Bacardi buys Arnaud de Trabuc's Banks rum

Bacardi has expanded its portfolio of super-premium rums with the acquisition of Banks rum.

The Banks portfolio includes Banks 5-Island Rum, Banks 7 Golden Age Blend, and various limited editions. Banks rum is available in some of the most influential on-premise establishments in the US, Germany, UK, France, Japan, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Denmark and Singapore.

Created by founder and master blender Arnaud de Trabuc, and inspired by the travels and discoveries of legendary 18th-century British explorer and botanist Sir Joseph Banks, Banks is blended from rums from up to seven different origins, including Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, Panama, Guatemala and Java. The final blends are aged in previously used bourbon barrels.

Arnaud de Trabuc has been CEO of Angostura Group, president of cognac producer Thomas Hine & Company, plus managing director of the Caribbean region for Premier Wines & Spirits, and this has given him the unique ability to source rums from otherwise competing islands. Founded in 2008, Banks is based in Port Louis, Mauritius. The rum is bottled at 43% ABV and sells 6,000 cases annually, at a RRP of US$29.99.

The Bacardi brand portfolio contains more than 200 brands and labels. It manufactures its brands at 29 facilities and sells in more than 160 countries. 

7 July 2015 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor