company was closed down with each shareholder given one case of rum per
share by way of compensation. The new shareholders were happy, Schueg
had spread the word about BACARDÍ, and not a drop had been wasted.
B AC K HOME NEXTC H APT ER 1 1
THE STORY OF
PROHIBITION
TOURISM
I F Y O U W ER E T RYIN G TO MAKE ALCOHOL IN AMERICA,
PROHIBITION WAS CLEARLY TERRIBLE NEWS FOR BUSINESS. BUT IF
YOU WERE MAKING RUM SOMEWHERE CLOSE BY – SOMEWHERE
HOT, WITH BEAUTIFUL BEACHES, THE BEST NIGHTLIFE AND A
PLANE DELIVERING YOU STRAIGHT FROM THE U.S.A.
– IT SUDDENLY DIDN’T SEEM SO BAD.
Soon after Prohibition kicked in, tourists
were heading to Cuba in vast numbers. An
airline even ran advertisements telling
customers to ‘Fly to Cuba and bathe in
BACARDÍ rum’, while Havana was named
‘The unofficial United States saloon’ by
Fortune Magazine. And when the
Americans arrived, the bars were waiting.
At El Edificio Bacardi new arrivals would
often be greeted by ‘Pappy’ Valiente – a
legendary salesman – who made sure guests
tasted mojitos, daiquiris and Cuba Libres
the way they were supposed to be made, in
the bar’s authentic black and gold Art Deco
surroundings. And in case the new arrivals
had left anyone behind, the Bacardi
company printed up a series of specially
designed postcards that they could send
home to show exactly what was so special
about Cuba; and just what they were
raising a glass to.
B AC K HOME NEXTC H APT ER 1 2
T H E S T O RY O F
FACUNDITO
FOR DON FAC U N D O ’ S G RAN D SO N, ‘FACUNDITO’, NOT HI NG
MAT T ER ED M O RE TH AN TH ROWIN G A PAR T Y. W HEN HE S TAGED
H I S AN N UAL E V E N T AT V IL L A E LV IR A HE I NVIT ED EVERYONE –
LITERALLY THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF SANTIAGO DE CUB A .
FAC U N DITO SU PPL IE D TH E F O O D, T HE M US I C, AND ENOUGH
BA C A R D Í R UM F OR EVERYO NE.
HIS EPITAPH
IN THE NEW YORK
TIMES SUMMED HIM UP:
‘ONE OF THE MOST
POPULAR MEN
IN CUBA.’
If the house got too full, they’d just open the gates and let the party spill out
onto the streets. And if anyone couldn’t make it, the party could come to them.
The most popular musicians of the day (some personal friends of Facundito) were
put in an open top car and driven around the city, playing to the crowds.
Sadly, Facundito died young, but his epitaph in The New York Times summed
him up: ‘One of the most popular men in Cuba.’
B AC K HOME NEXTC H APT ER 1 3
T H E S T O RY O F
BACARDÍ AND
MUSIC
T H E BACARD Í FAM ILY ALWAYS K NEW T HAT HOW EVER
GOOD TH E Y MAD E TH E IR RU M TAS T E, IT NEEDED TO B E
EN JOY E D IN TH E RIG H T ATM O S P HER E. AND I N CUBA ,
T H E RIG H T ATM O SPH E RE F O R R ELAX I NG US UALLY
M E AN T TH AT MUS IC WAS P LAYING .
In the 1940s and ‘50s, this was delivered to the island’s homes and bars
via the radio. And, knowing what their listeners liked, the CMQ station
named a hugely popular program dedicated to the best new music of the
day: The BACARDÍ Hour.
As the technology changed, Bacardi adapted. The company went on to
support local musicians through TV talent shows, to create carnivals, and
to eventually sign artists to its own record label. This was partly about
celebrating where Bacardi had come from, but also about the fact that
music and partying were inseparable in Cuba. Never more so than at
Christmas, when the Bacardi-sponsored, island-wide dance program
would take over the airwaves until 4am. As the dancers recovered and the
commercial breaks started, the announcer would deliver a familiar
refrain: ‘Head to the bar and ask for a Cuba Libre for yourself – and one
for your companion!’
‘HEAD TO THE BAR AND ASK FOR A CUBA LIBRE FOR
YOURSELF – AND ONE FOR YOUR COMPANION!’
More than 150 years later, the Bacardi company continues to be a patron
of the arts, supporting emerging artists in music talent with a number of
initiatives.
B AC K HOME NEXTC H AP T ER 1 4
T H E S T O RY O F
EL EDIFICIO
BACARDÍ
I N 1 93 0, A N E W BAR O PE N E D IN H AVANA . DESPITE BEING I N T HE
OFFI C E B U I LD IN G O F AN IN TE RNATIONAL COM PANY, THIS WAS NO
PRIVATE MEMBERS’ CLUB. U P O N T HE M EZZANI NE LEVEL OF
EL EDIFICIO BACARDI ALL WERE WELCOME –
C ELEB R IT I E S AN D TO U RISTS M IXE D W IT H LOCALS AND S TAFF.
El Edificio was a major work of Art Deco
design, the outside built from red granite
and terracotta, the interior full of blue
mirrors, polished brass, and elevator
doors engraved with a golden rising sun.
Surrounded by these fixtures and fittings
the crowd could enjoy mojitos, daiquiris
and Cuba Libres with people from all
walks of Cuban society.
