Craigellachie "Vom Fass", 16 yo.
 
Style & Origin
styleScotch Single Malt Whisky
region Speyside, Central
age16 yo.
strength58.7% (117.4 proof)
availabilityexclusive (Vom Fass)
bottler Vom Fass AG
distillery Craigellachie
Bar Log
Wed., Jan. 8, 2014blind tasting of bottle #755
Fri., Jan. 17, 2014bottle #755 donated by Stuart Campbell
Fri., Jan. 17, 2014feature presentation of bottle #755 by
Fri., Nov. 7, 2014bottle #755 killed
Release Notes
A single barrel cask strength bottling of a Craigellachie sold exclusively at "Vom Fass" stores.
Yours Truly
Regular Tasting Results
# Taster Date Nose Taste Finish Balance Total
1 David Drell 9 8 8 9 34
2 David Lawson 6 8 5 7 26
3 Eric Walters 8 7 7 8 30
4 Fred Bunting 7 8 8 6 29
5 Gary Trousdale 6 8 8 8 30
6 Jim Leuper 6 8 7 7 28
7 Jim Leuper 6 8 8 7 29
8 Kathleen Toth 9 7 10 9 35
9 Kolja Erman 8 9 8 8 33
10 Mark Lacy 7 8 8 9 32
11 Michael Wilhelmi 7 8 8 8 31
12 Michael Wilhelmi 5 6 6 6 23
13 Robert Crawford 7 9 8 8 32
14 Scott Churchman 5 7 6 8 26
15 Sean Cole 7 9 8 6 30
16 Steve Chen 9 5 9 9 32
17 Stuart Campbell 7 8 8 8 31
18 Tim Sexton 8 7 7 7 29
19 Tom Owens 8 8 8 8 32
20 Tom Owens 10 10 10 10 40
21 Tom Owens 8 9 9 9 35
22 Tom Owens 10 10 10 10 40
23 Unknown Donor 9 9 9 9 36
24 Unknown Donor 7 9 10 9 35
25 Unknown Donor 8 9 10 9 36
Nose: sweet and rosey, a little spice, really full on a deep inhale
Taste: spicy and sweet, strong alcohol, flowers and oranges
Finish: lovely finish, drops and then blooms, very nice!
Balance: very nice, lives up to the hype
David Drell
Nose: sherry, caramel, orange zest, but faint
Taste: big sherry bomb
Finish: blunt drop of a narrow shelf, lotta pepper
Balance: mixed bag, great up front
David Lawson
Nose: pleasant, smoky with a hint of... oak?
Taste: it has got a bite! This tastes like a highland. But not as complex as I would imagine. I do not think it was aged in a separate cask
Finish: smoother than I expected. It seesm to fall off through when the rest of it packs a punch. Should be warmer.
Balance: it does come together well though. I would make this a regular in my selection
Eric Walters
Nose: a little acohol string after a lot of inhaling. Piney?
Taste: wow, for almost no nose it has got a lot of flavor. Couple droups of water and it is pretty nice
Finish: I like the finish, really pleasant
Balance: overall pretty good. A weak nose but it really picked up
Gary Trousdale
Nose: words
Taste: very positive words
Finish: polite words
Balance: approving words
Jim Leuper
Balance: weak nose but makes up for lost ground quickly
Jim Leuper
Nose: spicy, full-bodied, but constrained, baked apple
Taste: fiery, astringent, rich
Finish: long, warm and lovely
Kolja Erman
Nose: wimpy but with evil eye
Taste: a firm handshake with eye contact
Finish: and a glove slap, not painful, just indignant
Balance: easy, well rounded
Mark Lacy
Nose: mild but hints at more to come
Taste: classic scotch! Nice, strong, but not overpowering
Finish: leaves you warm and fuzzy without burning a hole in your esophagus
Balance: a bit on the hot side but subsides with a nice leave
Michael Wilhelmi
Nose: fuller than Benrinnes VF
Taste: punchy, apple
Finish: lingers, healthy heat
Balance: strong for a while
Michael Wilhelmi
Nose: would be higher but too much alcohol hit, leather, citrus, orange, olorose cask?
