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Destilería Serrallés resumes production after Hurricane Maria

Destilería Serrallés, the maker of Don Q rum, has restarted production following a temporary shutdown caused by Hurricane Maria.

Destileria Serralles’s administrative offices in Ponce, Puerto Rico

The distillery, located in Ponce, Puerto Rico, was shut down for several weeks.. According to the company, Puerto Rico’s infrastructure was “totally devastated” and the island continues to “recover slowly after facing many obstacles” in restoring power, water services and telecommunications.

Immediately after the impact of both hurricanes, the company’s USA operation initiated fundraising activities in more than 100 on-premise establishments, with the company matching the funds from the activities.

Company employees have also reached out to communities to collect basic necessity items that have been sent to Puerto Rico to provide relief to hundreds of families.

Destilería Serrallés has been working with local chef Ventura Vivoni and the Ponce Hilton, where an average of 800 hot meals are distributed daily throughout local communities and elderly homes by company employees and volunteers.

“Serrallés has always been committed to helping Puerto Rico,” said Roberto J. Serrallés, business development vice president. “Resuming our rum production and exports has a positive impact in our local economy, adding much needed tax revenues to our local government that will in turn assist in our country’s recovery. We appreciate the solidarity and understanding of our distributors and clients, who are loyal supporters and advocates of Don Q rum and Puerto Rico.”

Silvia Santiago, senior vice president of Manufacturing, added: “We recently began rum production and our shipments are beginning to flow to our clients in the US and rest of the world.”

“Our team has worked tirelessly over the last few weeks to ensure the recovery of our operations, despite the level of destruction, lack of power and other challenges resulting from the aftermath of the hurricane. Together we have sustained many types of storms and recovered successfully, learning to become stronger and better prepared each time.”

Beam Suntory’s US Virgin Island-based Cruzan Rum distillery was also affected by the hurricane, and recently resumed production earlier this month.

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