Don Q is a Puerto Rican rum, distilled, manufactured, bottled, and distributed by Destilería Serrallés from its corporate facility 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 ...

. Don Q, "Puerto Rico's best-known rum", is the top-selling rum in Puerto Rico, where over 70% of the rum consumed in the United States is produced.''DonQ awarded 5 stars.''
Puerto Rico Daily Sun. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011. The rum derives its name from

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

, the protagonist in

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

' classic Spanish novel. The rum is sold internationally, competing against

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 ...

for

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

. Available in the continental United States since June 2009, Don Q continues to outsell Bacardi in Puerto Rico.

History

The Serrallés family migrated 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 ...

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, and established a

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

in the outskirts of Ponce. They were successful in harvesting and refining cane sugar and exporting it to the United States, the United Kingdom and France. The plantation became very prosperous, and 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 ...

, with 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. In 1865, the family opened a rum manufacturer at the plantation, ''"

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 ...

"''. On that year, Juan Serrallés, who would go down as one of the most successful liquor salesmen in Puerto Rican history, imported a still from France, which enabled him to produce his first casks of rum. The Serrallés operation produced various local rum brands, most of which were short-lived. Inspired by the success of other rum producers in the island, the family decided to launch a refined brand with the intention of exporting it elsewhere. The Don Q brand was launched in 1932, and became popular with locals who considered rival

either harsher in taste or a foreign brand. When Bacardí opened its distilling operations in Puerto Rico in the early 1930s, it was considered a Cuban brand since its headquarters were in Cuba. Since the 1960s Cuban revolution, Bacardi has had its headquarters in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, but produces most of its rum in Puerto Rico at the Cathedral of Rum. By the 1960s, Don Q was available on 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 ...

Distillation process

Don Q is

distilled Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

from

. The combination of the type of

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...

s employed for

fermentation Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...

, distillation method, aging conditions, and blending determines the characteristic flavor of rum. Made with

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 ...

, water, mash, and yeast, ''Don Q'' is distilled in a continuous still. Once distilled, the clear spirit is aged in oak barrels for up to a year per Puerto Rican law, adding a golden color and character to the rum. Flavors and spices, if any, are added as an option at this point. The brand's taste is achieved through a proprietary recipe, which is blended into the rum mixture at the final stages of production.

Advertising and sales

Currently, Don Q is sold in the United States, Mexico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Spain, and a number of other countries. Don Q is the best-selling rum in Puerto Rico. Destileria Serrallés has been engaged in numerous advertising campaigns for its rums. Television ads have run on Puerto Rican channels, and they have sponsored local sports teams, such as Ponce's Leones de Ponce

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 ...

team and their BSN counterpart the Leones de Ponce basketball team. Don Q also has appeared on a number of films.

International awards and recognitions

Despite focusing on the middle and lower end of the price spectrum, five of seven Don Q offerings have achieved a modicum of success at international

spirit ratings With a growing number of offerings, such as those produced by an increasing number of microdistilleries, various mechanisms have arisen to provide reviews and opinions of individual varieties of spirits. These events generally use expert panels ...

competitions. For example, its Don Q Gran Añejo rum earned one double gold, two silver, and one bronze medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competitions between 2008 and 2012. Also, in 2010, Don Q scored high at the Spirits International Prestige (SIP) Awards, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. Competing against hundreds of rums from around the globe, Don Q Añejo, Don Q Gran Añejo, Don Q Cristal, Don Q Coco, Don Q Mojito and Don Q Limón were awarded rankings in the “Platinum-Best in Class” and “Gold” categories. In this competition, according to Alberto "Tito" Torruella Bartolomei, Don Q's VP for Manufacturing, all of the Don Q products brought to the competition received awards. Unlike other awards, the SIP Awards select consumers for judges. "It is not the first time that Destilería Serrallés receives an international award. In a recent competition in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Don Q Cristal received the top award within the category “Best Mojito”. Don Q Oro also received an award. In September 2011, the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences awarded Don Q Gran Añejo a five-star rating, something they "don't award to just any rum...In fact they found only one worthy enough of this honor: DonQ Gran Añejo...Gran Añejo is the first rum ever to receive this rare distinction, reserved for the greatest achievements in travel, hospitality products and services. The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences Board of Trustees recognized in Destilería Serrallés for DonQ Gran Añejo exceptional quality and character.''

In popular culture

Don Q has been featured in the 2012 motion picture comedy '' Ted''.''DonQ Rum featured in the movie Ted.''
Top News Today. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012. According to a July 5, 2012, article by Robert Haynes-Peterson in Examiner.com, "The DonQ in question turns up at a drug- and Flash Gordon-fueled party scene which also serves as a pivotal turning point in the story. Gearing up to do shots, Wahlberg grabs the nearest bottle of rum and turns it to the camera for a lingering several seconds." It is also mentioned in the song "Come Get Her" by Rae Sremmurd.

Products

Don Q has been produced in a number of different types: *Don Q Cristal *Don Q Limón (Lime Flavored Rum) *Don Q Pasión (Passion Fruit Flavored Rum) *Don Q Coco (Coconut Flavored Rum) *Don Q Mojito (Lime & Mint Flavored Rum) *Don Q Gold *Don Q 151 *Don Q Añejo *Don Q Gran Añejo *Don Q Double Aged Rum *Don Q Signature Release Single Barrel 2007 *Don Q Oak Barrel Spiced Small sample bottles of the Don Q are also available at

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

pharmacies Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

, and

liquor store A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged alcoholic beverages, including liquors (typically in bottles), wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom ...

References

External links

website

website

Proof66
Proof66.com Liquor Ratings and Review Aggregator {{Ponce, Puerto Rico 1865 establishments in Puerto Rico Puerto Rican brands Rum produced in Puerto Rico Rum brands