Taste: cask strength, caramel toffee
Finish: long, relaxed
Robert Crawford
Nose: bread grain, alcohol, strong, yeaty, small grape from sherry, musty
Taste: vanilla, caramel, honey, tobacco
Finish: slightly harsh like 50% ABV, some wine, nutty
Balance: smooth, nice notes from nose to finish
Scott Churchman
Nose: pungent
Taste: sour
Finish: strong burning
Balance: not balanced - luv it!
Steve Chen
Nose: strong alcohol, sweet perfume, fruity, maybe black current
Taste: citrous notes with chocolate sherry bomb
Finish: nice, warm, long, keeps on giving
Balance: fits together beautifully
Stuart Campbell
Nose: a bit of vicks mixed with perfume. A sweet undertone, a bit of blueberry? Water wakes up the fruit!
Taste: dried fruit and wood, very nice, fiery
Finish: I thought it was cask strength. Evaporates quickly
Balance: rich and warm, no surprises all the way through
Tom Owens
Nose: fantastic! Caramel and chocolate and blueberries. More berries with water.
Taste: smooth and creamy, strong caramel and cola
Finish: cola
Balance: may be the best I have ever tasted
Tom Owens
Nose: bubblegum, tea leaves and chocolate
Taste: iced tea and a kick in the teeth
Finish: powerful!
Balance: really lovely, water smoothes it out
Tom Owens
Nose: wow! Bubblegum, grass, moss, vicks, cinnamon
Taste: creamy! cola, chocolate, wood
Finish: chocolatey, vanilla and cream, wonderful
Balance: absolutely killer, love this!
Tom Owens
The Bottler: Vom Fass AG
Established: 1994
Silent since: False
Address: D-88289 Waldburg-Hannober
→ website
The first Vom Fass franchise was opened by beverage store owner Johannes Kiderlen on March 23rd, 1994, in Regensburg. By now there are almost 300 franchises world wide.

"Vom Fass" translates to "From The Cask".
from Vom Fass
The Distillery: Craigellachie
Established: 1891
Silent since: False
Address: Craigellachie, Aberlour, Banffshire, AB38 9ST, Scotland, UK
2001 - The old cast iron mash tun is replaced with a (more modern) Steinecker full lauter mash tun.
The Craigellachie distillery was built in 1891 by Craigellachie Distillery Co. Limited, a group of blenders and merchants led by Alexander Edward. Two years later (1893) it was incorporated as a limited company and in 1896 it was reconstructed as Craigellachie-Glenlivet Distillery Ltd.
The town dates back to before 1750 when records show that there was a ferry across the river Spey. The ferry was eventually replaced by Craigellachie Bridge, built by one Thomas Telford in 1814 (see picture).
A 14yo official bottling of Craigellachie was released in 2004, replacing the semi-official "Flora & Fauna" expression that was bottled by United Distillers at the same age.
The location of the town in the heart of the Speyside region (where the rivers Fiddich and Spey meet) makes it an excellent location for a "base camp" for whisky hunters. Another point of touristic interest is the Speyside Cooperage Visitor Centre. The Craigellachie distillery itself (most of it fairly "functional" as it was refurbushed in the 1960"s) does not have a visitor centre, but most whisky tourists will most likely be more interested in that other distillery in Craigellachie anyway; Macallan. The Macallan distillery is located on the other side of the river Spey, west of the village.
The name Craigellachie means "rocky hill" and refers to the cliff that overlooks the Spey. Much of the village was built on this cliff.
