![Bacardi Building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Bacardi_Building.jpg)
Bacardi Limited (; ) is one of the largest privately held, family-owned
spirits companies in the world. Originally known for its Bacardi brand of white
rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels.
Founded in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
in 1862 and family-owned for seven generations, Bacardi Limited employs more than 8,000 people with sales in approximately 170 countries. Bacardi Limited is the group of companies as a whole and includes Bacardi International Limited.
Bacardi Limited is headquartered in
Hamilton, Bermuda
The City of Hamilton, in Pembroke Parish, is the territorial capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination. Its population of 854 (2016) is one of the sm ...
, and has a board of directors led by the original founder's great-great grandson, Facundo L. Bacardí, the chairman of the board.
History
Early history
Facundo Bacardí Massó, a Spanish wine merchant, was born in
Sitges
Sitges (, , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Spain, renowned worldwide for its Film Festival, Carnival, and LGBT Culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is known for its beaches, nightspot ...
,
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, on October 16, 1814, and emigrated to
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
, Cuba, in 1830. At the time, rum was cheaply made and not considered a refined drink, and rarely sold in upmarket taverns or purchased by the growing emerging middle class on the island. Facundo began attempting to "tame" rum by isolating a proprietary strain of yeast harvested from local sugar cane still used in Bacardi production today. This yeast gives Bacardi rum its flavour profile. After experimenting with several techniques for close to ten years, Facundo pioneered charcoal rum filtration, which removed impurities from his rum. Facundo then created two separate distillates that he could blend together, balancing a variety of flavors:
Aguardiente
(Spanish), or (Portuguese) ( eu, pattar; ca, aiguardent; gl, augardente), is a generic term for alcoholic beverages that contain between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). It originates in the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain) and in I ...
(a robust, flavorful distillate) and Redestillado (a refined, delicate distillate). Once Facundo achieved the perfect balance of flavors by marrying the two distillates together, he purposefully aged the rum in white oak barrels to develop subtle flavors and characteristics while mellowing out those that were unwanted. The final product was the first clear, light-bodied and mixable "white" rum in the world.
Moving from the experimental stage to a more commercial endeavour as local sales began to grow, Facundo and his brother José purchased a
Santiago de Cuba distillery on October 16, 1862, which housed a
still made of copper and
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
. In the rafters of this building lived
fruit bats – the inspiration for the Bacardi bat logo. It was the idea of Doña Amalia, Facundo's wife, to adopt the bat to the rum bottle when she recognized its symbolism of family unity, good health, and good fortune to her husband's homeland of Spain. This logo was pragmatic considering the high illiteracy rate in the 19th century, enabling customers to easily identify the product.
The 1880s and 1890s were turbulent times for Cuba and the company.
Emilio Bacardí Emilio Bacardi Moreau (1844–1922) was a Cuban industrialist, politician, and writer who managed the Bacardi Rum Company and served as the first democratically elected as mayor of Santiago.
Biography
Emilio was the son of Don Facundo Bacardi Mass ...
, Don Facundo's eldest son, known for his forward thinking in both his professional and personal life and a passionate advocate for Cuban Independence was imprisoned twice for having fought in the rebel army against Spain in the
Cuban War of Independence
The Cuban War of Independence (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). The final three months ...
.
Emilio's brothers, Facundo and José, and their brother-in-law Enrique 'Henri' Schueg, remained in Cuba with the difficult task of sustaining the company during a period of war. With Don Facundo's passing in 1886, Doña Amalia sought refuge by exile in
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...
. At the end of the Cuban War of Independence during the US occupation of Cuba, "The Original
Cuba Libre" and the
Daiquiri cocktails were both created, with the then Cuban based Bacardi rum. In 1899, Emilio Bacardí became the first democratically elected mayor of Santiago, appointed US General
Leonard Wood.
During his time in public office, Emilio established schools and hospitals, completed municipal projects such as the famous Padre Pico Street and the Bacardi Dam, financed the creation of parks, and decorated the city of Santiago with monuments and sculptures.
