National Public Radio correspondent Tom Gjelten recently published Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause (Viking). The book, which follows the at-times gripping 150-year history of the family behind the world-famous rum brand, offers a unique entry into Cuban history, which we see here through the tale of five generations of a family whose lives and fortunes are closely linked with the development of Cuban national identity. It is also a story of the remarkable development of one of the world’s best-known rums. The extensively researched book abounds with curious anecdotes. Ernest Hemingway, known for his love of daiquiris, dedicated his Nobel Prize to Cuban’s patron saint at a Bacardí party in his honor. Miguel Matamoros, composer of some of Cuba’s most famous sones, was the brother of the production chief of the company’s Santiago distillery. Desi Arnaz Jr.’s grandfather was a company executive, as was the father of Vilma Espín, the beautiful revolutionary who married Raúl Castro.José (Pepín) Bosch, who ran the exiled company from Miami, once bought a Douglas B-26 bomber and hatched a secret plan to bomb Cuban oil refineries as a way to destabilize the Castro government. The family was closely associated with the anti-Castro movement among Cubans in exile.
The book, the New York Times said in its review, “succeeds in painting a vivid portrait of the company’s early, scrappy years and its prominent role in the fight against Spanish rule.” It also “provides a fascinating look at how the company built itself into the multinational giant it has become, in part because it realized very early on the importance of something that most other companies undervalued until much later in corporate history: a recognized name and brand.”
Bacardí Rum has been produced in Puerto Rico since the family went into exile after its production facilities were nationalized by the Cuban Revolution.
