A Rum Milestone: Bacardi Surpasses 1000 Spirit Competition Awards

Bacardi is the world’s largest privately-held beverage company and has consistently ranked in the top five among the world’s leading drinks companies. Founded 160 years ago by Facundo Bacardi, it has grown into a global giant whose spirit interests range across 200 different brands and include such iconic producers as Grey Goose Vodka, Dewar’s Blended Scotch Whisky, Martini & Rossi Vermouth, Bombay Sapphire Gin and Patron Tequila.

Today, the company employs approximately 6,000 people in 160 different countries and operates 29 distilleries and manufacturing plants around the world. Its products are sold in more than 150 markets.

It is rum, however, that is at the core of the company’s brand portfolio. It was Facundo Bacardi’s innovations to Cuban-style rum that gave birth to the company and has provided the impetus for its growth. The recent news that Bacardi had just won its 1,000th award in spirit competitions for its rums underscored both the enduring quality of its rums and marked an important milestone in the company’s history.

Recently, I sat down with Ned Duggan (ND), Senior Vice President Bacardi Rum, and Troy Arquiza (TA), Global Master Blender for Bacardi Rum, to talk about the brand, its achievements, and its future plans.

Ned Duggan is Senior Vice President of BACARDÍ Rum. His industry background includes extensive experience in the spirits world with top brands, including Bombay Sapphire, Grey Goose, St-Germain, Corzo Tequila and Oxley Gin.

Originally from the Philippines, Astrophel “Troy” Arquiza became the Global Master Blender for BACARDÍ® rum (the “Maestro de Ron”) in 2020 after undergoing more than two decades of extensive training with family-owned Bacardi.

JM: 1,000 spirit awards over more than a century and a half is more awards than any other rum brand in history. Consumer tastes and the use of rum have changed significantly since the days of Facundo Bacardi. How have Bacardi’s rums changed over the years to reflect changing consumer tastes?

ND: The rum category has seen a lot of growth over the years, and in 2020, we saw a 5.9% uptick in category revenue, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., with most of that growth attributed to high-end premium (8.7%) and premium (7.6%) and super-premium (3.7%).

With that in mind, we’ve continued to prioritize innovation in ways that stay true to our heritage, while also meeting the changing consumer tastes. We have been using the same processes to make BACARDÍ rum for almost 160 years and are extremely proud of that, but as avid rum enthusiasts and experts in our field, we’re constantly evolving and incorporating innovative products into our mainstay portfolio.

Our venture into the spirit-based ready-to-drink category is a prime example of that innovation. Spirit-based canned cocktails are driving significant growth of spirits value overall (+72%) and in 2020, the ready-to-drink category was up 118%.

Because of the growing consumer demand, BACARDÍ listened and introduced our BACARDÍ Real Rum Canned Cocktails range in Spring 2020, and have since expanded it in Spring 2021, with even more flavor variants hitting shelves this Spring.

Don Facundo wasn’t making canned cocktails in the 19th century, but we’re certain he would approve, as we’ve upheld his trailblazing legacy to stay ahead of the curve, while also treasuring the techniques and products that he brilliantly created all those years ago.

JM: Is there one specific rum expression in the Bacardi portfolio that best epitomizes the brand’s rum craft? How has this expression performed in spirit competitions around the world?

ND: We have worked hard on all our rum expressions so that they reflect the innovation, flavor complexities, and heritage that make our brand stand out from the rest, so it’s hard to choose just one.

However, our BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho product, which is a key rum in our Premium portfolio, would have to be one of our most popular expressions. The base rum was created in 1862, when BACARDÍ first began, and is barrel-aged for a minimum of eight years with a rich, velvety body.

Best enjoyed by itself or in a spirit-forward cocktail, like our Ocho Old Fashioned, this expression is our best-performing spirit in competitions around the world, and accounts for almost a quarter of the spirits awards won over the last six years. Over half of its awards have been gold medals, so we are especially proud of this expression and look forward to its continued success for next year.

JM: Brown rums have been outperforming white rums. Between 2015-and 2020, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis data, the global volume of white rums declined by 12%, while the volume of dark rums declined by 9%. The brown rum category is expected to grow by 17%, while white rum is expected to grow by 9%.

More significantly, the premium rum category soared by 35% from 2015-to 2020 and is expected to grow by a further 38% between 2020-and 2025. Is Bacardi experiencing the same trends and how are you responding to the growing demand for premium-priced rums?

ND: The category has been in a period of premiumization for a few years now, which is in keeping with the growth we’ve seen in our portfolio. BACARDÍ Gran Reserva Diez, aged a minimum of 10 years, has almost doubled year over year in the ultra-premium segment, while BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho, aged a minimum of eight years, is continuing to gain share in the super-premium segment since its relaunch in 2020.

As the premium rum category continues to expand, BACARDÍ has been meeting those demands even further with the introduction of our Premium Range in 2018, which added BACARDÍ Añejo Cuatro and BACARDÍ Gran Reserva Diez to the product portfolio.

To keep that momentum going, we announced the launch of our BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho Sherry Cask Finish last year, which takes our hero BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho rum and finishes the liquid in a series of casks – like sherry – adding a different level of complexity to the rum. We’ll continue to roll out new limited-edition bottles annually through 2025 to capture the attention of the premium and dark spirit-sipping consumer.