During the years that followed ownership passed to Peter Mackie (in 1916), the Distillery Company Limited (in 1927) and SMD (in 1930). The transfer to SMD marked the beginning of a period of stability for Craigellachie; apart from a reconstruction in 1964-65 during which the number of stills was doubled, relatively little happened at the distillery. Then, in 1998, the Craigellachie distillery was sold to John Dewar & Sons - owners of MacDuff and Aberfeldy - and themselves part of the Bacardi drinks conglomerate.
Craigellachie isn"t a "high profile" distillery by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, the nearby town of Craigellachie and the Craigellachie Hotel are probably more famous than the distillery. Several malt maniacs visited the hotel and spoke very highly of it.
Craigellachie is an active distillery, but it might as well have been a silent one; there"s just not that much to tell. That"s too bad, because its location makes it the perfect destination for a whisky trip through Scotland. Craigellachie distillery is located at the confluence of the Spey and Fiddich rivers, near the Speyside Cooperage, the Craigellachie hotel and near many other malt whisky distillery. Check out the Malt Map to find other distilleries in the area.
In the new Millenium
2004 - The first proper official bottling of Craigellachie is released, bottled at an age of 14 years. That"s the same age as the Flora & Fauna expression that was available (but not widely) in earlier years.
2007 - The distillery switches to a seven day working week schedule to maximise production.
Trivia:
  • Just outside Craigellachie is the Speyside Cooperage where each year over 100,000 casks are produced to be used at one of the many distilleries in the Speyside region.
  • Craigallachie is one of almost two dozen malt whisky distilleries that were founded over a century ago during the "whisky boom" of the late 19th century and which have managed to survive until this day. The other survivors include Aberfeldy, Ardmore, Aultmore, Balvenie, Benriach, Benromach, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Dalwhinnie, Dufftown, Glendullan, Glenfiddich, Glenrothes, Glentauchers, Knockandu, Knockdhu, Longmorn, Tamdhu and Tomatin.
  • The distilling equipment at Craigellachie isfairly modern and up-to-date. For example, they use a Steinecker full lauter mash tun. The distillery uses two pairs of stills, each connected to (cast iron) worm tubs to cool the spirit.
  • Malted barley is obtained from the Glenesk Maltings.
  • The malt whisky which is distilled at Craigellachie is used maily for the Dewar"s blended whiskies.
from Malt Madness
The Owner: John Dewar & Sons
Established: 1846
Silent since: False
Address: 1700 London Road, Glasgow G32 8XR, United Kingdom
→ website
John Dewar & Sons Ltd. produces Dewar"s White Label, the best-selling blended Scotch whisky in the United States and one of the top brands worldwide. The firm"s other offerings include the premium Dewar"s 12-Year and Dewar"s Signature, five single malt scotches, and two William Lawson blended whiskies. The company is owned by the privately held Bacardi & Company Ltd. of Bermuda.
In 1987 the Dewar"s trademark was secretly transferred from Guinness to Schenley Industries, a U.S.-based spirits distributor owned by Meshuklam Riklis. Schenley had been distributing Dewar"s in the United States since 1936, and the whisky accounted for half of that firm"s total profits. The company later claimed the move was made to combat lower-priced parallel imports of Dewar"s from other countries. Though Riklis (who owned a 5 percent stake in Guinness) had been given the trademark for free, a short time later the brewing giant paid him $480 million to buy it back, along with his distribution network and the right to sell Dewar"s in the United States.
While Dewar"s sales had tripled between 1960 and 1980, U.S. exports had increased fourfold during the same period, and in 1986 Dewar"s became the top-selling whisky in the United States. In the fall of that year DCL successor United Distillers was acquired by the Guinness Beverage Group in a hostile takeover, after which the firm"s international marketing offices were combined with those of James Buchanan and Company, John Walker and Sons, White Horse Distillers, William Sanderson and Sons, and Pimm"s.
Dewar"s Joins Bacardi Family in 1998
In 1996 the company celebrated its 150th anniversary with a special bottling of whisky and the launch of a Web site that featured games based on the life of Tommy Dewar. The company"s whisky continued to be the top brand in the United States, accounting for some 1.5 million cases of the 9.4 million total sold there during the year.
