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Don Facundo y Segismundo viven juntos en el mundo, con Segundo y don Raimundo

Bacardi rum is a staple among local Puerto Ricans along with the 1,000s of visitors who travel to the island. Puerto Rico is also home to the Bacardi rum factory, which is today the world's largest premium rum distillery.

One reason why Bacardi is different from other types of rums is because the founder of Bacardi, Don Facundo Bacardí Massó, added two new steps to creating rum that had never been done before. The rum factory has been a tourist draw for Puerto Rico since 1936, when the company moved from Cuba.  More than 20 million cases of rum are produced at the Puerto Rican factory every year. In 1969, Bacardi became the world’s number one rum and has continued to be the number one rum for the past 25 years. Currently, over 6,800 employees work at the Puerto Rico plant.

If you choose to visit the rum factory you will find it is incredibly well run, since they have 1,000 of visitors that come through the factory each year. The first stop on the tour is the large covered patio outside, where each visitor gets two complementary drink tickets, and the visitors are able to pick any kind of Bacardi rum they like to taste. Then, you take an open-air tram to a large welcoming building that is set up specifically for people who want to come to visit Bacardi. A tour guide greets the tour group in the museum’s first room, and then they continue room-to-room discovering the legend that Bacardi is and how that legend came to be.

The tour guides are very knowledgeable about Bacardi, the history, and the rum that is made at the plant. One of the highlights of the tour is the last room, which is a remake reminiscent of early bars in Cuba, where the Bacardi brand started. There is a bartender, named Tommy, whose voice is as smooth as butter behind the bar making signature Bacardi drinks, and he explains how each drink is made while he is making them.

After you leave that room, you are able to shop at the gift shop packed with any kind of Bacardi item you can think of, and you can take home treasures of your time at the Bacardi factory is Puerto Rico. One recommendation would be to get there early and get tickets. The later in the afternoon you go, the longer of a wait you will have because of the cruise ships that come in later in the afternoon, so be sure and go in the morning so you can experience all that Bacardi has to offer!