serrall s inc. type private industry distilled beverages founded ponce puerto rico 1865 headquarters ponce puerto rico key people felix juan serrall s jr. president and ceo 1 2 products rum vodka medicinal alcohol revenue 114.24 m usd number of employees 375 3 over 600 on payroll 2 website www.destileriaserralles.com destiler a serrall s is a rum producer located in ponce puerto rico and best known for its don q rum brand . the company has revenues of over 100 million dollars . 4 it is responsible for pumping over 120 million annually into the puerto rican economy from the sale of its rums in the united states mainland alone . 3 contents 1 history 2 mercedita 3 don q 4 acquisition of puerto rican distillers 5 distribution 6 competition 7 promotion of don q 8 currently 9 see also 10 references 11 external links history edit the history of destiler a serrall s is the history of the serrall s family . the serrall s family was a spanish family from catalonia that established its links to puerto rico in the mid 1830s . they were successful in harvesting and refining cane sugar and exporting it to the united states the united kingdom and france . the sugar cane plantation they built virtually became a company town and eventually had its own rail line workers housing transportation fleet commissary and private later public airport ponce s mercedita airport . most of these operations were eventually annexed to the municipality of ponce in whose lands the plantation is based . sugar cane molasses imported from the dominican republic is still transformed into rum to this day at the same serralles distilling facility that has been used for over a century . 5 mercedita edit destileria serralles administrative offices sector mercedita barrio vayas ponce puerto rico in 1865 the family opened a rum manufacturing facility at their plantation the hacienda mercedita named in honor of the serrall s family matriarch mercedes perez . on 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 france which enabled him to produce his first casks of rum . don q edit main article don q the serrall s 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 launched a refined brand with the intention of exporting it elsewhere . the ron don q brand was launched in 1932 and became popular with locals who considered rival bacardi either harsher in taste or a foreign brand bacard 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 based in santiago de cuba . by the 1960s ron don q was available in most of puerto rico s important supermarket chains such as pueblo and others . it also became available at amigo . in addition to rum the distillery also produces medicinal alcohol plus wine vodka and don juan . 6 acquisition of puerto rican distillers edit in 1985 serrall s inc. under the leadership of felix juan serrall s sr. purchased puerto rican distillers inc. from the canadian liquor giant joseph e. seagram and sons ltd. the company grew rapidly when it bought puerto rico destillers in 1985 . this acquisition increased the company s product line to include palo viejo ron llave and granado and doubled the firm s sales . 7 the acquisitions included manufacturing facilities in camuy and arecibo plus the brand names sold by seagrams locally such as palo viejo ron llave and granado . serrall s also purchased the rights to produce and distribute the brands of ronrico and captain morgan in puerto rico and the rest of the caribbean . these same brands now produced by serrall s are distributed in the united states by seagrams . captain morgan rum is the second largest selling rum in the world after bacardi . as a result serrall s inc. more than doubled its sales . 8 distribution edit the company s flagship product ron don q is currently sold in the united states mexico the virgin islands spain and a number of other countries . competition edit ron don q is the best selling rum in puerto rico ahead of bacardi and captain morgan . 9 the captain morgan rum brand is owned by diageo plc but made by destiler a serrall s in a different puerto rican distillery under a supply contract . 2 recently diageo s captain morgan contract with serrall s was not renewed as diageo s moved its production of captain morgan to the u.s. virgin islands . promotion of don q edit 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 s leones de ponce and their bsn basketball counterpart the basketball leones . the serrall s distillery is also involved in the copa serralles boat race where ron don q is prominently advertised . don q also has appeared on a number of films . also ron don q 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 anejo in the top 10th percentile of all rums . 10 currently edit the company s current president and ceo is felix juan serrall s jr. juan serrall s great grandson . the company currently produces over 60 % of the rum sold in puerto rico . in 1998 the annual sales of serrall s. inc. surpassed 100 million . the company has become a large industrial and marketing enterprise that produces and distributes over 80 different product lines worldwide . 11 since 2000 the grupo serrralles which includes the distillery companies also owns the ponce hilton & casino . 12 it is one of america s 100 oldest family owned businesses . 13 see also edit juan serralles castillo serrall s don q ponce puerto rico references edit mayita pide trato igual para destiler a serrall s. el sur a la vista . ponce puerto rico . 18 july 2011 . retrieved 4 october 2011 . a b c peligra estabilidad de destiler a serrall s. jason rodr guez grafal . la perla del sur . ponce puerto rico . retrieved 2 november 2011 . a b con xodo de diageo ante reto crucial la destiler a serrall s. jason rodr guez and omar alfonso . la perla del sur . ponce puerto rico . retrieved 21 october 2011 . revenue sugar cane molasses now coming from the d.r. the house that rum built . adventure guide to puerto rico fourth edition . by kurt pitzer and tara stevens . edison nj hunter publishing inc. 2001 . isbn 1 58843 116 9 . page 229 . retrieved december 3 2009 . 2003 industrial symbiosis in rum production . international society for industrial ecology . page 3 . 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 . donq awarded 5 stars . puerto rico daily sun . san juan puerto rico . 15 september 2011 . retrieved 19 october 2011 . proof66.com summary page for don q anejo felix juan serrall s jr. destileria serralles family business magazine coordinates 18 0 55.008 n 66 33 53.1714 w 18.01528000 n 66.564769833 w 18.01528000 ; 66.564769833 external links edit http www.destileriaserralles.com http www.donq.com http www.castilloserralles.org http www.ministryofrum.com producerdetails.php t 16 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title destiler a serrall s & oldid 660912328 categories distilleriescompanies based in ponce puerto ricoprivately held companies of puerto ricopuerto rican brands1865 establishments in puerto ricohidden categories coordinates not on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools 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