Bacardi Reserva Ocho, the rum with a golden touch, is now in India

Rum can be luxurious. Veenu Sandhu finds out how, through a blend until recently consumed only by the Bacardi family

Sipping his drink at a party one evening, a friend remarked, meditatively (some might argue, blasphemously): “Man is one up on God. God made man, but man made rum.” A tall person with a scruffy beard and the look of a sailor, it wasn’t a surprise that his drink of choice was rum. Rough, macho and with the potency to burn your innards, rum was for long associated with sailors and pirates. So much so that in July 1970, when the British Navy discontinued the practice of giving sailors their “tot” (daily ration of rum), the seafarers marked the last day of the supply as “Black Tot Day”, with some of them turning up in black armbands. Slavery, organised crime, armed insurgencies — rum has often been at the centre of these.

But it has also gone from being a crude drink quaffed at cheap watering holes to becoming a premium blend that boasts depth, character, substance and finesse. The credit for which must go to Don Facundo Bacardi Massó, a businessman from the Cuban city of Santiago de Cuba, whose several experiments with distillation in the 1860s led to the world’s first clear (white) rum, the Bacardi Carta Blanca. And that’s what Bacardi, which remains a family-owned spirits company, entered India with some two decades ago. Then it brought in its ready-to-drink Breezer (albeit tweaked slightly to suit the sweet Indian palate), flavoured rums (Bacardi Limón, orange, apple, pineapple), Bacardi Black (to bridge the gap between Old Monk and Bacardi Carta Blanca), Grey Goose vodka, Bombay Sapphire gin and, whisky (Dewar’s and William Lawson’s).

The latest to join this growing portfolio is the Bacardi Reserva Ocho — a premium rum matured in American white oak barrels under the Caribbean sun for at least eight years and then filtered through charcoal. “Ocho” is Spanish for “eight”.

“Eight years of ageing in the Caribbean would give it far more depth and character than, let’s say, maturing whisky in Scotland for 15 years because it’s the humidity and warmth that matures the rum in the barrel and gives it its unique smoothness,” says Sanjit Randhawa, managing director, Bacardi India, who prefers to drink it neat.

As old as the world’s oldest spirits company, the Bacardi Reserva Ocho was until recently produced only for the family’s consumption, its recipe passed on over seven generations. Like all Bacardi rums, the recipe of this one too remains a closely guarded secret.

Contained in a handsome, broad-based bottle, the mahogany-tinted gold rum’s translucent quality inspires confidence. With warm tasting notes of prune, apricot, nutmeg and vanilla, this is indeed a drink that can be had on the rocks with a clear block of ice — just like you would a single malt. Or, in a cocktail, where it promises to retain its unique character and lend itself to the mixer rather than be overpowered by it. 

So far the Bacardi Reserva Ocho, which is priced between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,500 a bottle (depending on the state it is sold in), has been rolled out in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Haryana and Kolkata. There are plans to expand to other markets, but only after strengthening its presence here. There are also plans to widen the premium portfolio with two new rums next year: Bacardi Añejo Cuatro (aged at least four years) and the Bacardi Gran Reserva Diez (aged at least 10 years). The entire range is already available in the Delhi and Mumbai duty free shops.