Ron del Barrilito
Ron del Barrilito is the oldest Puerto Rican rum brand still in production. Since 1880, it has been made by the Fernández family at Hacienda Santa Ana in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
History
Origins
Hacienda Santa Ana’s origins date back to Fernando Fernández. A native of Santander, Spain, Fernández came to Puerto Rico in 1787. He was bestowed large tracts of farmland located along Puerto Rico’s northern coast, mostly used for growing sugarcane, one of the island’s largest crops in that era.
Fernando Fernández had two sons: José Ramón and Manuel. José Ramón, the oldest, inherited Hacienda La Esperanza in the town of Manatí, Puerto Rico. Manuel, the youngest, was left in charge of Hacienda Santa Ana in Bayamón.
Beginning of rum production
Rum production becomes part of Hacienda Santa Ana’s daily life during the family’s third generation in Puerto Rico. During the mid 1860s, Pedro Fernández, one of Manuel’s sons, went away to study engineering in France. Over there, he became enamored with the process of making fine brandies and cognacs that were popular in that time.
Upon his return to Puerto Rico in 1871, taking a cue from the European custom of families producing their own liquors for their personal use and to entertain visitors, Pedro used his newly acquired knowledge to turn his family’s sugarcane into a rum as fine as the French brandies and cognacs that he had tasted.
Initially produced for private consumption, word started spreading amongst the Hacienda’s frequent visitors that the rum produced by Pedro Fernández at Santa Ana was truly exceptional. The story goes that the rum was kept in a barrel at the Hacienda and that, whenever Pedro Fernández asked his visitors if they would care for a drink, more often than not, they asked for some “rum from the small barrel” or, more endearingly in Spanish “ron del barrilito.”
So when Pedro Fernández decided to finally commercialize his coveted rum in 1880, he already had a name in mind. The name Ron del Barrilito, as well as the rum it describes and the label that distinguishes it, have remained unchanged since 1880.
Next generations
In the early twentieth century, Edmundo Fernández, one of Pedro’s sons, would follow in his father’s footsteps as Ron del Barrilito’s master blender. The century started with tremendous challenges for the family business. Puerto Rico, by then a territory of the United States, was subject to the 1920 Prohibition Amendment, which made it illegal to produce and sell alcoholic beverages anywhere in the country. Ron del Barrilito, as well as every other liquor and spirits manufacturer in the United States, had to cease operations immediately.
But in 1933, when the Prohibition Era ended, Edmundo Fernández was not deterred by the forced long break. Instead he took advantage of the situation to introduce the first new product Ron del Barrilito would make in decades. The blend first commercialized by Pedro Fernández in 1880 is what today is known as Ron del Barrilito Tres Estrellas (“Three Stars”). But after Prohibition, Edmundo Fernández saw an opportunity to craft a younger rum with the same high-quality standards that the Hacienda Santa Ana was already known for. That is how Ron del Barrilito Dos Estrellas (“Two Stars”) was born.
Throughout the rest of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century, Edmundo’s children and grandchildren continued to craft Ron del Barrilito following the same methods that Pedro Fernández had set in place. To this day, Ron del Barrilito is still made at Hacienda Santa Ana using the same secret formula and in very small batches.
Hacienda Santa Ana is home to some of the oldest aging rum stocks in the Caribbean. One such example is “La Doña,” a barrel that was filled and laid to age in 1942 by Edmundo Fernández. Nearly a century later, the barrel remains unopened and serves as symbol of national pride and family heritage.
Methods
Much of Ron del Barrilito’s formula remains a closely guarded family secret, apart from the fact that it is aged in vintage oak barrels that previously held “oloroso” sherry, and that no artificial flavorings or colorings are used in the process.
Packaging
Ron del Barrilito’s iconic label has remained virtually unchanged since the late nineteenth century. The medals on the main label’s upper segment were awarded for quality during various Expositions across the United States in the early twentieth century. The cherub holding the eponymous barrel is a symbol of Greek mythology. Much like angels offered nectar to the Gods, Ron del Barrilito is intended as an offering to its loyal consumers.
The star-based denomination is another takeaway that Pedro Fernández learned from French brandy making. It was common practice in France at that time to use stars to show the quality of a particular brandy.
Varieties
The original Ron del Barrilito is known today as Ron del Barrilito Tres Estrellas (“Three Stars”). It is a blend of rums aged between 6 and 10 years.
Ron del Barrilito Dos Estrellas (“Two Stars”) is a younger rum better suited for everyday drinking. Dos Estrellas is aged between 3 and 5 years.
In 2018, Ron del Barrilito launched an extremely limited edition production of Ron del Barrilito Cinco Estrellas (“Five Stars”), a blend of rums aged up to 35 years.
All Ron del Barrilito rums are 43% Alcohol by Volume (86 Proof).