Bicardi T-shirt

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Bacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100 countries. The companys sales in 2007 were US$5.5 billion, up from $4.9 billion in 2006. Bacardi is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda and has a 16-member board of directors led by the original founders great-great grandson, Facundo L. Bacard . The President Bernard F. Ram rez and Co-President Charles M. Hern ndez, also play a large part in production and sales. Facund Bacard i Mass , a Catalan wine merchant, was born in Sitges, Catalonia, (Spain) in 1814, and emigrated to Cuba in 1830. During this period, rum was cheaply made and not considered a refined drink, one rarely sold in upscale taverns. Don Facundo began attempting to “tame” rum. After experimenting with several techniques he hit upon filtering the rum through charcoal, which removed impurities. In addition to this, Facundo aged the rum in oak barrels, which had the effect of “mellowing” the drink. Moving from the experimental stage to a more commercial endeavor, he and his brother Jose set up shop in a Santiago de Cuba distillery they bought in 1862 that distillery housed a still made of copper and cast iron, and was in a building in whose rafters lived fruit bats.