In 1912, Emilio and his wife travelled to Egypt, where he purchased a
mummy (still on display) for the future Emilio Bacardi Moreau Municipal Museum in Santiago de Cuba.
In Santiago, his brother Facundo M. Bacardí continued to manage the company along with Schueg, who began the company's international expansion by opening bottling plants in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
(1910) and New York City (1916). The New York plant was soon shut down due to
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
, yet during this time Cuba became a hotspot for US tourists, kicking off a period of rapid growth for the Bacardi company and the onset of cocktail culture in America.
In 1922 the family completed the expansion and renovation of the original distillery in Santiago, increasing the sites rum production capacity. In 1930 Schueg oversaw the construction and opening of Edificio Bacardí in Havana, regarded as one of the finest
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
buildings in Latin America, as the third generation of the Bacardí family entered the business. In 1927, Bacardi ventured outside the realm of spirits for the first time, with the introduction of an authentic Cuban Malt beer:
Hatuey beer.
Bacardi's success in transitioning into an international brand and company was due mostly to Schueg, who branded Cuba as "The home of rum", and Bacardi as "The king of rums and the rum of Kings". Expansion began overseas, first to Mexico in 1931 where it had architects Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe and Felix Candela design office buildings and a bottling plant in Mexico City during the 1950s. The building complex was added to the tentative list of UNESCO's World Heritage Site list on 20 November 2001.
In 1936, Bacardi began producing rum on U.S. territory in Puerto Rico after
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
which enabled the company to sell rum tariff-free in the United States.
[Rum and Revolution](_blank)
an August 2008 review of ''Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba'' () from ''The Washington Post'' The company later expanded to the United States in 1944 with the opening of Bacardi Imports, Inc. in Manhattan, New York City.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the company was led by Schueg's son-in-law, José "Pepin" Bosch. Pepin founded Bacardi Imports in New York City, and became Cuba's
Minister of the Treasury A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance.
Lists of current ministries of finance
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Finance and Eco ...
in 1949.
Cuban Revolution
During the
Cuban Revolution in 1959, the Bacardí family (and hence the company) supported and aided the rebels. However, after the triumph of the revolutionaries, and turn to Communism, the family maintained a fierce
opposition to Fidel Castro's policies in Cuba in the 1960s. In his book, ''Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba'',
Tom Gjelten
Tom Gjelten is the Religion and Belief Correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) news. Gjelten has worked for NPR since 1982, when he joined the organization as a labor and education reporter. More recently he has covered diplomatic and nati ...
describes how the Bacardí family and the company left Cuba in exile after the Cuban government confiscated the company's Cuban assets without compensation on 14 October 1960, particularly nationalizing and banning all private property on the island as well as all bank accounts. However, due to concerns over the previous Cuban leader,
Fulgencio Batista, the company had started foreign branches a few years before the revolution; the company moved the ownership of its trademarks, assets and proprietary formulas out of the country to the Bahamas prior to the revolution and already produced Bacardi rum at other distillery sites in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
and
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. This helped the company survive after the Cuban government confiscated all Bacardí assets in the country without any compensation.
In 1965, over 100 years after the company was established in Cuba, Bacardi established new roots and found a new home with global headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda. In February 2019, Bacardi's CEO, Mahesh Madhavan, stated that Bacardí's global headquarters would remain in Bermuda for the next "500 years" and that "Bermuda is our home now."
![Bacardi Headquarters](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Bacardi_Headquarters.jpg)
In 1999,
Otto Reich
Otto Juan Reich (born ) is an American diplomat and lobbyist who worked in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Reich was born in Cuba; his family moved to North Carolina when he was fifteen. He ...
, a lobbyist in
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
on behalf of Bacardí, drafted section 211 of the
Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Appropriations Act, FY1999 The United States Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Appropriations Act, FY1999 , among its numerous provisions that include the regular annual appropriations for most United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs, provided $5.9 billion in ...
, a bill that became known as the Bacardi Act. Section 211 denied trademark protection to products of Cuban businesses expropriated after the Cuban revolution, a provision sought by Bacardí. The act was aimed primarily at the
Havana Club
Havana Club is a brand of rum created in Cuba in 1934. Originally produced in Cárdenas, Cuba, by family-owned José Arechabala S.A., the brand was nationalized after the Cuban Revolution of 1959. In 1993, French-owned Pernod Ricard and the gove ...
brand in the United States. The brand was created by the
José Arechabala S.A. and nationalised without compensation in the Cuban revolution, the Arechabala family left Cuba and stopped producing rum. They therefore allowed the US trademark registration for "
Havana Club
Havana Club is a brand of rum created in Cuba in 1934. Originally produced in Cárdenas, Cuba, by family-owned José Arechabala S.A., the brand was nationalized after the Cuban Revolution of 1959. In 1993, French-owned Pernod Ricard and the gove ...
" to lapse in 1973. Taking advantage of the lapse, the Cuban government registered the mark in the United States in 1976.
This new law was drafted to invalidate the trademark registration. Section 211 has been challenged unsuccessfully by the Cuban government and the European Union in US courts. It was ruled illegal by the
WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
in 2001 and 2002. The US Congress has yet to re-examine the matter. The brand was assigned by the Cuban government to
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard () is a French company best known for its anise-flavoured pastis apéritifs Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis (often referred to simply as ''Pernod'' or ''Ricard''). The world’s second-largest wine and spirits seller, it also produ ...
in 1993.
Bacardi rekindled the story of the Arechabala family and Havana Club in the United States when it launched the AMPARO Experience in 2018, an immersive play experience based in Miami, the city with the highest population of Cuban exiles. AMPARO “is the story of the family’s entire history being erased and their heritage ‘stolen’” according to playwright
Vanessa Garcia.
Bacardi and Cuba today
Bacardi drinks are not easily found in Cuba today. The main brand of rum in Cuba is
Havana Club
Havana Club is a brand of rum created in Cuba in 1934. Originally produced in Cárdenas, Cuba, by family-owned José Arechabala S.A., the brand was nationalized after the Cuban Revolution of 1959. In 1993, French-owned Pernod Ricard and the gove ...
, produced by a company that was confiscated and nationalized by the government following the revolution. Bacardi later bought the brand from the original owners, the Arechabala family. The Cuban government, in partnership with the French company
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard () is a French company best known for its anise-flavoured pastis apéritifs Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis (often referred to simply as ''Pernod'' or ''Ricard''). The world’s second-largest wine and spirits seller, it also produ ...
, sells its Havana Club products internationally, except in the United States and its territories. Bacardi created the Real Havana Club rum based on the original recipe from the Arechabala family, manufactures it in Puerto Rico, and sells it in the United States. Bacardi continues to fight in the courts, attempting to legalize their own
Havana Club
Havana Club is a brand of rum created in Cuba in 1934. Originally produced in Cárdenas, Cuba, by family-owned José Arechabala S.A., the brand was nationalized after the Cuban Revolution of 1959. In 1993, French-owned Pernod Ricard and the gove ...
trademark outside the United States.
Brands
Bacardi Limited has made numerous acquisitions to diversify away from the eponymous Bacardi rum brand. In 1993, Bacardi merged with
Martini & Rossi
Martini & Rossi is an Italian multinational alcoholic beverage company primarily associated with the Martini brand of vermouth and also with sparkling wine (for example, Asti). It also produces the French vermouth, Noilly Prat.
History
The co ...
, the Italian producer of
Martini vermouth and sparkling wines, creating the Bacardi-Martini group.
In 1998, the company acquired
Dewar's scotch, including
Royal Brackla
Royal Brackla distillery is a Highland Single Malts, Highland Scotch whisky distillery on the Cawdor, Cawdor Estate, near Nairn in Scotland. The distillery is operated by Dewar's, John Dewar & Sons Ltd for Bacardi.
History
The Brackla distiller ...
and
Bombay Sapphire
Bombay Sapphire is a brand of gin that is distilled by the Bombay Spirits Company, a subsidiary company of Bacardi, at Laverstoke Mill in the village of Laverstoke in the English county of Hampshire.