JM: The yeast strain isolated by Don Facundo Bacardi from Cuban sugarcane, the “Levadura Bacardí,” has been at the heart of Bacardi’s production process. Bacardi still uses the original strain of yeast, even though the genetic engineering of yeast has advanced dramatically over the last half-century. Is Bacardi looking to improve or genetically modify the Levadura Bacardi in any way or do you intend to continue the original strain of yeast?

TQ: We’re always working to stay ahead of the curve in our rum-making processes, and what sets us apart from much of the competition is our rich history, which we’ve managed to channel into our modern rum fermentation and distillation processes.

Don Facundo Bacardi was a major trailblazer in the rum category, and we’re pleased to say we’ve adapted some of these new technologies for us to maintain the “Levadura Bacardi” true to its characteristics from when the first Bacardi Rum was made.

We still use the original Levadura Bacardi strain of yeast to this day, and strongly believe it’s part of what makes our rum such high quality with its many complexities. The fact that it’s rooted in tradition is just a bonus.

JM: Yeast is very prone to mutation. How do you ensure the genetic integrity of the Levadura Bacardi? Is this still the same yeast that Facundo Bacardi isolated 160 years ago?

TQ: Ensuring that we maintain the integrity of the Levadura Bacardi yeast strain is of utmost importance at BACARDÍ. Our highly rigorous yeast purification process has been carefully developed over the last 160 years and is performed at specific intervals by our highly trained “primos,” ensuring that our yeast is kept and held to its premiere form. The validation of this process is through sensory testing of the resulting rum distillate produced.

While new advances in technologies have enabled us to further characterize the Levadura Bacardi, its mitochondrial code (DNA) has been thoroughly cataloged as an example.

Quality Controls using today’s technology, including mass spectrometry-gas chromatography, ensures that every Bacardi Rum batch meets all our quality specifications, which is instrumental in maintaining consistency across our products.

Such diligence in keeping the Bacardi yeast safe and sound at our distilleries is fundamental for our continued success, and I’m proud to say it’s the oldest strain of cultured Cuban yeast in the world and has been used uninterrupted since 1862.

JM: Finishing spirits in casks that previously held other spirits has become quite popular among whisky producers and is becoming increasingly common among rum producers as well. Bacardi has released a Bacardi Reserva Ocho Sherry Cask finished rum so far. Are there more cask-finished rums in the works? What can we expect in the future? What other liquids, from a cask finishing standpoint, do you think best complement Bacardi rums?

TQ: The release of the BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho Sherry Cask Finish kicked off our five-year cask finish series, so this is just the first of many cask-finish products you will see from the brand.

Each product in this series will begin with a base of BACARDÍ Reserva Ocho, which is then finished for several additional months in a unique barrel that will change from one year to the next, bringing out a new, distinctive flavor with each new barrel.

While we can’t reveal yet what the next four cask finishes will be, we can say that the new limited-edition bottles will be rolled out annually through 2025 and will be just as coveted and premium as our first launch.

JM: Another of Don Facundo’s innovations was the use of coconut shell/husk charcoal for filtering rum. Do you still use the same type of charcoal or is this an area where Bacardi has innovated further?

TQ: Using coconut shell/husk charcoal for filtering BACARDÍ rum was one of Don Facundo’s most exciting innovations and something that the brand still does to this day. However, our filtration methods have evolved throughout the years, and we are now using 13 different types of charcoal, made from ingredients like coconut shells and tropical woods.

The rum is filtered through multiple layers, which helps control and polish the nuances of the flavors. Once they are filtered, the finished rum is then aged in white oak barrels under the Caribbean sun, leaving us with the superior, light-bodied rum we all know and love.

JM: Flavored rums have been one of the fastest-growing segments of the rum market. Bacardi has a selection of fruit-flavored white rums but has stopped short of the more exotic flavors available. These range from Key Lime pie to peanut butter. Are these sorts of exotic flavors the next evolution of flavored rums? What is Bacardi planning to do, if anything, in this area?

ND: BACARDÍ has watched the flavored rum market grow immensely over the past few years, and as a brand that aims to stay on top of industry trends, we met those consumer demands with the launch of flavored rums like BACARDÍ Tropical.

Last year, we launched BACARDÍ Tropical because we saw that tropical flavors accounted for roughly 80% of recent flavored rum volume growth according to Nielsen. This new flavor launch was a product of those market findings, and also gives rum drinkers a taste of the Caribbean and BACARDÍ culture, which is something that is top of mind with each new flavor innovation launch for our brand.

In terms of BACARDÍ debuting any exotic flavors, we like to make sure that whatever flavor we debut is in line with market trends, reflects our BACARDÍ heritage, and is a timeless flavor that can be enjoyed through the years. We’re excited to explore this facet of the category more as we continue to keep a close eye on trending flavors that align with our flair.

JM: How is Bacardi planning to celebrate its 160th anniversary and the milestone of receiving over 1,000 awards in spirit competitions?

ND: To celebrate this major brand milestone, the BACARDÍ team of course toasted to this exciting achievement with a BACARDÍ cocktail in hand, before looking forward to the brand’s next 160 years in business.

Following our 160th anniversary, we announced that BACARDÍ will be cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in half starting in 2023, by way of a Combined Heat & Power (CHP) system slated to go live next year at our distillery in Puerto Rico.

The new CHP system will replace heavy fuel oil with propane gas, a much cleaner and more efficient energy solution, and will bring us one step further to a more sustainable future.

Sustainability is near and dear to us as a brand, and we are always looking for ways to improve and preserve that value. We look forward to continuing to create rums that allow people to celebrate together for the next 160 years and beyond.

JM: Thank you both.