Thursday, October 2, 2008

Bacardi: the battles of the family

Viking Press has released a new book titled "Bacardi and the long fight for Cuba", by Tom Gjelten, which chronicles the Bacardi rum dynasty and its relationship with Cuba. Part of the book covers Bacardi's trademark battles with the Cuban government and Pernod Ricard (when Castro seized power, one thing his government did was nationalize the company's Havana Club brand, which Castro then directed by marketed in partnership with the French company Pernod Ricard). The battles involved a fair amount of dirty IP battles in Washington. Fun reading over a few shots of rum, or your favorite liquor.