Bacardi Cocktail, Swank Cocktail #10

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The Bacardi Cocktail is cocktail number 10 on the Swank Cocktail Guide.

The Difference between a Bacardi Cocktail and a Daiquiri

The Swank Cocktail Guide’s recipe for a Bacardi Cocktail is a mixture of Bacardi Rum, lime juice, and simple syrup; it sounds like a daiquiri. So, what’s the difference? A Bacardi Cocktail uses Bacardi rum and a daiquiri (Swank #29) uses any brand of light rum. And, that’s the law, according to the New York Supreme Court in April of 1937.

Bacardi Cocktail Lawsuit

In 1936, a New York court issued an injunction against the Barbizon-Plaza Hotel and the Wivel Restaurant for using any brand of rum when customers ordered a Bacardi Cocktail.

“Rules a Bacardi Cocktail Must Have Bacardi In It,” newspaper article, The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 29 Apr 1936, p. 1, col. 2. — “Rules a Bacardi Cocktail Must Have Bacardi In It,” newspaper article, *The Evening Sun* (Baltimore, Maryland), 29 Apr 1936, p. 1, col. 2.

A press release by Bacardi Limited on the 75th anniversary of the 1937 Appellate Court ruling upholding the 1936 decision states:

“…Bacardi attorneys called the judge’s own bartender to testify and asked him what rum he used in the judge’s favorite BACARDI cocktail. He answered only “BACARDI rum.” Some other bartenders testified they used the handiest bottle of any rum available to make BACARDI cocktails.

With that, Justice John L. Walsh, ruled: ‘Beyond a reasonable doubt subterfuge and a fraud is subjected on the purchaser when BACARDI rum is left out of a drink listed as a BACARDI cocktail.’

– Bacardi Toasts 75th Anniversary of NY Supreme Court Ruling, 25 April 2012″

“Must Be Bacardi Decision is Upheld,” newspaper article, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York), 3 Apr 1937, p. 11, col. 5. — “Must Be Bacardi Decision is Upheld,” newspaper article, *The Brooklyn Daily Eagle* (Brooklyn, New York), 3 Apr 1937, p. 11, col. 5.

Following the ruling, advertisements ran coast-to-coast in newspapers stating: “The famous Bacardi Cocktail is made only with lime juice, sugar, and Bacardi. No other rum can be used!”

Bravo and cheers to Bacardi for defending their brand.

“Bacardi Cocktail,” Newspaper advertisement, The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), 3 Nov 1937, p. 16, col. 1. — “Bacardi Cocktail,” Newspaper advertisement, *The Boston Globe* (Boston, Massachusetts), 3 Nov 1937, p. 16, col. 1.

Bacardi Cocktail history

Bacardi was founded by Don Facundo Bacardí Massó in Santiago de Cuba on 4 February 1862.

According to the historical timeline on the Barcardi website, the Bacardi Daiquiri cocktail was invented in 1898 in Daiquirí, Cauba by Jennings S. Cox, an American mining engineer, using “using freshly squeezed lime juice, sugar, ice shavings and BACARDÍ Superior rum.”

By 1911, the Bacardi Cocktail, referred to as a “rum plush,” was described as using “Bacardi rum – the Jamaica sort won’t do – to which a little lime juice and sugar is added…” in a newspaper article in Montana.