BACARDI® Rum Continues 150th Anniversary Celebration with Annual Legacy Cocktail Competition at Boston Cocktail Summit

Top 12 Regional Winners will Advance to National Showcase in Miami

CORAL GABLES, Fla., Sept. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- BACARDI, the world's best-selling and most awarded rum, along with the Greater Boston Beverage Society, will kick off the Legacy Cocktail Competition during the Boston Cocktail Summit, challenging bartenders around the country to create a truly great cocktail that will represent the U.S. in the global final. The Boston Cocktail Summit will celebrate the culture of the cocktail with three days of events, parties, trade exhibits, educational seminars and galas with proceeds supporting the newly established Greater Boston Beverage Society.

Now in its fourth year, the BACARDI Legacy Cocktail Competition is a chance for the best contemporary bartenders to create a balanced, refreshing, appealing and enduring drink that will become as celebrated as historic cocktails such as the BACARDI Mojito and BACARDI Daiquiri.

"Every year, the BACARDI Legacy Cocktail Competition discovers so many outstanding recipes from exceptional bartenders, and the competition seems to be pushing bartenders to be more and more creative each year," noted Alberto Dias, senior brand manager, BACARDI rums. "I look forward to this year's first round of frontrunners in Boston and the 150^th Anniversary celebration to follow. No doubt it will be another legendary party."

Developed by the BACARDI U.K. brand team, the competition has grown to become a world-renowned event, with regions from the U.S., U.K., Africa, EU and Asia participating in the 2013 event. The top 12 Regional "New Legacy Cocktails" will advance to the National Showcase in Miami, hosted by industry leaders and held in front of a specially invited audience of leading bartenders, bar professionals and media. At the Showcase, three cocktail presentations will be crowned the "New Rum Legacy Cocktails", and the winners will win a VIP trip to the BACARDI Catedral de Ron, the largest premium rum distillery in the world, hosted by Maestro de Ron, to present their cocktails in the final national exposition. The final winner will move on to the global competition in May 2013.

Following the cocktail competition, BACARDI will host a 150^th Anniversary celebration. The party will be reminiscent of the brand's origins in Cuba and will be set in the 1920's era complete with classic cocktails, cigars, Cuban music and dancing.

Fri., Oct. 5^th
5 – 8 p.m.: BACARDI Legacy Cocktail Showcase
8 – 11 p.m.: BACARDI 150^th Anniversary party

Both events will be located at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge.

About Greater Boston Beverage Society
Established in September 2011 by local mixologists Alexei Beratis and Jamie Walsh, The Greater Boston Beverage Society is a not-for-profit organization developed to preserve and promote Boston's cocktail and hospitality culture and spirits history while supporting local and national beverage industry related charities. The Boston Cocktail Summit aims to promote and elevate the great food and beverage traditions of New England, offering a cocktail festival that is at once informative, educational, fun and quintessentially Boston.

BACARDI Heritage – Celebrating 150 Years
After years of experimenting, Bacardi Don Facundo BACARDI Masso revolutionized the spirits industry with the smooth, light-bodied spirit he created, as opposed to the harsh "fire water" of the time. He used techniques never before used in rum-making including using high quality sugarcane molasses, isolating a special strain of yeast (still used today) for controlled fermentation, filtering multiple times, mellowing his rums in American white oak barrels, and then blending them to create the perfect taste of BACARDI rum.  This new mixable spirit helped usher in a cocktail culture that thrives today. The artful BACARDI Maestros de Ron continue today to follow the same exacting and artful standards set forth by Don Facundo in Santiago de Cuba in 1862.

About BACARDI Rums
In 1862 BACARDI revolutionized the spirits industry when founder Don Facundo BACARDI Masso began producing his remarkable light-bodied, smooth rum – BACARDI, the world's favorite rum brand. The unique taste of BACARDI Rum inspired cocktail pioneers to invent some of the world's most famous drinks including the Mojito, the Daiquiri, the Cuba Libre, the Pina Colada and the Presidente.  BACARDI Rum has won more than 400 awards for quality and product profile making it the world's most awarded rum.  Today, BACARDI rum is produced in Puerto Rico, following the production legacy set forth by Don Facundo – crafted in a five step distillation process, aged in American white oak barrels, and filtered five times for unparalleled quality and smoothness.

About Bacardi U.S.A., Inc.
Bacardi U.S.A. Inc., is the United States import and distribution arm of one of the world's leading spirits and wine producers. The company boasts a portfolio of some of the most recognized and top-selling spirits brands in the United States including BACARDI® rum, the world's most awarded and best-selling premium rum; GREY GOOSE® vodka, the world-leader in super-premium vodka; DEWAR'S® Blended Scotch Whisky, the number-one selling blended Scotch whisky in the United States; BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® gin, the top-valued and fastest-growing premium gin in the world; CAZADORES® 100 percent blue agave tequila, the number-one premium tequila in Mexico and a top-selling premium tequila in the United States; MARTINI vermouth and sparkling wines, the world's leading vermouth and the world's favorite Italian sparkling wines; and other leading and emerging brands. www.bacardiusa.com.

For additional information:
Hilary O'Byrne, Senior Account Executive
Zeno Group
212-299-8965 / [email protected]

SOURCE Bacardi U.S.A., Inc.