I posted this on another BB I frequent but here it is:
I just recently got back from a trip to San Juan and while I was down there, I went on a tour of the Bacardi Factory. Now, I'm a whiskey drinker and don't have much experience with rum other then with Coke. However, as the old saying goes: When in San Juan, go tour the Bacardi Factory. The tour started out with a couple of free drinks and then we, my girlfriend and I, and some surfers from Florida hoped on the tram and scooted over to where the tour started.
I learned that the Bat which Bacardi uses as its emblem was inspired by the fruit bats which occupied the rafters of the first Bacardi factory(which really was a warehouse which housed his distillery). Bacardi uses charcoal filtering, much like Jack Daniels Whiskey, to remove the impurities and is stored in barrels. I don’t remember the type of wood used in the barrels though. Our tour guide was very excited to tell us about how Bacardi invented the Cuba-Libre, or rum and Coke. Since Bacardi started out in Cuba, when the American Army came to liberate Cuba back in the day, they brought with them Coke and during the occupation, began mixing Bacardi with Coke. Hence, it became the drink of liberated Cuba, or Cuba-Libre. From there, Bacardi began distributing its rum in NY and the thing to order became a Bacardi and Coke.
After the tour I went to the gift store and bought several bottles of Bacardi Reserve, its aged 6 years and isn’t sold in the US, and one bottle of 8 year aged Bacardi. The 8 year is sweat and I like it neat, with maybe some water on the side. I like the Reserve with an ice cube. If you are in San Juan, go and check out the factory. It’s the cheapest place I’ve ever seen, ever, for Bacardi. The 8 year was $17/18 bucks. Bacardi Select was like $8, all for a 750 ml.
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