Bacardi

Type: Owner group

In 1998, a company born in a small rum distillery in Santiago de Cuba acquired Dewar’s and four Scotch malt distilleries. They joined Macduff, giving Bacardi the five malt distilleries at the heart of its whisky business: Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, Royal Brackla and Macduff. Rum began the story in 1862; whisky became a substantial part of it with that Dewar’s acquisition.[1][4][5]

What Bacardi is known for in whisky

Dewar’s gives Bacardi a blended Scotch business and a connection to five malt distilleries: Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, Royal Brackla and Macduff. These are related but distinct interests. Dewar’s is a blend; the other five are distilleries.[5]

According to Dewar’s, its blend can contain up to 30 malt and grain whiskies. The five associated malt distilleries should not be treated as a complete ingredient list. Nor does their connection to Dewar’s turn the blend into a whisky from one distillery.[5]

Bacardi gave those malt identities a shared platform with the “Last Great Malts” range, launched in 2014. The producer names Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, The Deveron and Royal Brackla in that range.[1] The two lists use different names: the distillery list includes Macduff, while the range list uses The Deveron.

That distinction is useful when tracing a bottle back to the business behind it. Bacardi identifies the owner group; Dewar’s identifies the blending business; a distillery name identifies a production site; and a range brings whiskies together under a shared presentation. Each tells a different part of the Scotch story.

Why Dewar’s changed hands in 1998

The recorded explanation for the Dewar’s sale concerns competition, not a documented collapse at the whisky business. United Distillers and Grand Metropolitan merged in 1997 to create Diageo. According to the trade history of John Dewar & Sons, the subsequent sale of Dewar’s was intended to ease concerns over monopoly trading.[4]

Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie and Royal Brackla came with Dewar’s in 1998, joining Macduff in Bacardi’s portfolio.[4] Bacardi was buying more than a familiar name on a bottle. Four malt distilleries arrived with the blending business, adding to the distillery interest it already held.

Bacardi’s corporate history also records the purchase of the Bombay and Bombay Sapphire gin brands alongside Dewar’s in 1998.[1] It was a significant year for the group’s expansion across both whisky and gin.

For the broader mechanics, see how distillery ownership changes. In this transaction, three elements are worth keeping clear: the intended purpose of the sale, which brand changed hands and which distilleries transferred with it.

Dewar’s before Bacardi

Dewar’s began with a shop, not a distillery. The producer traces its beginnings to John Dewar’s wine and spirits shop on Perth High Street in 1846, with blending following in the 1860s.[5] The merchant and blending business was established long before Aberfeldy was built.

John Alexander and Tommy Dewar built Aberfeldy between 1896 and 1898 to supply malt for blending, according to the trade history. Dewar’s White Label followed in 1899.[4] Aberfeldy’s place in the story is therefore especially direct: it was built to serve the needs of an existing blending business.

Oak casks were already part of that blending story. Dewar’s says its blends were being married back in oak casks in 1881.[5] Here, “marrying” means bringing the blended whiskies together in cask. It describes a stage beyond simply mixing whiskies immediately before bottling.

Verdict: Documented

Claim: Dewar’s was marrying blends in oak casks in 1881. What the record shows: Dewar’s reports the practice in its own account. Evidence gap: Independent verification is not supplied. Earliest known source: Not documented. Source: Dewar’s, Discover Dewar’s.[5] Last checked: Not documented.

The business later merged with James Buchanan & Co. in 1915 and joined DCL in 1925, according to the trade history.[4] Bacardi’s acquisition belongs within that longer sequence of corporate relationships. It marks a change of owner, not the beginning of Dewar’s.

Dewar’s identifies Stephanie Macleod as its seventh Master Blender.[5] Her role adds another useful distinction to the ownership picture. Bacardi is the corporate owner; the Master Blender is part of the producer’s published account of how the whisky business is directed.

