Destilería Serrallés is a rum producer located in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

, and best known for its Don Q rum brand. The company is Puerto Rico's oldest family-owned company and has revenues of over 100 million dollars. In 2011, it was responsible for pumping over $300 million annually into the Puerto Rican economy from the sale of its rums in the United States mainland alone.

History

The history of Destilería Serrallés is the history of the Serrallés family. The Serrallés family was a Spanish family from

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

that established its links to

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

in the mid-1830s. They were successful in harvesting and refining

cane sugar Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...

and exporting it to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the

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and

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. The sugar cane plantation they built virtually became a

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

, and eventually had its own

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...

line, workers' housing, transportation fleet, commissary, and private—later public—airport (Ponce's

Mercedita Airport Mercedita International Airport (AIM) () is an international airport located three nautical miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The airport covers 270 '' cuerdas'' (approx. 262.2 acres) of land ...

). Most of these operations were eventually annexed to the municipality of Ponce, in whose lands the plantation is based. Sugar cane

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

imported from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

is still transformed into rum until now at the same Serralles distilling facility that has been used for over a century.

Mercedita

In 1865, the family opened a

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...

manufacturing facility at their plantation, the ''"

Hacienda Mercedita Hacienda Mercedita was a sugarcane plantation in Ponce, Puerto Rico, founded in 1861, by Juan Serrallés Colón. Today Hacienda Mercedita no longer grows sugarcane and its lands are instead used for growing mangoes, grasses, landscape plants a ...

"'', named honoring the Serrallés family matriarch, Mercedes Perez. In that year, Juan Serralles Colon, who would go down as one of the most successful liquor salesmen in Puerto Rican history, imported a still from

, which enabled him to produce his first casks of rum.

Don Q

The Serrallés operation produced various local rum brands, most of which were short-lived. Inspired by the success of other rum producers on the island, the family launched a refined brand intending to export it elsewhere. The Ron Don Q brand was launched in 1932, and became popular with locals who considered rival

Bacardi Bacardi Limited ( , , ) is the largest privately held, family-owned spirits company in the world. Originally known for its Bacardí brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 by Facund ...

either harsher in taste or a foreign brand (Bacardí opened its distilling operations in Puerto Rico in the early 1930s, and at the time it was considered a Cuban brand, since its headquarters were in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

). By the 1960s, Ron Don Q was available in most of Puerto Rico's important supermarket chains, such as

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

and others. It also became available at

Amigo Amigo(s) (Portuguese and Spanish for ''male friend'') may refer to: People * Carlos Amigo Vallejo (1934–2022), Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop emeritus of Seville Places Facilities * Amigos School, a bilingual primary school in Cambridge, M ...

. In addition to rum, the distillery also produces medicinal alcohol, plus wine, vodka, and ''Don Juan''.

Acquisition of Puerto Rico Distillers

In 1985, Serrallés, Inc., under the leadership of Felix Juan Serrallés, Sr., purchased Puerto Rico Distillers, Inc., from the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

liquor giant Joseph E. Seagram and Sons, LTD. The Company grew rapidly when it bought Puerto Rico Distillers in 1985. This acquisition increased the company's product line to include Palo Viejo, Ron Llave and Granado, and doubled the firm's sales. The acquisitions included manufacturing facilities in Camuy and

Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a Arecibo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado, Puerto Rico, Utuado and Ciales, Puerto Rico, Ciale ...

plus the brand names sold by Seagrams locally such as: "Palo Viejo", "Ron Llave" and "Granado". Serrallés also purchased the rights to produce and distribute the brands of "Ronrico" and "Captain Morgan" in Puerto Rico and the rest of the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. These same brands, now produced by Serrallés, are distributed in the

by Seagrams. Captain Morgan rum is the third largest selling rum in the world after Tanduay and

. As a result, Serrallés, Inc., more than doubled its sales.''Rum: The Epic Story Of The Drink That Conquered The World.''
Charles A. Coulombe. New York: Kensington Publishing Company. 2004. Page 99. Retrieved 21 October 2012.

Distribution

The company's flagship product, Ron Don Q, is currently sold in the

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and a number of other countries. Serrallés USA, the USA distribution company of Destilería Serrallés, is based in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

Competition

Ron Don Q is the best-selling rum in Puerto Rico, ahead of Bacardi and

Captain Morgan Captain Morgan is a brand of flavoured rums (including, in Europe, some rum-flavoured "premium spirit drinks") produced by British alcohol conglomerate Diageo. It is named after the 17th-century Welsh privateer of the Caribbean, Sir Henry M ...

. The Captain Morgan Rum brand is owned by

Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...

PLC but made by Destilería Serrallés in a different Puerto Rican distillery under a supply contract. In 2008, Diageo's Captain Morgan contract with Serrallés was not renewed, as Diageo's moved its production of Captain Morgan to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Awards

The company has been the recipient of several awards, among them are the ''Green Award'' by the magazine ''The Drinks Business'' for their implementation of renewable energy in their company facilities. Serrallés was also honored with the ''World Class Distillery 2019'' prize by World Spirit Awards.''Don Q celebra nueva imagen.''
Periodico El Sol Puerto Rico. Accessed 12 March 2020.

Advertising

Ron Don Q has also been engaged in numerous advertising campaigns. Television ads have run on Puerto Rican channels for decades, and the brand has sponsored local sports teams, such as

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

's Leones de Ponce and their BSN

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

counterpart, the basketball Leones. The Serrallés distillery also sponsors the "Copa Serralles"

boat race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is also known as the Uni ...

, where Ron Don Q is prominently advertised. Don Q also has appeared on a number of films. Don Q rum is available in small bottle samples at supermarkets, pharmacies and liquor stores. Proof66.com, an aggregator of liquor ratings from various experts, places the Don Q Añejo in the Top 10th percentile of all rums.

Currently

The company's current president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

is Philippe Brechot. The company currently produces over 60% of the rum sold in Puerto Rico. In 1998, the annual sales of Serrallés. Inc. surpassed $100 million. The company has become a large industrial and marketing enterprise that produces and distributes over 80 different product lines worldwide. Since 2000, the Grupo Serralles which includes the distillery companies also owns the Ponce Hilton & Casino. It is one of America's 100 oldest family-owned businesses.''Family Business'' magazine
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References

External links

Official Destilería Serrallés website

Ministry of Rum.com: Destilería Serrallés

Donq.com

Castillo Serralles.org: Serrallés historic house museum in Ponce

Central Mercedita, Ponce

Post card depiction of the destillery in 1948, looking NW
{{DEFAULTSORT:Destileria Serralles Rum produced in Puerto Rico Companies based in Ponce, Puerto Rico Food and drink companies established in 1865 1865 establishments in Puerto Rico Privately held companies of Puerto Rico Puerto Rican brands Companies based in Stamford, Connecticut Barrio Vayas Distilleries in insular areas of the United States