The Bacardi Bat

Volumes have been written about the history of world-famous Bacardi Rum, but this time around the Excelencias Group wants you to learn more about the symbol that identities this rum, a story published on “Santiago en mí”, a blog by Santiago-based journalist José Roberto Loo.

Click on Santiago de Cuba: A City of 500 Years

In 1862, after years of experimentation in terms of rum distillation, Facundo Bacardi Massó created the formula of a beverage that years later would become the most famous rum on the face of the earth. In order to produce and market the brand-new rum, the Bacardi Massó brothers (Facundo and José) bought, in that very year, a still named “El Marino”.

Word goes that the first time Facundo’s wife entered the distillery, Lucía Victoria Moreau (also known as Amalia Victoria), realized that there were clouds of bats living in the old beams and she proposed to have them as the symbol of the new beverage.

According to the tradition, bats stand for health, fortune and family union, which became a reality to the Bacardi family as the business was fruitful (with ups and downs), they were one of the most wealthy families at the time and presently have a fortune of several billions of dollars. Likewise, since its birth, the business has been privately managed by the family.

Many people also see a pragmatic intelligence in Mrs. Lucia Moreau’s proposal as an easy-to-recognize logo could be identified even by the significant number of illiterate people that, in the 19th century, could be potential clients of the drink.

The tradition of Bacardi Rum has passed from generation to generation, always keeping the secret of the formula obtained by the first one of the Bacardi line in Santiago de Cuba.