In 1966 the company won a Queen"s Award for Export Achievement, and in 1969 it began running print advertisements that featured photographs of celebrities under the heading "Dewar"s Profiles." Playing off the phonetic spelling of the firm"s name ("Doers"), the ads spotlighted their subjects" achievements with black-and-white photographs that featured a small whisky bottle in color.
In 1954 the company renamed its aged Victoria Vat brand of scotch Ancestor, which would go on to become one of Dewar"s best-known brands. In 1961 new production facilities were opened in Perth, and during the 1960s the firm began to rebuild and expand its Aberfeldy distillery, completing the work in 1972.
Dewar"s Becomes Top U.S. Whisky in 1986
By the early 1980s some 95 percent of Dewar"s output was exported, with about half going to the United States. In the United Kingdom, where sales were dominated by the Bells brand, Dewar"s had only a 1-2 percent market share, and in 1982 the firm shut down its internal marketing unit there and turned sales over to the firm of Hedges and Butler, who would sell it in part through 8,000 public houses aligned with Bass.
The firm"s new owner had a colorful history of its own, having been founded in 1862 in Cuba and then moving to Bermuda in 1960 after Castro"s revolution. Bacardi rum was the world"s top selling spirit, and the company was the world"s largest family-owned alcoholic beverage maker.
In 1998 the proposed merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan to form Diageo plc came under scrutiny from U.S. and European trade regulators, and, to clinch the deal, in March John Dewar & Sons was sold to Bacardi & Co. along with the Bombay Sapphire gin brand for a total of $1.4 billion. Dewars" value was put at nearly three-fourths of the total.
In 1886 Dewar"s whisky won a medal at the Edinburgh Exhibition, which was the first of many such awards it would receive over the years, and in 1888 the firm began exclusively supplying top catering firm Spiers and Pond, whose customers included railways, hotels, and music venues.
In 1891 the company was the recipient of some unanticipated free publicity in the United States when the wealthy Scottish steel magnate Andrew Carnegie gave a small keg of Dewar"s to President Benjamin Harrison. When he was blasted in the press for not supporting American-made products, the Dewar"s name appeared in papers around the country and orders for the firm"s whisky began rolling in.
One of Dewar"s ten children, John A. Dewar, began working for the firm in 1871, and in 1879 he was made partner at the age of 23. The following year the senior Dewar died, and John A. inherited the business. The son was a skilled blender of whisky as well as a talented businessman, and he began to build up the company his father had founded.
In 1881 Dewar"s 17-year-old brother Tommy joined the firm, and in 1885 he was made a partner in John Dewar & Sons. That same year the firm began distribution to London, where whisky had traditionally sold poorly next to spirits like brandy, rum, and gin. Tommy Dewar had a knack for marketing, and though he arrived in town with introductions to only two men, one of whom was dead and the other bankrupt, he made a splash by bringing a kilt-wearing bagpiper to the 1886 London Brewer"s Exhibition. To capitalize on its new notoriety and to emphasize the whisky"s heritage, the firm soon began using a depiction of a traditionally-clad Scotch Highlander on its labels.
Beginnings
Dewar"s origins date to the mid-19th century. Founder John Dewar was born in 1805 in the small village of Dull, near Aberfeldy, Scotland, where he grew up on a farm. After an apprenticeship as a joiner, he moved in his early 20s to Perth, where he began working for his uncle"s wine and spirits wholesaling firm. He became a partner in 1837 but in 1846 decided to go into business on his own and began blending whisky from several different producers to give it a mellower flavor. Dewar was one of the first to sell his beverage in a glass bottle with the brand name embossed on the front, rather than in a ceramic container.
In 1892 Tommy Dewar began a two-year sales trip to 26 countries around the world. The journey resulted in contracts with 32 new sales agents and the publication of Ramble "Round the Globe, an account of his travels that was spiced with the pithy sayings ("Dewarisms") he was becoming known for.
