Legendary Writer Warren Ellis and Artist Michael Allred Create The Spirit of BACARDÍ

We’ve all ordered a Bacardi and Coke from time to time. But how about BACARDÍ on the rocks with a splash of revolution, a dash of earthquake, a shot of raging fire, garnished with imprisonment and exile? Trust us, you won’t find the aforementioned cocktail at your local gastropub. No mixologist has made it before. No sir. It’s not on the menu. We’re talking about the storied history of Emilio Bacardí. The famed Cubist revolutionary that was twice imprisoned, once exiled, and eventually served as the first freely-elected Mayor of Santiago de Cuba. Oh… turns out he also made rum.

Now we know what most of you are thinking. Waitaminute! BACARDÍ isn’t just a 64 oz. handle at my local Bevmo? This was a real, actual dude? Indeed he was. He happened to be a disenfranchised rum manufacturer – and son of founder Don Facundo Bacardi Masso – that decided his real goal in life was to transform his country amidst the perils of late nineteenth century Cuba. The Bacardí family faced earthquakes, distillery fires, revolution, prohibition, and exile, just to name a few. Jeesh, its no wonder they needed a drink. We would too.

To bring these (borderline unbelievable) stories to life, legendary writer Warren Ellis and artist Michael Allred have combined their wordsmithing and illustrative and powers to create The Spirit of BACARDÍ, a graphic novel that breathes life into the legend of the Bacardí family that’s been “untamable since 1862.” Not without a little Bacardi Gold rum added to the inkwell of course. True story. He really did that. We can’t promise you’ll get a buzz off the paper though.

But that’s not the coolest part. The Spirit of BACARDÍ is broken down, chapter by chapter, each chapter featured by a different publisher. We happened to get our sticky little paws on chapter 16. So take a read, and follow the path of Emilio Bacardí, legendary patriot of Cuba.
 
And then enter our Cuban vacation sweeps. We’re giving away a free trip for two to Cuba. Just kidding. Pretty sure no one has made it there since the 1960s. At least we’ll always have our rum. Thanks for doing us a solid Emilio.

For the next chapter click here, and to enjoy the full story, click here.

View the Spirit of Bacardi video here.

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