12 Things You Definitely Didn't Know About Bacardí Rums

By Alessandra Foresto

Updated on 6/11/2016 at 10:00 PM

You probably know that Puerto Rico is the home of Bacardí's largest rum distillery — you might have even taken a tour — but did you know that the company is actually based in Bermuda and that it owns Grey Goose vodka? If your answer was no and you just realized you don't actually know as much about the popular rum brand as you thought you did, then you might want to keep reading. Here, we've rounded up 12 very interesting and little-known facts about Bacardí Limited. Once you're done learning about them, discover more about Goya.

  1. Bacardí was founded by a Spanish wine merchant called Facundo Bacardí Massó on Feb. 4, 1862, in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.
  2. Originally, Bacardí sold white rum, but nowadays it features many more products, including Grey Goose vodka, Cazadores tequila, Bombay Sapphire, and Martini vermouth.
  3. The headquarters are now in Hamilton, Bermuda, but the company has 29 production facilities in total.
  4. Facundo's wife, Doña Amalia Bacardí, saw fruit bats in the family's distillery, and knowing they were a symbol of good luck, she insisted it be used as Bacardí's symbol.
  5. Another symbol often associated with the brand is the coconut palm. A tree from the variety was planted outside the original distillery and died just weeks after the company was ousted from Cuba due to the revolution. That's how the saying "the Bacardí company will survive in Cuba so long as the coconut palm lives" came about.
  6. According to the company, in 1898, an American engineer living in Cuba created the daiquiri for his copper-mining crews, using fresh-squeezed lime juice, sugar, shaved ice, and Bacardí Superior rum.
  7. The Cuba Libre also originally included Bacardí, according to the brand. American soldiers celebrating their win at the Spanish-American War requested their Coca-Cola be mixed with the rum, in 1900.
  8. The brand acquired its Puerto Rican facility, the largest rum distillery in the world, in the 1930s.
  9. During Prohibition, an airline advertisement asked Americans to "Fly to Cuba and Bathe in Bacardí rum."
  10. In 1936, the brand won a lawsuit in New York City that prohibits any Bacardí cocktail to be made with another rum.
  11. According to Bacardí, more than six million Bacardí Cuba Libres are drank every day around the world.
  12. At its 150th anniversary, the head of the company is Facundo L. Bacardí, a fifth-generation family member who shares his name with the founder.