Bacardi takes rum into the shot sector

12-Feb-2015 - Last updated on 13-Feb-2015 at 16:24 GMT

The spiced rum should be served with Tabasco

Following its first redesign in a decade, Bacardi is taking aim at the growing shot market with a new spiced brand, set for launch this April, The Publican's Morning Advertiser can reveal.

Bacardi Carta Fuego, which the company claims is the first rum shot brand, is a 40% ABV ‘spirit drink’, which is red in colour.

It takes its name from the Spanish word for ‘fire’ can be served neat, with cola or in a shot glass with a serving ritual of a few dashes of Tabasco.

Owner Bacardi Brown Forman will be backing the launch with a global tie-up with the Tabasco hot sauce brand, as well as an extensive sampling campaign across London, Birmingham and Glasgow; activity on social media, and PoS kits including shot glasses, trays and bottle uplighters.

The variant is aimed at 18 to 24-year-old men looking for a drink to suit, “the liberation moment - where people might have had a few beers and are thinking about moving on to spirits and they want to up the energy of the night,” said Lisa Jazwinski, Bacardi category director rum – Northern Europe.

“In true Bacardi style, we wanted to innovate in the area, so this is created and crafted in the same way our other Bacardi rums are created and is made in Puerto Rico.

“The rum is aged there for at least a year in charred oak barrels and has added spices. This is an exciting launch,” she added.

The rum market has been heating up of late with RTD brand WKD entering the fray this month with the launch of WKD 1 just this week.