In 1893 Queen Victoria awarded a Royal Warrant to John Dewar & Sons, which officially recognized the firm as a supplier to the crown, and in 1895 the company established a U.S. office in New York. Three years later Dewar"s commissioned the first-ever motion picture advertisement for a beverage, which was produced by the Edison Company and projected onto the roof of a building in New York"s Herald Square. A few years later the company would also make films that documented the process of blending its whisky.
In 1929 John A. Dewar died, leaving an estate worth some £4.5 million, and less than a year later his younger brother Tommy also passed away, leaving £5 million. The firm had recently recorded profits of more than a million pounds per annum.
The repeal of U.S. prohibition in 1933 returned Dewar"s whisky to that major market, but with the start of World War II in late 1939 the British government ordered distilleries to produce only one-third of their previous year"s production to conserve barley. The company was forced to lay off its sales force as it rationed orders at home and abroad, and production at the Aberfeldy distillery was later halted for a time. With the war"s end in 1945, production began to return to normal levels.
In 1915 John Dewar & Sons merged with the large whisky-blending firm of James Buchanan to form Buchanan-Dewars. The company"s new partner had been founded in London in 1884 and produced the popular Black and White brand.
In 1920 the United States prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages, which put a damper on sales, but the company continued to grow, and between 1919 and 1923 bought a total of six distilleries to supply whisky for its blends, including facilities in Ord, Parkmore, Pultney, and Aultmore.
Merger with DCL in 1925
In 1925 Buchanan-Dewars merged with the publicly traded Distillers Company Ltd. (DCL). Created in 1877 by the merger of six distillers, DCL had grown over the next half-century to become Britain"s leading spirits conglomerate. Following the subsequent acquisition of the John Walker distilling company (makers of Johnnie Walker scotch), Dewar"s parent company would own the three leading blended whisky producers, and it continued to acquire other major names like White Horse Distillers over time.
Aberfeldy Distillery Opens in 1898; White Label Scotch Debuts
Dewar"s had traditionally purchased whisky for its blends from other producers, but in 1898 the company opened a distillery of its own in the small village of Aberfeldy. The custom-built facility consisted of a long row of buildings that allowed for continuous distillation, with barley coming in at one end and casks of whisky going out the other. The distillery utilized water from the River Tay and was positioned on a train line to the firm"s headquarters in Perth. Soon after it opened the company introduced Dewar"s White Label Scotch, which was a blend of ten whiskies with the Aberfeldy variety at its heart, created by renowned whisky blender A. J. Cameron.
In 1900 the increasingly prominent Dewar brothers were both elected to the British Parliament. Tommy, who had begun serving as Sheriff of London in 1897, represented the Conservative party, while brother John was a Liberal. A year later Tommy Dewar was knighted by King Edward VII, who also granted Dewar"s its latest royal warrant. (It would receive one from each successive monarch.) Both Dewar brothers would ultimately be granted the status of Lords. The colorful Tommy Dewar, whose observations included statements like "a teetotaller is one who suffers from thirst instead of enjoying it," soon became the third Briton to purchase an automobile.
International expansion continued in the 20th century, with sales offices added in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, and Calcutta, India in 1902. In 1908 the firm"s new office, Dewar House, was opened in London"s Haymarket, and three years later the company erected the largest mechanical neon sign in Europe on the Thames embankment. The 80 foot tall advertisement showed the firm"s Scotch Highlander mascot "bending an elbow" with a glass of Dewar"s.
In 2003 the firm"s sales declined by 10 percent, from 84.2 million pounds to 75.7 million pounds, due to poor results in France, Spain, and Venezuela. A year later Dewar"s signed Scottish actor Sean Connery to appear in ads for Dewar"s 12-Year Old Scotch. The 74-year-old former James Bond star would deliver the new slogan, "Some age, others mature."
