BACARDÍ Rum named acclaimed bartender and mixologist Darnell Holguin as its new National Brand Ambassador. In the role, Holguin will lead cocktail education, cultural storytelling, trade engagement, and consumer programming nationwide for the brand.
A first-generation Dominican-American from the Bronx, Darnell Holguin is a leading voice in modern cocktail culture, blending Caribbean heritage with elevated mixology and hospitality storytelling. He has helped shape NYC’s bar scene through acclaimed programs at Bathtub Gin and Las’ Lap, while also serving as a celebrity mixologist for names including Swizz Beatz, Michael B. Jordan, Olivia Culpo, and Dascha Polanco.
Kristiane Weeks‑Rogers of CRAFT SPIRITS magazine (CSM) spoke with Holguin about how storytelling, education, and Caribbean heritage are shaping rum’s modern identity; and what craft producers can learn from BACARDÍ’s legacy of innovation and premiumization.
CSM: Congratulations on the new role of National Brand Ambassador for BACARDÍ.
Holguin: It’s a humbling honor.
CSM: As you step into this role of national brand ambassador for BACARDÍ Rum, what cocktail or trends do you believe are the most influential in shaping hospitality right now?
Holguin: One of the biggest trends in cocktails and rum making right now is that guests aren’t ordering a drink, they’re seeking a story. They’re looking for craftsmanship and want to understand more about what’s behind the glass.
Premiumization is growing because of it. They’re willing to spend more to have a quality experience. People want real moments they can connect to. That’s a big part of what Bacardi does. It’s always been about telling a story and connecting people to that point.
CSM: To say what is behind the glass is special, but maybe also a little difficult for someone like you, a brand ambassador who has to help out a new bar or staff. You have to tell them the story, and then they have to tell the customer the story. So it’s a bit of a game of telephone. Have you found that challenging?
Holguin: It’s always about education. Education is the most important part. Rum is a category often misunderstood. It’s made from sugar, therefore it must contain sugar. And, “Oh no, sugar is bad.” It’s a spirit rooted in history, legacy, and global influence.
Once we understand more about the category, we create shepherds of the category through those stories: the storytellers behind the bar. It’s my job as an ambassador to pass that on. Sure, it could be said it’s a bit of telephone, but no great legends or stories were ever told by one singular person. If we’re going to get to that point where people understand the category, we have to allow people to tweak some things in their way of selling a story. As long as they’re telling one, people resonate and connect better to that.
When you think about BACARDÍ’s rich history of over 164 years of influence, sharing that story opens people’s minds to the brand. Even a brand as big as BACARDÍ has a newer generation who doesn’t know it, but has seen the symbol: the bat behind the bar. If I’m given the opportunity to share that story, tell more about the bat, and how that symbol influenced branding and logos worldwide, it’s powerful.
I talk about how the BACARDÍ bat is the originator of the impact we see today with the Nike check and Apple logo, symbols of representation. Smaller brands and craft distillers who take time to share their story, their whys and hows, will rise in this space and help consumers understand the category better. The more we explain what we do and why, everyone wins.
CSM: I was recently talking to someone who said rum should have more rules, like bourbon or tequila.
Holguin: That’s part of the misunderstanding. People think rum is the Wild West, but it’s probably the most regulated spirit in the world. The difference is that regulation isn’t based on one consortium or country. Cane is grown globally, and every country follows its own rule sets.
Rum comes from sugar, all spirits come from sugar. We extract sugar from grains or fruits to distill. In our case, we start with sugar cane, create molasses as a byproduct, and that molasses becomes rum.
Another thing is unified language. BACARDÍ does something we call tropical rum aging.
To help you understand, our BACARDÍ Ocho is a blend of minimum eight-year rum. Sometimes we blend in a little ten-year. Our maestros are trained to recognize taste, smell, and color. Tropical rum aging means that an eight-year rum is roughly equivalent to a 23-year-old scotch. We proved this by sending our rum to Scotland for aging comparison. That’s the intensity of our climate.
CSM: How do you see Caribbean flavor profiles and techniques influencing today’s cocktail culture?
Holguin: Caribbean culture has always influenced cocktail innovation. The first spirit of the United States was rum, served at George Washington’s inaugural ball in a cocktail called the Fish House Punch, made with Caribbean rum and spices.
Today, people lean heavier into tropical flavors: guava, passion fruit, tamarind, allspice. Even clarified punches and cocktails derive complexity from Caribbean flavors.
My BACARDÍ Legacy cocktail in 2017, It Was All A Dream, was inspired by Caribbean culture. It was based on a Dominican breakfast drink, Morir Soñando: orange juice, evaporated milk, and sugar. We made a passion fruit condensed milk, used Allspice Dram and Amaro, creating flavors of mamajuana, a Taino derivative drink made with bark, herbs, spices, red wine, honey, and rum. Every home has its own style of mamajuana.
These influences appear everywhere, even if people aren’t aware of their roots. BACARDÍ’s Caribbean heritage has shaped cocktail culture globally.
Rum is an old-world spirit with a rich history. It’s the most consumed spirit worldwide. There’s good and bad in history, but it shaped us. I’m lucky to work with BACARDÍ, which drives premiumization and elevates rum as a respected category.
CSM: Thinking of the future, what are the biggest opportunities for craft rum producers to deepen their global presence?
Holguin: Premiumization is key. Consumers want more value and transparency: brand story, age statements, production methods, sourcing.
Rum is being explored more, and people are curious. Age statements tie rum to whiskey and bourbon, giving it prestige. Unaged rums and agricole styles are gaining attention, similar to tequila and mezcal.
Education is the path forward. BACARDÍ’s method is pivotal to its flavor. In the 1800s, rum was inconsistent, made everywhere, but never the same. Don Facundo BACARDÍ saw that rum deserved the same respect as Scotch or Cognac.
He spent ten years studying and innovating, discovering a specific strain of yeast: Levadura Bacardi. Using pot and column stills together created balance: flavor from the pot, crispness from the column. Aging white rum for a year and applying charcoal filtration produced a clear, crisp spirit with barrel flavor (the original Cristalino concept).
That innovation built BACARDÍ’s platform and raised the category to where it is today.