The brand was first launched in 1986 by Engl ...
gin from
Diageo
Diageo plc () is a Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It was the world's largest distiller before being overtaken by Kweich ...
for $2 billion. Bacardi acquired the Cazadores tequila brand in 2002 and in 2004 purchased
Grey Goose
The waterfowl genus ''Anser'' includes the grey geese and the white geese. It belongs to the true geese and swan subfamily (Anserinae). The genus has a Holarctic distribution, with at least one species breeding in any open, wet habitats in th ...
, a French-made vodka, from
Sidney Frank
Sidney E. Frank (October 2, 1919 – January 10, 2006) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He became a billionaire through his promotion of Grey Goose vodka and Jägermeister.
Early life, family, education
Frank was born to a Jewish ...
for $2 billion. In 2006 Bacardi Limited purchased New Zealand vodka brand 42 Below. In 2018, Bacardi Limited purchased tequila manufacturer
Patrón
Patrón is a brand of tequila products by the Patrón Spirits Company with 40% Alcohol in each bottle.
Patrón Tequilas, like all tequilas, are produced in Mexico from the "corazon" (heart or core) of the blue agave plant. Everything includin ...
for $5.1 billion.
Other associated brands include the Real
Havana Club
Havana Club is a brand of rum created in Cuba in 1934. Originally produced in Cárdenas, Cuba, by family-owned José Arechabala S.A., the brand was nationalized after the Cuban Revolution of 1959. In 1993, French-owned Pernod Ricard and the gove ...
,
Drambuie Scotch whisky liqueur, DiSaronno
Amaretto,
Eristoff vodka, Cazadores
Tequila,
B&B and
Bénédictine liqueurs.
*
Rum: Bacardi,
Havana Club (USA only), Castillo, Banks, Pyrat XO Reserve, Oakheart Spice Rum
*
Tequila:
Patrón
Patrón is a brand of tequila products by the Patrón Spirits Company with 40% Alcohol in each bottle.
Patrón Tequilas, like all tequilas, are produced in Mexico from the "corazon" (heart or core) of the blue agave plant. Everything includin ...
,
Corzo
Corzo is a brand of tequila named in honor of the town of Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas. The town was built on the highland battleground where the last Native Americans opposed the Spanish Conquistadors.
Due to an ancestral link to the Soctón, the b ...
, Cazadores, Camino Real
*
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky (; sco, Scots whisky/whiskie, whusk(e)y; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland.
All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial distil ...
:
Dewar's,
Aberfeldy,
Craigellachie,
Royal Brackla
Royal Brackla distillery is a Highland Single Malts, Highland Scotch whisky distillery on the Cawdor, Cawdor Estate, near Nairn in Scotland. The distillery is operated by Dewar's, John Dewar & Sons Ltd for Bacardi.
History
The Brackla distiller ...
,
Aultmore
Aultmore (from Scottish Gaelic "An t-Allt Mòr", meaning the "Big Burn") is a village in Moray, Scotland, near Keith
Keith may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characte ...
,
The Deveron,
Glen Deveron, William Lawson's
* Bourbon: Angel's Envy, Stillhouse Black Bourbon
* American Whiskey: Stillhouse
*
Cognac:
Otard
Otard, is a French cognac house founded in 1795 by Jean-Baptiste Antoine Otard. It was founded at the Château de Cognac, and is also sold under the name Château Royal de Cognac. Baron Otard Cognac owned by the Otard family until it was bought by ...
, D'ussé Cognac, Gaston De LaGrange
*
Cachaça
''Cachaça'' () is a distilled spirit made from fermented sugarcane juice. Also known as ''pinga'', ''caninha'', and other names, it is the most popular spirit among distilled alcoholic beverages in Brazil.Cavalcante, Messias Soares. Todos os no ...
:
Leblon Cachaça
Leblon Cachaça is a premium artisanal brand of the spirit cachaça produced at the Destilaria Maison Leblon in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Cachaça is the key ingredient to the caipirinha, Brazil's national cocktail.
History
Leblon was first introduced ...
*
Vodka
Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...
:
Grey Goose
The waterfowl genus ''Anser'' includes the grey geese and the white geese. It belongs to the true geese and swan subfamily (Anserinae). The genus has a Holarctic distribution, with at least one species breeding in any open, wet habitats in th ...