The company celebrated its 160th anniversary in 2006. Dewar"s was operating distilleries in Aberfeldy, Craigellachie, Brackla, Aultmore, and MacDuff to produce whisky for its blends, as well as limited-edition single malt scotches.
In the spring of 2000 the firm opened a new £2 million visitor"s center at the Aberfeldy Distillery. Dubbed Dewar"s World of Whisky, it would play host to some 30,000 visitors per year. The year 2000 also saw completion of the company"s £8.5 million refurbishing of a Glasgow bottling plant which had been closed for 13 years. When the Diageo bottling contract ended in June it began packaging Dewar"s and Lawson"s whiskies.
In late 2000 two shipping containers of Dewar"s 12-year-old scotch were stolen from a dock in Scotland. The 24,000 bottles lost were valued at nearly $1 million. Dewar"s subsequently joined a coalition of spirits makers that were working to combat similar thefts.
Dewar"s 12 Introduced in 2000
In 2000 the premium Dewar"s 12-Year Old Scotch brand was introduced to strong sales, and other deluxe variations followed including a 15-year blended malt. Less than two years after the Bacardi acquisition, the company had gone from ranking eighth in global whisky sales to fifth, with sales of Dewar"s rising to 3.5 million cases per year and Lawson"s to 1.1 million. In addition to its continuing U.S. sales leadership, Dewar"s was also ranked near the top in several other countries including Spain and Greece. The Lawson brand was popular in France, Spain, Portugal, and Mexico.
Following the acquisition, John Dewar was combined with earlier Bacardi purchase William Lawson Distillers Ltd. to form John Dewar & Sons, Ltd., which would be based in Glasgow. A smaller distillery, Royal Brackla, was purchased at this time as well and folded into the company. Diageo would bottle Dewar"s through mid-2000, after which time this function would be taken over by Bacardi.
The Dewar"s name had lost much of its luster in recent years due to Guinness" focus on the Johnnie Walker and B brands, which had stronger global sales. In October 1999 Bacardi relaunched the firm"s whisky with new label graphics and new advertising targeted at younger drinkers. The $20 million ad campaign updated the "Dewar"s Profiles" series and also used new ads depicting the familiar Scottish Highlander in various modern settings, such as shirtless, with a surfboard and sunglasses.
More than a century and a half after its namesake began blending whisky in Perth, Scotland, John Dewar & Sons, Ltd. continued to produce fine distilled beverages. The firm"s flagship brand, Dewar"s White Label, was the best-selling whisky in the United States and also popular in other countries around the world. With the backing and distribution muscle of new owner Bacardi, the company appeared well-positioned for many more years of success.
Trivia:
  • John Dewar & Sons operates Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, Macduff and Royal Brackla distilleries.
from answers.com
The Owner: Bacardi
Established: 1862
Silent since: False
Address: Front Street, Hamilton, Bermuda
→ website
Bacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100 countries. The company"s sales in 2007 were US$5.5 billion, up from $4.9 billion in 2006.
Brands
The Bacardi legacy lives on in Santiago and Havana through their grand buildings and historic significance. The Bacardi Building (Edificio Bacardi) in Old Havana is regarded as one of the finest art deco buildings in Latin America.
Despite focusing on the middle and lower end of the price spectrum, some Bacardi rum offerings have achieved a modicum of success at international spirit ratings competitions. For example, its eight-year anejo rum earned gold medals at the 2008 and 2009 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Bacardi has made several acquisitions to diversify away from the eponymous Bacardi rum brand. In 1992 Bacardi acquired Martini & Rossi, the famous Italian producer of Martini vermouth and sparkling wines. In 1998, the company acquired Dewar"s scotch and Bombay Sapphire gin from Diageo for $2 billion. Bacardi acquired the Cazadores tequila brand in 2001, and in 2004 purchased Grey Goose, a French made vodka, from Sidney Frank for $2 billion. In 2006, Bacardi purchased New Zealand vodka brand 42 Below. Other associated brands include the U.S. version of Havana Club, Drambuie Scotch whisky liqueur, Disaronno Amaretto, Eristoff vodka and B&B, Benedictine liqueurs, as well as the Canadian exclusive alcopop Rev.
