Rum Club with Barcardi Rum at Revolucion de Cuba

You’d think over the last two weeks I’d had enough rum already, but no such thing.

Rum Club at Revolucion de Cuba is one of my favourite events, popping up every couple of months, it’s a free event for anyone, and involves samples of rum to taste and a cocktail or two. What’s not to like?

Plus it gives me the excuse to eat there afterwards.

I have to admit to only recently giving Bacardi Rum another chance. Memories of my late teens and early twenties are full of late nights with friends drinking ‘full fat’ Bacardi and Coke… and the inevitable aftermath. Of course, since then I’ve thankfully discovered Daquiris and Mai Tais, Old Fashioneds and sipping rums. Thank goodness.

Our host for the evening was Ozzy, and while she introduced herself and us to the background of Bacardi Rum,  we had our first cocktail, a daiquiri, made with Bacardi Superior.

The history of Bacardi is rather fascinating. The man behind the brand, Don Facundo Bacardi Masso was a Spanish born young man who in the mid 19th Century emigrated to Cuba, following his older brothers. Initially working in their store, he saved and set up his own mercantile shop and married a lady who would become key to Bacardi Rum, Amalia Moreau.

They prospered, as did their family and had four children before the an earthquake and cholera epidemic proved disastrous to their business. Having taken his family home to Spain to escape the disease, they returned to find the store looted, goods destroyed and the business went bankrupt.

However all was not lost. Don Facundo began to experiment with rum. The rum available in Cuba wasn’t the beverage we know today. As with all spirits, it started in a cruder, harsher form, quality and flavour could be variable to say the least. But Don Facundo had an idea and through trial and error, experimentation and the help of his soon to be partner Jose Leon Boutellier, they created something that was better quality, and not only drinkable, but pleasantly so.

Bacardi Superior Rum was born. The brand grew, became internationally recognised through exhibitions and after becoming more commercial and moving to bigger premises, they adopted the bat, now it’s iconic logo, after fruit bats were discovered living in the rafters of the building. (Side note, the bats liked the fermenting fruit. A lot. Drunken bats – there’s something you wouldn’t see every day).

Fast forward through the prohibition years in the USA and Bacardi was booming. Americans were travelling over to Cuba to indulge in rum, spreading it’s popularity speedily and pushing it into household name status.

Sadly, this was not to last. The political situation in Cuba was volatile to say the least and the rise of Fidel Castro led to the factories, stores and bank accounts of the family in Cuba to be confiscated. It was only through their ventures outside Cuba – in Mexico, America and Spain – that the family could continue to maintain the Bacardi brand.

And that brings us back to the tasting.

Since those volatile days in Cuba, Bacardi have experimented and expanded their brand. They still, of course, have their white rum. Though this is aged in barrels, and maintains the flavour from white oak casks, it is charcoal filtered, and so the colour is removed, making it perfect for cocktail making.

This was, unsurprisingly, our first rum to try. On it’s own, the scent is unmistakeable. Vanilla, hints of tropical fruit and a little nutty, it’s almost entirely vanilla on the palate, a tickle of heat and finishes slightly dry.

Next up was Bacardi Gold. This has recently undergone a small change, bumping the ABV up to 40 from 37.5%. I much prefer this to the Superior – with lots of butterscotch and buttery notes, it’s softer than it’s lighter cousin and the vanilla from the 3 year ageing process is much more pronounced and further developed.

The Bacardi Black, however, is even better – both in colour and flavour. The insides of the barrels used for ageing are charred,  resulting in much more of a traditional rum flavour, rich, dark sugar, cinnamon and allspice flavours fill the palate, with hints of plums and of course tropical fruits.

Our final rum, before we played behind the bar, was the Bacardi 8 year old. This is, understandably one of the favourites among rum fans. Lightly honeyed, well oaked, but balanced, it’s very reminiscent of a good whisky blend. I loved the tickle of orange citrus along the palate and knew it was going to make a cracking Old Fashioned.

It was, perhaps unsurprisingly that when we got behind the bar, that was one of the options and it was, to be honest, my favourite cocktail of the evening, though the espresso Martini was a very close second.

I’d, er, show you pictures of the Old Fashioned, but as I was making it, I didn’t take any. It was very nice though.

With huge thanks, as ever to Revolucion de Cuba, Bacardi and my fellow rum fans.

Roll on the next one!