,
Eristoff,
Ultimat Vodka, Stillhouse Classic American Vodka,
42 Below
Bacardi Limited (; ) is one of the largest privately held, family-owned spirits companies in the world. Originally known for its Bacardi brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 an ...
, Plume & Petal
*
Gin
Gin () is a distilled alcoholic drink that derives its flavour from juniper berries (''Juniperus communis'').
Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists across Europe, particularly in southern Italy, Flanders and the Ne ...
:
Bombay Sapphire
Bombay Sapphire is a brand of gin that is distilled by the Bombay Spirits Company, a subsidiary company of Bacardi, at Laverstoke Mill in the village of Laverstoke in the English county of Hampshire.
The brand was first launched in 1986 by Engl ...
, Bosford, Oxley
*
Vermouth:
Martini & Rossi
Martini & Rossi is an Italian multinational alcoholic beverage company primarily associated with the Martini brand of vermouth and also with sparkling wine (for example, Asti). It also produces the French vermouth, Noilly Prat.
History
The co ...
,
Noilly Prat
Noilly Prat () is a brand of vermouth from France, owned by the Italian company Martini & Rossi, which is a subsidiary of Bacardi. "White" Noilly Prat is the archetype of dry, straw-coloured French vermouth. Noilly Prat now makes Red and Ambre ver ...
*
Sparkling wine:
Martini Prosecco,
Martini Asti,
Martini rosé
*
Liqueur
A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyond ...
:
Bénédictine,
St-Germain,
Get 27, Get 31,
Nassau Royale Nassau Royale is a liqueur made by Bacardi. It is popular in Nassau, Bahamas, and Bahamian cuisine. The liqueur is used with whipped bananas and cream to top the Banana Royal
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a be ...
,
Martini Spirito,
Patrón liqueurs
Awards
Bacardi rums have been entered for a number of international
spirit ratings awards. Several Bacardi spirits have performed notably well. In 2020, Bacardi Superior, Bacardi Gold, Bacardi Black, Bacardi Añejo Cuatro were each awarded a gold medal by the International Quality Institute Monde Selection. In addition, both Bacardi Reserva Ocho and Bacardi Gran Reserva Diez were awarded the top honor of Grand Gold quality award.
Hemingway connection
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...
lived in Cuba from 1939 until shortly after the
Cuban Revolution. He lived at
Finca Vigía, in the small town of San Francisco de Paula, located very close to Bacardi's
Modelo Brewery
Modelo Brewery designed by the Cuban architect, Enrique Luis Varela, was built in 1948 for Compañia Ron Bacardi S.A.Eduardo Luis Rodriguez. ''The Havana Guide - Modern Architecture 1925-1965.'' Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2000. It ...
for
Hatuey Beer in
Cotorro, Havana
Cotorro, or San Pedro del Cotorro, is one of the 15 municipalities (''municipios'' in Spanish) in the city of Havana, Cuba.
Overview
The municipality is situated by the Carretera Central (Cuba), Carretera Central (Central Highway), and main ''auto ...
.
In 1954, Compañía Ron Bacardi S.A. threw Hemingway a party when he was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
– soon after the publication of his novel ''
The Old Man and the Sea'' (1952) – in which he honored the company by mentioning its Hatuey beer. Hemingway also mentioned Bacardi and Hatuey in his novels ''
To Have and Have Not
''To Have and Have Not'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1937 by Charles Scribner's Sons. The book follows Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain out of Key West, Florida. ''To Have and Have Not'' was Hemingway's second novel set in th ...
'' (1937) and ''
For Whom the Bell Tolls
''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned ...
'' (1940).
Guillermo Cabrera Infante
Guillermo Cabrera Infante (; Gibara, 22 April 1929 – 21 February 2005) was a Cuban novelist, essayist, translator, screenwriter, and critic; in the 1950s he used the pseudonym G. Caín, and used Guillermo Cain for the screenplay of th ...
wrote an account of the festivities for the periodical ''Ciclón'', titled "El Viejo y la Marca" ("The Old Man and the Brand", a play on "El Viejo y el Mar", the book's
Spanish title). In his account he described how "on one side there was a wooden stage with two streamers – Hatuey beer and Bacardi rum – on each end and a Cuban flag in the middle. Next to the stage was a bar, at which people crowded, ordering daiquiris and beer, all free.” A sign at the event read "Bacardi rum welcomes the author of ''The Old Man and the Sea''".
