Subject of great controversy thrugh the years, the Bacardi Cocktail was involved in a ruling by the New York Supreme Court on April 28, 1936. This ruling required any drink sold as a Bacardi Cocktail to actually contain Bacardi. It seems bartenders were using lesser rums and creating inferior drinks. They said the Bacardi Cocktail was simply a daiquiri with grenadine instead of of sugar.
The Bacardi Cocktail became immensely popular after prohibition, on a par with recent popularity of the Cosmopolitan. Many bars began serving these cocktails without their namesake ingredient. One of these establishments was the Barbizon Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, which was promptly sued by the Bacardi company, resulting in the ruling that Bacardi Cocktails must contain Bacardi. To this day this is the only cocktail afforded this protection.
