Bacardi Prices & Buyers’ Guide

Easily the most famous name in rum, the Bacardi family has been rum royalty for longer than any of us have been alive. Bacardi is currently the largest private, family-owned spirits company in the USA and has a portfolio of over 200 products. Despite diversifying into other spirits, they remain most famous for their rums, which this article will focus on. Bacardi produces “Spanish-style” rum in a range of ages, flavors, and colors.

They are known for their affordable price point, quality, and historical connection to Cuba and rum. Bacardi was the first producer of “White Rum”, and uses the same strain of yeast first discovered by their founder over 150 years ago.

Bacardi Rum Price List 2022

Below are the latest Bacardi prices, along with ABV and bottle sizes.

Alternatives to Bacardi at Comparable Prices

• Havana Club

Bacardi’s biggest rival, Havana Club, is manufactured in Cuba using distilleries and equipment seized from capitalist distillers by the state during the revolution. Pernod Ricard, a French company, struck a deal for 50:50 ownership of the brand with the Cuban government.  Havana Club manufactures a three year aged rum, a seven-year aged rum, and an Especial edition. In my opinion, Havana Club 3 is superior to Bacardi Superior, while the 7 year Havana Club easily bests the Bacardi 8 year bottling. The true Havana Club is difficult to come by in the USA due to the embargo with Cuba. However, Bacardi owns the US trademark on the name and produces their own bottling of “Havana Club,” which is distinctly different from the authentic Cuban product. There have been numerous ongoing court cases regarding the trademark on the name “Havana Club” between Bacardi and Pernod.

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• Flor De Cana

This Nicaraguan Spanish-style rum manufacturer produces a four year old rum that is an excellent upgrade over Bacardi Superior. Flor de Cana is the rum brand of choice for many cocktail bartenders and is recommended in Death & Co’s Cocktail Codex. While Flor de Cana makes some premium and ultra-premium rums with high price tags, their four year bottle shouldn’t cost you more than Bacardi Superior. 

• Plantation

Plantation makes numerous quality rums at affordable prices, and when considering white rums, their Three Star bottle is a solid option. Plantation Three Star is a blend of English style white rums from Trinidad, Jamaica, and Barbados. While not a direct substitute for the Spanish style Bacardi Superior, Plantation Three Star is versatile, working wonders in tiki drinks and filling in admirably in cocktails like the mojito or Cuba libre. It’s also quite affordable.

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• Don Q

Don Q rum is named after Don Quixote. While not as famous as Bacardi, Don Q actually outsells them on the island of Puerto Rico, and in fact, is Puerto Rico’s best-selling rum. Their Don Q Cristal bottle is a similar Spanish style white rum as Bacardi Superior, but according to their own marketing, is geared more towards vodka drinkers looking to explore rum.

Reviewed: Bacardi Product Line

• Bacardi Superior

The Bacardi bottle most of us will be familiar with Bacardi Superior, is their white, or silver, rum. This bottle is a blend of rums aged for at least one year and may contain small amounts of rum aged for up to three years. While there are better white rums on the market, don’t let the stigma against large corporations scare you off this bottle. It’s a solid cocktail rum for an affordable price of $10.99–$19.99 a 750ml bottle, and a solid standard to measure other bottles against.

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• Bacardi Gold

The primary difference between Bacardi Superior and Bacardi Gold is that the gold bottling is only filtered once through charcoal. In addition, the gold bottling is made up of a blend of rums primarily aged for two years in white oak casks. The price of Bacardi Gold is similar to that of Bacardi Superior.

• Bacardi Black

Bacardi Black is a blend of rums aged between one and three years in charred oak barrels. Strong notes of molasses and vanilla are balanced with oak and orange peel. Like most “black” rums, it isn’t particularly old, and the color derives from char on the barrels and added molasses or flavorings.

• Bacardi Anejo Cuatro

Aged for four years in white oak barrels, the Bacardi Anejo Cuatro is a better option for aged rum than the gold or black offerings from Bacardi, which is also reflected in its price of $18.99-$24.99 for a 750ml bottle. Smooth notes of vanilla and cloves pair with the classic Bacardi white oak in this bottle.

• Bacardi 8

Bacardi blends this rum from casks aged a minimum of eight years and a maximum of sixteen years, creating a smoother drinking experience. Marketed as a sipping rum, it can be enjoyed neat or on the rocks, in addition to being used in rum forward cocktails. Strong notes of vanilla, spices, and oak are easily noticeable in this bottle, along with the subtle citrus peel and tropical fruit. For a 750ml bottle, the price of Bacardi 8 would be $26.99-$34.99.

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• Flavored Rums

Bacardi also produces a line of flavored rums that includes lime, limón, dragon berry, pineapple, raspberry, grapefruit, banana, and coconut. These are flavored after distillation and bottled at 35% ABV.

Bacardi also produces numerous flavors of ready-to-drink cocktails in cans and bottles at lower ABV.

Cocktails With Bacardi

Cuba Libre

• 2 oz Bacardi Silver
• ½ oz lime juice
• 4 oz Cola

Build in glass with Ice, Stir gently.

The difference between a rum and coke and a Cuba libre is the addition of fresh lime juice, which takes this from a mediocre mixed drink to a classic cocktail.

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Mojito

• 6-10 Mint leaves
• ¾ oz lime juice
• ¾ oz simple syrup
• 2 oz Bacardi Silver

Muddle Mint with simple and lime juice, add ice, rum, and top with soda.

There are lots of ways to make a mojito. Some people prefer raw sugar or white granulated sugar, some people like crushed ice, and some people like lightly aged rum. Experiment to find your perfect Mojito spec.

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History and Production

In the 1830s, a Barceloní named Facundo Bacardí Massó immigrated to Cuba and set up shop as a wine and spirits merchant. Massó had been trained to make brandy back in Spain and began exploring distilling options in his new home. At the time, rum was the spirit of choice for working-class people in the Caribbean, but it was often dark, harsh, and made from the refuse of sugar production. Massó began isolating strains of yeast which he believed would lead to a more palatable flavor. He then charcoal filtered the rum and aged it in white oak casks. The end result was the first “white” rum in the world, a refined, more enjoyable rum that he hoped to market to upper-class drinkers. 

The next hundred or so years would see Bacardi rise in the world, even as the family endured the hardships of the Spanish-American War and the Cuban War of Independence. Many family members were exiled from Cuba during this time, and Bacardi began setting up facilities outside Cuba. During this time, cocktails such as the Daiquiri and Cuba Libre were both created and popularized using Bacardi rum.

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Bacardi production is all about the yeast. Their patented strain of yeast, first used by founder Facundo Bacardi Massó, is mixed with water and molasses and set to ferment in temperature-controlled tanks. The fermented molasses is then distilled in two ways. One part is run through a column still and turned into “redistillado,” while the other is run through a separate style of column still and turned into “aguardiente.” The two separate distillates are aged in oak barrels, charcoal filtered, and blended to create Bacardi rums.