In his article "The Old Man and the Daiquiri", Wayne Curtis writes about how Hemingway's "home bar also held a bottle of Bacardi rum". Hemingway wrote in ''Islands in the Stream'', "...this frozen daiquirí, so well beaten as it is, looks like the sea where the wave falls away from the bow of a ship when she is doing thirty knots."
Bacardi in the United States
![Bacardi building Miami](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Bacardi_building_Miami.jpg)
In 1964, Bacardi opened new US offices in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. Exiled Cuban architect Enrique Gutierrez created a building that was hurricane-proof, using a system of steel cables and pulleys which allow the building to move slightly in the event of a strong shock. The steel cables are anchored into the bedrock and extend through marble-covered shafts up to the top floor, where they are led over large pulleys. Outside, on both sides of the eight-story building, more than 28,000 tiles painted and fired by Brazilian artist
Francisco Brennand
Francisco Brennand, or ''Francisco de Paula de Almeida Brennand'', (June 11, 1927 – December 19, 2019), was a Brazilian painter and sculptor, best known for his work in ceramics.
Life
Francisco de Paula de Almeida Brennand was born in Recif ...
, depicting abstract blue flowers, were placed on the walls according to the artist's exact specifications.
In 1973, the company commissioned the square building in the plaza. Architect Ignacio Carrera-Justiz used cantilevered construction, a style invented by
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
. Wright observed how well trees with taproots withstood hurricane-force winds. The building, raised 47 feet off the ground around a central core, features four massive walls, made of sections of inch-thick hammered glass mural tapestries, designed and manufactured in France. The striking design of the annex, affectionately known as the 'Jewel Box' building, came from a painting by German artist Johannes M. Dietz.
In 2006, Bacardi USA leased a 15-story headquarters complex in
Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248.
Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...
. Bacardi had employees in seven buildings across
Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...
at the time.
[Bacardi USA to take over BK's planned Coral Gables headquarters]
" ''South Florida Business Journal
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...
''. Tuesday 8 May 2007. Retrieved on 2 October 2009.
Bacardi vacated its former headquarters buildings on
Biscayne Boulevard
U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) in Florida runs along the state's east coast from Key West to its crossing of the St. Marys River (Florida/Georgia), St. Marys River into Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia north of Boulogne, Florida, Boulogne and south of ...
in
Midtown Miami
Midtown Miami is the collective term for the Wynwood and Edgewater neighborhoods of Miami, Florida. It is located north of Downtown and south of the Miami Design District and is roughly bound by North 20th Street to the south, I-195 to the nor ...
. The building currently serves as the headquarters of the
National YoungArts Foundation. Miami citizens began a campaign to label the buildings as "historic". The Bacardi Buildings Complex has been a locally protected historic resource since Oct. 6, 2009, when it was designated by unanimous decision by the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board.
In 2007 Chad Oppenheim, the head of Oppenheim Architecture + Design, described the Bacardi buildings as "elegant, with a
Modernist ook combined with
Ook, OoK or OOK may refer to:
* Ook Chung (born 1963), Korean-Canadian writer from Quebec
* On-off keying, in radio technology
* Toksook Bay Airport (IATA code OOK), in Alaska
* Ook!, an esoteric programming language based on Brainfuck
* Ook, th ...
a local flavour." In April 2009,
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
professor of architecture Allan Schulman said "Miami's brand is its identity as a tropical city. The Bacardi buildings are exactly the sort that resonate with our consciousness of what Miami is about."
[Miami weighs preserving iconic Bacardi buildings]
" ''Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
'' at ''New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
''. Tuesday 7 April 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
The current American headquarters is in
Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248.
Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...
.
[Bacardi USA Announces New Headquarters in South Florida]
" Retrieved 18 October 2010.
References
External links
Map of Distillery in Puerto Ricofrom
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...
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