Bacardi drinks are not found in Cuba today. The main brand of rum in Cuba is called Havana Club, a formerly private company nationalized by the government. Drinks now made in the former Bacardi distillery are sold in Cuba under the name Caney.
Bacardi and Cuba today
Bacardi has faced criticism and legal problems for supposedly attempting to falsely convince consumers they were purchasing rum made in Cuba rather than just marking its heritage. Bacardi adverts in Spain, since 1966, had described a popular combination of rum and coke as "rum and coke". However, after 1998, it began to describe the drink as Cuba Libre - literally translated as "free Cuba" which is the original name of the drink and how it"s mostly called in Latin America. In this instance, Bacardi faced a legal ruling from the Spanish Association of Advertising Users which forced the company to stop the advert. They concluded that it could "mislead the viewer as to the true nature of the product" as the advert contained so many pieces of Caribbean imagery, one might conclude it came from Cuba (Ospina, p79). Bacardi continues to fight a war in the courts with the Cuban government of the rights to trademarks around the world.
Bacardi, despite having no business tie (in terms of production) to Cuba today, have decided to re-emphasize their Cuban heritage in recent years. This is mainly due to commercial reasons; facing increased competition in the Rum market from the now international brand Havana Club, the company concluded that it was important for sales to associate their rum with Cuba. TV adverts with slogans of "Welcome to the Latin Quarter" are but one example of this. In 1998, under the distinctive bat logo, the phrase "company founded in Santiago de Cuba in 1862" was added.
The 1880s and 90s were turbulent times for Cuba and the company. Emilio Bacardi, eldest son of Don Facundo, was repeatedly imprisoned in a Spanish prison for (legitimate) suspicions of running a rebel financing and support network during the Cuban War of Independence.
Emilio"s brothers, Facundo and Jose, and his brother-in-law Henri (Don Enrique) Schueg, remained in Cuba with the difficult task of sustaining the company during a period of war. The women in the family were refugees in Kingston, Jamaica. After the war and the U.S. occupation of Cuba, "The Original Cuba Libre" and the Daiquiri were both born with Bacardi rum. In 1899, US- General Leonard Wood appointed Emilio Bacardi Mayor of Santiago de Cuba.
Facundo Bacardi, a wine merchant, was born in Sitges, Catalonia, Spain in 1814 and emigrated to Cuba in 1830. During this period, rum was cheaply made and not considered a refined drink, one rarely sold in upscale taverns. Don Facundo began attempting to "tame" rum. After experimenting with several techniques he hit upon filtering the rum through charcoal, which removed impurities. In addition to this, Facundo aged the rum in oak barrels, which had the effect of "mellowing" the drink.
Moving from the experimental stage to a more commercial endeavor, he and his brother Jose set up shop in a Santiago de Cuba distillery they bought in 1862; that distillery housed a still made of copper and cast iron, and was in a building in whose rafters lived fruit bats.
Bacardi is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda and has a 16-member board of directors led by the original founder"s great-great grandson, Facundo L. Bacardi. The President Bernard F. Ramirez and Co-President Charles M. Hernandez, also play a large part in production and sales.
First century
The Bacardi Building in Havana, Cuba.
In 1912, Emilio Bacardi traveled to Egypt where he purchased a mummy for the future Emilio Bacardi Moreau Municipal Museum in Santiago de Cuba, a mummy still on display. In Santiago, his brother Facundo M. Bacardi continued to manage the company along with Schueg, who began the company"s international expansion by opening new bottling plants in Barcelona and New York City. The New York plant was soon shut down due to Prohibition, yet during this time Cuba became a hotspot for US tourists.
