Bacardi Rum Factory Tour Review
I’ve been a huge fan of Bacardi Rum for well over a decade. I make most of my favorite cocktails with Bacardi white rum – mojitos & daiquiris in particular.
So when I recently explored Puerto Rico for two weeks, a visit to the Bacardi Rum Factory was high on my list of preferred activities. I checked out their website for tour options, selected a historic tour and headed out to the Bacardi premises just west of San Juan one fine Saturday afternoon.
I quickly discovered that visitors to Bacardi first arrive at a bat-shaped wing-covered open pavilion to check in for their tours and to order their free Bacardi cocktail from a list of several choices. (Bacardi’s logo/mascot is a black bat)
When I reached the pavilion, the friendly check-in staff quickly greeted me, explained the procedures, handed me a complimentary Bacardi glass and cocktail voucher, then directed me to the rather large, grand bar.
Historic tours begin every 15 minutes, so I didn’t have long to wait for my tour guide to get underway. For that reason, I opted to have my complimentary cocktail after the tour. But most visitors order their drinks right away and carry them along on the tour.
Bacardi Historic Tour
History of Bacardi Rum
During the history portion of the tour, we watched a short video; saw many old photos, hand-written documents & letters, original Bacardi bottles from Cuba days and other memorabilia. We also learned many interesting facts about Bacardi. Most intriguing to me were the following factoids:
– Bacardi was originally founded in Cuba by an immigrant from Spain by the name of Senor Bacardi.
– Prior to that, rum was first produced by pirates in the Caribbean region but was a rough low-quality spirit.
– Mr. Bacardi greatly refined the production process, creating much higher quality & refined rums.
– In fact, he produced such high quality rums that Bacardi has won over 130 awards for its rum.
– The highest honor was bestowed on Bacardi in 1888 by the Spanish royal family, who declared it the royal rum. Bacardi thus became known as ‘The rum of kings and the king of rum’.
– Bacardi’s bat logo came about pretty much by fluke. The first small barn that Senor Bacardi purchased to start up rum production housed a colony of bats. That’s it really! Cool logo none the less.
– Bacardi relocated to Puerto Rico in the 1950s as a result of Castro coming into power and seizing the entire Bacardi family holdings & properties. PR has been their base of operations ever since.
– Approximately 70% of all rum drunk in the USA is produced in Puerto Rico.
Rum Production Process
Casa Bacardi – Puerto Rico
After wandering around the Bacardi memorabilia room, we then proceeded to learn the complicated process of producing high quality rum (without them disclosing the detailed secrets of their particular distillation).
To summarize the procedures: Harvest quality sugar cane. Boil it down to molasses. Ferment it with quality yeasts. Purify it with charcoal. Age it in white oak barrels for a minimum of 1 year (by law).
The total aging time, specific wood used in the barrels, barrel sizes and several other factors determine the type & quality of rums produced.
I previously wrote about distillation processes of rum in this article: All About Spirits (Alcohol not Ghosts)
Summary
Nowadays, Bacardi produces well over a dozen premium rums, including white rums, golden rums and flavored rums. They are all used to make different cocktails or drunk unmixed over ice.
I personally prefer white rum. That’s mainly because I love mojitos and daiquiris, both of which rely on white rum. I generally don’t care for the stronger flavor of golden rums. However, most rum lovers I meet on the road prefer golden rums as they love mixing up rum & cokes. To each his own!
Need less to say, I greatly enjoyed my informative Bacardi Factory Tour. Even better, I capped it off with a free strawberry daiquiri after the tour, mixed up at their sleek bat pavilion bar. Yum!
Later I mixed myself up a frozen mojito, using my newly purchased Bacardi muddler and signature glass. Yummmm!
Anyone else here love Bacardi Rum?or cocktails?or rum in general? If so, I highly recommend heading over to the Bacardi Factory for a tour whenever you visit Puerto Rico. It’s located just west of San Juan, very easy to reach from the city…and, it’s Great Fun!
Check out the Bacardi Rum Tours here
* I’d like to thank Bacardi for sponsoring my tour. All opinions expressed in this article are my own.
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Hi! I'm Lash, an American nomadic world traveler who's been traveling solo since 1998. I’m passionate about traveling the world nomadically and then sharing it all with you. I hope to inspire you to travel the world, to entertain you with tales from the road, and to help you reach your travel dreams. Welcome! 
