Bacardi, and its yeast, await a return to Cuba

By W. Blake Gray  

Special to the Los Angeles Times

At 6 a.m. on Oct. 14, 1960, Cuban national radio announced that the Communist government was nationalizing sugar mills and rum factories — including the island's most famous business, Bacardi. Cuban marines quickly headed to Bacardi's office in Havana with a one-page official document (riddled with misspellings) that gave them control.

However, Fidel Castro and his cabinet made a crucial error, and the repercussions live on in the world of rum today. They went not only to the wrong building but also to the wrong city.

Bacardi's headquarters and production facility were in Santiago, on the other side of the country. The marines responsible for seizing Bacardi had to catch a commercial flight to get there, and by the time they did, Bacardi's most valuable possession was gone from Cuba. It had already left the country, and anything left behind had been killed, completely — not a cell left alive.

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