"Drinking rum before 10am makes you a pirate, not an alcoholic." -Unknown
Our time in Puerto Rico is coming to an end...today we move to Old San Juan, so we'll be closer to the airport. We have a condo rented for the next three days, but we couldn't check in until late in the afternoon, so we decided to spend a little time at the Bacardi Rum Factory. Puerto Rico is called the "rum capital of the world". Over 70 percent of the rum sold in the U.S. comes from Puerto Rico.
The spirit is also a big part of the island's history. Juan Ponce de León first brought Creole sugar cane rootstocks from the Dominican Republic in 1506. Eleven years later, the first sugar mill was established and rum production began in the 1650s.
During the tour of the Bacardi Rum Factory we learned that it was founded by Spanish born Facundo Bacardí Massó, whose family immigrated to Cuba when he was 16. The family bought a distillery in Santiago de Cuba in 1862. They threw away the rule book and made their own unique blends with a revolutionary rum-making process that would change the way rum was made forever.
Before Bacardi, rum was made cheaply and was not considered to be a desirable drink. They were the first to filter rum through charcoal to remove impurities before and after it is aged in oak barrels, resulting in the first clear, or “white,” rum in the world.
When Fidel Castro’s Cuban Revolution took hold of the island in the 1960s, Bacardi managed to hide its proprietary formula, trademark and assets in the Bahamas. Eventually, it moved its operation to Puerto Rico. Eighty five percent of all Bacardi Rum is distilled in Puerto Rico, but it is bottled and distributed from Jacksonville, Florida. Bacardi is now one of the most recognized and highly consumed rums worldwide. Varieties range from its original white to smooth and mellow gold.
The spirit is also a big part of the island's history. Juan Ponce de León first brought Creole sugar cane rootstocks from the Dominican Republic in 1506. Eleven years later, the first sugar mill was established and rum production began in the 1650s.
During the tour of the Bacardi Rum Factory we learned that it was founded by Spanish born Facundo Bacardí Massó, whose family immigrated to Cuba when he was 16. The family bought a distillery in Santiago de Cuba in 1862. They threw away the rule book and made their own unique blends with a revolutionary rum-making process that would change the way rum was made forever.
Before Bacardi, rum was made cheaply and was not considered to be a desirable drink. They were the first to filter rum through charcoal to remove impurities before and after it is aged in oak barrels, resulting in the first clear, or “white,” rum in the world.
When Fidel Castro’s Cuban Revolution took hold of the island in the 1960s, Bacardi managed to hide its proprietary formula, trademark and assets in the Bahamas. Eventually, it moved its operation to Puerto Rico. Eighty five percent of all Bacardi Rum is distilled in Puerto Rico, but it is bottled and distributed from Jacksonville, Florida. Bacardi is now one of the most recognized and highly consumed rums worldwide. Varieties range from its original white to smooth and mellow gold.
No tour of a rum factory would be complete without one rum drink. This is the Bacardi visitor center.
The two forts that protected San Juan harbor for centuries. Fortín San Juan de la Cruz to the left and Castillo San Felipe del Morro to the right in Old San Juan.
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