Embittered Bacardi helmsman Jose Pepin Bosch bought a surplus B-26 bomber with the hopes of bombing Cuban oil refineries (the bold plan was foiled when a picture of the bomber appeared on the front page of The New York Times). He was also allegedly involved in the CIA plot to assassinate Fidel Castro; documents uncovered during Congressional investigations into John F. Kennedy"s death bring to light a message outlining how he had plans to assassinate Castro, his brother (Raul Castro) and Che Guevara. The RECE (Cuban Representation in Exile) also receives funding from Bacardi family members.
More recently, Bacardi lawyers were influential in the drafting of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act which sought to extend the scope of the United States embargo against Cuba. In 1999 Otto Reich, a lobbyist in Washington on behalf of Bacardi Rum, drafted section 211 of the 1999 Omnibus appropriations act, a bill that became known as the Bacardi Act. Section 211 denied trademark protection to Cuban businesses products expropriated after the Cuban revolution, a provision keenly sought by the Bacardi family. The act was aimed primarily at Havana Club brand in America, which had been registered by the Cuban government. Section 211 has been challenged un-successfully by the Cuban government and the European Union in US courts; however, the act has been ruled illegal by the WTO (August 2001). The U.S. Congress has yet to re-examine the matter.
Castro
Portuondo and other Bacardi family members initially supported the Cuban revolutionaries, including Fidel Castro and the broader M-26-7 movement: Bosch personally donated tens of thousands of dollars to the movement, and acted as an intermediary between the revolutionaries and the CIA to assuage the latter"s concerns. Family members, employees and facilities were put to use by the movement, and the company supported the revolution publicly with advertisements and parties. But their support turned to opposition as the pro-Soviet Che Guevara wing of the movement began to dominate, and as Castro turned against American interests.
The Bacardi family (and hence, the company) maintained a fierce opposition to Fidel Castro"s revolution in Cuba in the 1960s. The Bacardi family and company left Cuba after it became clear that Castro was serious about his pledges for change; in particular, in nationalizing and banning all private property on the island as well as all bank accounts. However, the company had started foreign branches a few years prior to the revolution; the company moved the all important Bacardi international trademarks out of the country to the Bahamas prior to the revolution as well as constructing a plant in Puerto Rico after the prohibition era to save in import taxes for rum being imported to the US. This helped the company survive after the communist government nationalized all Bacardi assets in the country.
Bacardi family members had close ties to the US political elite, as well as organizations of state such as the CIA. The family funded various Cuban exile organizations such as CANF.
In the 1920s, Emilio opened a new distillery in Santiago. During this decade, the art deco Bacardi building was built in Havana and the third generation of the Bacardi family was entering the business. Facundo Bacardi invited US-Americans (still subject to Prohibition) to "Come to Cuba and bathe in Bacardi rum." A new product was introduced: Hatuey beer.
The "Cathedral Of Rum" at the Distillery in Puerto Rico near San Juan.
Bacardi"s transition into an international brand was due mostly to Schueg"s "business genius"; Schueg "branded Cuba as the home of rum, and Bacardi as the king of rums" and moved production overseas, first to Puerto Rico (which enabled rum to be sold tariff-free in the U.S. after Prohibition), and then to Mexico. Those changes were accompanied by a new brand name: Ron Bacardi ("Ron" is the Spanish word for rum). Several trademark disputes went to court during this time regarding uses of the Bacardi name on rum produced outside of Cuba.
During the World War II years the company was led by Schueg"s son-in-law Jose "Pepin" Bosch. Pepin founded Bacardi Imports in New York City, and was named Cuba"s Minister of the Treasury in 1949.
Trivia:
  • Ernest Hemingway ordered his daiquiris with Bacardi White Label rum and mentions Hatuey beer in two of his works: To Have and Have Not and The Old Man and the Sea.
  • Bacardi had architects Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe and Felix Candela design office buildings and a bottling plant for them in Mexico City during the 1950s. The building complex was added to the tentative list of UNESCO"s World Heritage Site list on November 20, 2001.
from Wikipedia