Bacardi Limited Buys Banks Rum

Secret Facebook groups, rumors that have been making the rounds for weeks, but finally today: An official confirmation. All the makings of the perfect industry news to tide you over this boiling hot weekend. Banks Rum was bought by Bacardi — you heard it here first.

Banks Rum has been the darling of the bar scene since its launch in 2008. The company has played an integral role in reinvigorating the blended rum category. Their Five Island blend became an instant trailblazer in the blended rum market and after its great success, other producers quickly followed suit. Banks Rum isn’t a distillery, but a bottler that prides itself on making the best, premium blends — often ones that are made with spirits of different countries of origin. The inspiration behind their name is a man who sailed the seas with Captain Cook — a botanist, naturalist, and explorer: Joseph Banks. Their admirers are far and plenty. Jim Meehan is now their senior brand advisor and David Wondrich is a vocal admirer.

From Banks To The Bat

No wonder that Bacardi wants a piece of this. Rumors about a potential takeover have been circling for weeks and we’ve now managed to find some hard evidence. The rum aficionados amongst you will know Ian Burrell, and know him well. He’s known as the ‘Rum Ambassador’ and, as such he is incredibly well informed. In a secret Facebook group he recently spoke openly about the Bacardi/Banks takeover. That’s strike one. This information was confirmed by Florent Beuchet, the son of one of the Banks founder as well as former NY brand ambassador for Banks, who now runs his own, similar rum house ‘Compagnie des Indes’. Strike two.

And for our last trick we’ve managed to get Banks co-owner Arnaud de Trabuc on the phone. Over the weekend he confirmed that “Bacardi Limited has acquired Joseph Banks Rum from JB Rums Holding. The transaction has indeed been closed. Our approach is to inform our distributors on a one-by-one basis and we are currently in the transition period. We are very pleased with the whole transaction, and the fact that the deal was made with Bacardi.”

We’ve contacted Bacardi Germany for a statement but at the time of publishing we have yet to hear back from them.