A short Dewar’s timeline

From Santiago de Cuba to an international group

Bacardi’s story opens on 4 February 1862, when Don Facundo Bacardí Massó bought a small distillery in Santiago de Cuba, according to the producer’s history.[1] A trade account records the partnership’s formal registration that May as Bacardi, Bouteiller y Compañía.[3]

The producer records bottling in Barcelona in 1910, its first bottling operation outside Cuba, followed soon afterwards by New York. The New York plant closed when US Prohibition began in 1920.[1]

During the 1930s, production expanded to Mexico and Puerto Rico. Bacardi identifies Mexico as the first country outside Cuba to produce its rum.[1] International production was established well before the loss of its Cuban assets.

According to Bacardi, all its Cuban assets were confiscated on 14 October 1960. The family had already moved its trademarks and yeast strain out of Cuba. Bacardi International Limited subsequently moved from the Bahamas to Bermuda in 1965.[1]

Bacardi Limited was formed later, in 1992, from five operating units.[1] Its formation followed both the confiscation of the Cuban assets and the relocation of Bacardi International Limited.

Story box: From a Cuban distillery to a whisky owner

Whisky within the wider portfolio

The acquisitions tell the story of a business that grew far beyond rum. Bacardi’s corporate history records its purchase of General Beverage, owner of the Martini & Rossi Group, in 1993. Dewar’s and the Bombay gin brands followed in 1998.[1]

Grey Goose vodka joined in 2004, and Patrón tequila in 2018.[1] These names belong to the same corporate history, but to different spirits categories. They show the breadth of Bacardi’s interests rather than an expansion of its whisky range.

The whisky story itself reaches beyond Scotch. Bacardi’s history records the unveiling of a new Angel’s Envy brand home in Louisville in 2022 and identifies it as a Kentucky distillery.[1] That event sits alongside the group’s Scotch developments as part of its wider whisky history. The date refers to the unveiling of the new brand home, not the founding of Angel’s Envy.

Common mistakes when reading Bacardi’s whisky interests

“Bacardi only makes rum.” Rum is where the story began, but it no longer describes the whole business. The Dewar’s acquisition in 1998 and the five malt distilleries named by Dewar’s give Bacardi a substantial Scotch presence.[1][5]

“The founding place establishes the group’s current headquarters.” Santiago de Cuba establishes the origin of the business, not its current headquarters. The producer records Bacardi International Limited’s move to Bermuda in 1965; that event alone does not establish Bacardi Limited’s current headquarters.[1]

“Dewar’s was sold because it was failing.” The trade account says the 1998 sale was intended to ease monopoly concerns following the creation of Diageo.[4] The transaction belongs to the history of industry consolidation.

“Dewar’s comes from one distillery.” Its association with Aberfeldy can create that impression. Dewar’s, however, describes a blend that can use up to 30 malt and grain whiskies.[5]

Where to go next

• Diageo: the group whose creation preceded the Dewar’s sale.
• How Distillery Ownership Changes: how to distinguish brands, operating businesses and distillery transfers.
• Whisky Brands That Do Not Own a Distillery: why a whisky name does not necessarily identify its producer.

Sources

[1] Bacardi Limited. Our Heritage. Undated corporate history, checked November 2026. https://www.bacardilimited.com/our-heritage/

[2] Bacardí US. The Bacardí Story. Undated producer account, checked November 2026. https://www.bacardi.com/us/en/culture/this-is-our-story/

[3] Difford’s Guide. Casa Bacardi History. Undated trade history, checked November 2026. https://www.diffordsguide.com/producers/520/casa-bacardi-the-cathedral-of-rum/history

[4] Scotch Whisky, Whiskypedia. John Dewar & Sons. Undated trade reference, checked November 2026. https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/2600/john-dewar-sons/

[5] Dewar’s. Discover Dewar’s. Undated producer account, checked November 2026. https://www.dewars.com/discover-dewars/

This desk-researched article uses the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing producer histories from trade accounts and making no first-hand production or tasting claims.

Last checked: November 2026