The Brugal Experience

The journey started early in the morning from Santo Domingo. We met at the airport to catch the Brugal plane to Puerto Plata. One hour in the air and we were there – at the birthplace of Brugal rum. It was a great trip filled with history, details and rum.

Brugal has 14 warehouses. 7 in the blending facility of Brugal and 7 located in the areas of the old distillery outside of Puerto Plata. Approximately 250.000 barrels. Every storage area has a capacity of 18.000 barrels. Because of evaporation rate (8 – 12%) the maximum aged rum in Brugal is 8 years. Rums like Brugal Siglo de Oro or Brugal 1888 are double aged which are 12 to 14 years.

Every rum is a blend of rums of different ages. Every bottle of Brugal has a rum that has been aged minimum 1 year as the Dominican rum law states.

Interesting facts:

Production of 5 million boxes of Brugal yearly

8-12% evaporation rate a year

30% of the production goes for export and 70% stays in the country

Brugal has 90% of the market share in the Dominican Republic

First stop of our visit was the visitor center. In front of it you see a wooden wagon used to transfer cut sugarcane juice to the factory. Interesting is that it is still used in some parts because of the difficulty of the terrain.