“It’s new, it’s hip, it’s a mere $14.”
So went spirits critic Robert Whitley’s 2002 review of Ciclón, a just-released Barcardí product that combined the brand’s Gold Rum with “blue agave” tequila and a “hint” of natural lime juice.
The spirits giant’s own motto was a little more blunt: “90% rum, 10% tequila, 100% un-be-lievable!”
This Franken-spirit found an audience and became something of a hit during the strange post-9/11 yet pre-cocktail renaissance era. Today, some 16 years after Ciclón was discontinued, it remains a cult favorite among a subset of drinkers who came of age during the aughts.
If You Don’t Do It…
Introduced to the U.S. in 1984, Captain Morgan Spiced Rum would quickly become one of the best-selling rums in the world. Imitators soon followed, with Barcardí introducing its own line extension, Barcardí Limon, in 1995. It, too, was a smash hit.
By the early-2000s, the family-owned company was heavily investing in R&D to battle the multinational conglomerates like Diageo, Pernod Ricard, and Allied Domecq that were taking over the spirits space.
“It’s a very competitive environment and we have to get bigger in order to be able to effectively compete,” claimed Barcardí chairman Rubén Rodríguez at the time. “It’s important to be the first one in the marketplace giving consumers what they want. If you don’t do it, your competition is going to do it for you.”
Even if, by 2002, Barcardí had long been the best-selling distilled spirit in all of the U.S., Rodríguez felt the company needed a slew of other innovations.
“They doubled down on developing products they thought would appeal to the flavored vodka-loving ‘echo boomer’ generation,” says Tammy Coxen, a Michigan-based spirits educator.
Barcardí O, a rum flavored with tangerines and oranges, was released in 2001. The brand likewise released a Smirnoff Ice competitor called Barcardí Silver around the same time, and in collaboration with Anheuser-Busch. Barcardí would also make moves to extend its spirits portfolio, acquiring Tequila Cazadores that same year.
“So maybe that’s where this wacky ‘let’s put tequila into rum’ idea came from,” says Coxen, who first turned me onto Ciclón via tasting it on her online spirits show “My Tiny Bottles.”
I had somehow never encountered, or at least not remembered, Ciclón during its heyday, despite being a part of the ideal 20-something demographic back then. (Rodríguez passed in 2016 and Barcardí Limited offered no comments for this story.)
Beyond Thunderdome
Even the wackiest ideas can work with enough ad dollars behind them. Some claim Barcardí invested upwards of $15 million on the Ciclón campaign. Money was also thrown at promotional events at trendy nightclubs in places like Miami and Las Vegas, where famed flair bartenders like Carneval Court’s Rene Garcia seduced crowds with spinning bottles of Ciclón.
To be sure, it had plenty of fans early on.
“I tried some this evening over ice,” wrote Jason Perlow on his eGullet message board in the summer of 2002. “It’s a nice change from your average flavored rum, and should mix well with Coke and other fruit juices. The tequila adds a really interesting flavor to it as well, so I would imagine it making a pretty mean Margarita.”
According to the Ciclón website from the era, it was also ideal for cocktails like the Tropical Storm (Ciclón with Midori and pineapple juice), the Twisted Apple (Ciclón with Disaronno and apple juice), and the Thunderdome (Ciclón with cranberry juice and Sprite). Unsurprisingly, the easy-drinking spirit became popular with college students and underage high school drinkers.
Many other bartenders in the thread agreed, noting that, while it did have its hardcore fans, they found that the general public mostly avoided it and that it was a bit overpriced, even at $14.
But, believe it or not, Ciclón was well reviewed by many spirits critics of the time, too.
A 2006 “Wine Enthusiast” review labeled it a “Best Buy” and scored it a glossy 90–95 out of 100: “First sniffings are dominated by the tart perfume of fresh-squeezed lime juice; aeration heightens the lime juice intensity,” noted the unnamed reviewer. “Palate entry is dry, herbal; by midpalate, it’s obvious that the rum is merely a base for the tequila-lime-juice combo.”
Ciclón also nabbed two out of three stars in 2004’s “Complete Book of Spirits,” with Anthony Dias Blue writing of its “racy acidity,” and calling the product “interesting but weird.”
Unfortunately, it was likely that weirdness that ultimately made it a tough sell as better and more culturally “real” spirits began flooding the U.S. market. Consumers were now looking for drinks with a little more sophistication than the Cactus Cocktail (Ciclón with blue curacao and orange juice).
For true O.G. Ciclón fans, though — many now in their 40s like me — the only choice left is to search for dusties in stores or online, where bottles currently go for around $100
“Does ANY one have a need for this product? (sic)” wrote bartender Jo Volstead on the Webtender forums in 2005. Many other bartenders in the thread agreed, noting that, while it did have its hardcore fans, they found that the general public mostly avoided it and that it was a bit overpriced, even at $14.
By early 2008 Ciclón had been discontinued, with emails to Barcardí at the time getting the odd response that it was nixed “due to varying consumer tastes preferences and legal restrictions.”
A Ciclón of Dust
And yet, Ciclón is still remembered fondly and “vintage” bottles of it still sell.
Like many “young dusties” of the 21st century, including Patron XO Café and higher-proof Beefeater, paeans were written to Ciclón almost immediately upon its demise.
“Last week, my husband gave me some very bad news. After he told me, I had to lean against a wall for support. My face was ashen, and I couldn’t speak,” wrote food blogger Madeline Moy in a February 2009 post. It had been her liquor of choice for nearly the entire life cycle of the brand, and she typically enjoyed it as a Ciclón and Coke.
Fans would quickly try to fill the void with Castillo Fusion Rum, a lower-end rum/tequila mashup from Bacardi that appeared briefly on the market in 2011.
For true O.G. Ciclón fans, though — many now in their 40s like me — the only choice left is to search for dusties in stores or online, where bottles currently go for around $100 — somewhat economical for something that hasn’t been on the market in a decade and a half.
Or, you could always make your own Ciclón blend.
