Why Does Bacardi Randomly Taste So Bad Now

[smiffffffy]

Anyone else noticed that Bacardi has started to taste so very different? For years myself and my wife have been bacardi drinkers and we noticed that there was a difference in the bottles that used to be branded Puerto Rican, rather than the ususal fundada en Cuba.

It was so bad that we accused many pubs of selling fake Bacardi. 

Then we visited the USA and found that ALL of the Bacardi tasted like Havana Club. With a much stronger Whiskey type of taste, a taste that burnt a little on the way down, with a strong smell just like rubbing alchohol. It was then that we realised the US had Puerto Rican branded bottles due to the US embargo of cuban branded products.

Lately however in the UK it is so very hit and miss everywhere i purchase bottles as to whether i get a nice original smooth tasting blend or whether its the new bad tasting havana club style blend.

Using the same bottle of mixer, finishing what was left in an older smooth blend bottle, and then opening a new bottle the taste can be so much worse with the stronger blend.

I have complained to Bacardi and also read on so many forums of other people who have found exactly the same issue.

Bacardi seem to want to take the bottles back for testing but NEVER provide anyone feedback or advice on how to differentiate between the blends, which i believe is down to stock coming from different bottling plants / distillery's.

I myself have sent in multiple photos of batch numbers gainst bottles indicating which tatses bad and which tastes like original blend.

below is a forum of people complaing of exactly the same issue.

Does anyone know or been given any real feedback by Bacardi. For such a huge company with a such a massively popular worldwide branding, they just seem to want to hide the issue away and ignore it by burying their heads in the sand.

Almost all bottles now are labelled puerto rican, but there doesnt seem to be any consistency in being able to tell one bad bottle from a good one as the labellings are exactly the same.

I do believe however it is a location based bottling / distilling issue but would just like to be able to tell the good from the bad by looking at a batch code / identifying number

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/rum/comments/18oznjk/bacardi_tasting_different/

[LadyCG]

Aldi do their own version which I must say is very nice.

[ToraToraTora]

It was better when Uncle Ron made it.

[follyfancier]

I just buy store's own brand 

either waitrose or Morrison's 

[retrocop]

I always prefer dark rum. Pussers is the creme da la creme. Bacardi is only good for mixers and cocktails imho whereas I would keelhaul any one who seved me a Pussers Gunpowder proof that had been adulterated

[douglas9401]

P.R. disaster for Bacardi.

[-SharonA-]

I have a bottle here, so I took a swig and I really thought it had been watered down. You can drink it like water!!!! Bacardi has never been a fave of mine I prefer a decent run from the caribbean.

[Hopkirk]

There must be other rums if Bacardi is so unpalatable.

[BACARDI1862]

I returned 6 horrible tasting bottles to be sent 6 replacements which tasted the same I complained again and got a reply apologising for the error that the same batch was sent out to me and a new batch replacement was on its way. The replacements tasted perfect. To me this was confirmation there was a faulty batch. Good batch number was L24068ZP7HF 24 2349 hopefully all batch numbers higher than this will also be perfect.