Don Don Q from Destileria Serralles

In 1865, Juan Serralles founded Destileria Serralles in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and began distilling his first rum. He gave it the name DON Q, in reference to Don Quixote, probably the most famous novel character from classical Spanish literature. Today, just like back then, all rum varieties are matured and bottled on site to ensure the highest quality.

Transparency plays an important role at Don Q: for example, one learns that all molasses used to make the distillates is pasteurized before processing to avoid foreign influences from bacteria or wild yeasts. Then the molasses is fermented with a proprietary yeast strain between 48 hours for the lighter distillates, and 2 weeks for heavy and complex representatives. This yeast strain, originally from the surface of Puerto Rican sugar cane plants, has been cultivated since the 1930s.

After the maturation phase, which usually takes place in ex-bourbon barrels, the rum is bottled WITHOUT the addition of sugar, colorants or other additives. For the 8th German Rum Festival, however, Don Q has come up with something very special. For the first time since the existence of the brand DON Q there is a bottling that has received a cask finish. Jaiker Soto, the master blender, has created a well-balanced rum from barrels stored for five to eight years. This rum then received a 3-month finish in Mancino Vermouth Veccio barrel, which is a barrel of Italian white oak. The result is a unique symbiosis of rum and vermouth, which again does not require the addition of sugar or other additives. In addition to tradition and quality, environmental protection has also become an important factor. Roberto Serralles, 6th generation owner, has completely curbed water pollution in recent years, as well as having a plant built to generate energy from biomass. As a result, today more than 50% of the required energy can be generated independently.