The building was one of the earliest
skyscrapers in the city and still stands to
this day. Bacardi itself might not be based
there anymore, but the work of Cuban
EL EDIFICIO BACARDÍ
architecture that they gave to Havana still
stands. And at the very top of its central
tower, the BACARDÍ bat with
outstretched wings still keeps watch
over the city.
B AC K HOME NEXTC H AP T ER 1 5
T H E S T O RY O F
INTERNATIONAL
EXPANSION
I N 1 91 0, EN R IQUE S C HUEG – DON FACUNDO BACAR DÍ
MAS S Ó’S SO N - IN - L AW, AN D TH E T HI R D P R ES I DENT OF T HE
BACAR DI C O M PAN Y – D E C ID E D TO EXPAND B ACARDI OUTSIDE
OF ITS NATIVE COUNTRY. TH IS HAD NEVER B EEN DONE B Y A
C U BAN C O M PAN Y BE F O RE , AN D S CHUEG FI R S T OP ENED A
FAC I LIT Y IN BARC E L O NA , TH E N BE AT HAR S H US TAR I FFS B Y
S ET T IN G U P SH O P IN TH E HEART OF MANHATTAN.
In 1928, in their riskiest expansion, he sent his nephew-in-law Pepín Bacardí
Fernández to Mexico to set up a new operation. The early days in Mexico were
tough, and after two years Fernández had died from pneumonia and been
replaced by Schueg’s son-in-law Pepín Bosch. Charged with closing down the
underperforming Mexican operation, Bosch instead borrowed 100,000 pesos
from the National City Bank of Mexico and in 1931 opened the company’s
first distillery outside of Cuba. He invested his own money into a fleet of
trucks to speed up the nationwide delivery process and employed Texcoco
Indians to weave locally-popular wooden baskets around the glass rum bottles.
Bosch’s faith, local knowledge and refusal to quit paid off, and within a year,
80,000 cases of BACARDÍ had been sold in Mexico.
Bosch went on to manage the company’s US operations and to open an
additional distillery in Puerto Rico in 1936. These were undeniably turbulent
years for the company, but through invention and expansion the family stuck
to the task, creating Cuba’s first multinational company and ensuring that
whatever the future held in Cuba, the company would carry on.
B AC K HOME NEXTC H APT ER 1 6
T H E S T O RY O F T H E
COMPANY’S
EXILE FROM CUBA
PEPÍN BOSCH WAS DON FACUNDO’S GRANDSON-IN-LAW.
AFTER A DIFFICULT 1940S, CAUSED B Y WOR LD WAR I I HIT T I NG
AMER I CAN WH O L E SAL E RS, BO SC H T UR NED AR OUND T HE BACAR DI
C OMPAN Y ’ S F O RTU N E S WH IL E OV E RSEEI NG OP ER AT I ONS I N M EX I CO.
T H R OU G H O U T TH E 1 9 5 0 S, H E D OUB LED RU M SALES IN
MEX IC O, A N D GR EW THE CO M PANY.
Then in 1960, Cuba’s revolutionary government seized control of all
foreign-owned properties on the island. Even Bacardi, by this time an icon of
Cuban patriotism, was targeted by the government. This was a huge shock to a
company that was Cuban-owned, well run, organized, and philanthropic.
In total, 400 privately-held properties were confiscated without compensation.
The Bacardi Cuban assets were put in government hands; army officers headed
to the Havana headquarters with an expropriation document to seize the
company’s assets.
However, the building the army arrived at was actually just the sales office. The
real office was on the other side of the country in Santiago de Cuba. This didn’t
save the Bacardi company from being seized, but the mistake did give the
BACARDÍ Master Blenders sufficient time to destroy the secret yeast strain
used to make BACARDÍ rum. The family kept the recipe, but lost almost
everything else – distilleries, breweries, offices, warehouses, ageing rum stocks,
and even their family homes. All of their assets in Cuba were illegally confis-
cated without compensation by the Revolutionary government, and the family
went into exile.
But Pepin Bosch came to the rescue. It turned out that back in the 1950s he
had registered the BACARDÍ trademark outside of Cuba. So, having already
opened up in other countries, Bacardi could legally continue to produce their
rum worldwide. For thirty years these companies he had registered abroad
were beyond the reach of the Cuban government, and could carry on making
rum, until they were reunited into one company in the early 1990s. Foresight,
planning – and a healthy dose of luck – all combined to make Pepín Bosch the
company’s savior.
B AC K HOME NEXTC H AP T ER 1 7
T H E S T O RY O F T H E
BACARDÍ
FAMILY
M O R E T H A N 1 5 0 Y EARS AND
EIGHT GENERATIONS LATER , BACAR DI I S S T I LL A
FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS AND I S
STILL MAKING RUM.
The project that Don Facundo BacardíMassó started in a small tin roof
distillery in Santiago de Cuba has taken the ideas and passions of its founding
family worldwide. But under current chairman Facundo L. Bacardi – the
great-great grandson of founder Don Facundo Bacardí Massó – much remains
the same: the signature strain of yeast is still in use; the family recipe is still a
closely guarded secret; and the spirit which saw Bacardi through every
challenge is still in every bottle of rum that it makes.
THE BACARDÍ LEGACY LIVES ON.
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