don q rum tour reviews

Don Q Rum Tour

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Ponce, Puerto Rico 00730

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Best tour around! better than Bacardi. So much history and it is beautiful here. All the fountains and antiques especially the old rooms were super cool. I liked the samples of the rum too.

Pretty good experience. Check in with the gate guard and they will let you know where to go. Probably far to the right and around to the coffee shop / gift shop. Go in and let the barista know you are with a tour and they will look you up and give you the included welcome cocktail. Eventually your guide will come get you. Overall, you tour the house, learn about rum and especially Don Q rum. You do sample a 7 year aged rum by itself , then blend with water. At the end you do a very nice mix class. We made a rum old fashioned and a oiña colada. Overall 4 drinks total in the event. Nice place. Recommended!

See all photos from Dennis M. for Don Q Rum Tour

One of my favorite experiences in Puerto Rico was the Don Q Rum Tour with Laura. The tour takes place inside the Serrallés Museum in Ponce, not the Serrallés Distillery located a few miles away. Our tour was $60 per person and included a Welcome Drink (their signature pina colada) upon arrival, as well as a very comprehensive tour of the Don Q rum and their flavors. During the tour, we also stopped to do some shots of their premium rum and enjoyed learning about the barreling process. Laura made every part of the tour very fun with her lively personality and she kept our group of 7 engaged the whole time. The tour ended with a mixology session where we made a smooth Old Fashioned and a delicious pina colada. They had the best pina coladas my husband and I had and we indulged in purchasing an extra one while we were there. All in all a fantastic experience and I would highly recommend if you are closer to Cabo Rojo.

See all photos from Surge C. for Don Q Rum Tour

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Puerto Rico - To Try

By Carolyn C.

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DON Q RUM: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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Don Q Rum - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024) - Tripadvisor

• (0.16 km) Cervantes Hotel
• (0.13 km) Hotel Rumbao, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel
• (0.22 km) CasaBlanca Hotel
• (0.29 km) El Colonial (Free Open Bar)
• (0.30 km) 352 Guest House Hotel Boutique
• (0.01 km) Subway
• (0.02 km) Tijuana's Bar and Grill
• (0.04 km) Cafe Cola'o
• (0.13 km) Cafe Cuatro Sombras
• (0.10 km) Senor Frog's San Juan

Casa Bacardi and other rum tours

Price & Hours

• Facilities 3.0
• Atmosphere 4.0

U.S. News Insider Tip:  The piña colada cocktail was born in 1954 at San Juan's Caribe Hilton . Visitors to the hotel's Caribar can order the original recipe drink as well as more modern takes on this classic poolside refresher. – Robert Curley

A visit to Puerto Rico wouldn't be complete without tasting one of its best-known beverages: rum. The spirit, derived from sugar cane, is one of Puerto Rico's top exports and the island is often referred to as the "rum capital of the world." There are many kinds of rum from traditional white rum to dark rum as well as several producers, including Bacardí , Don Q , Ron de Barrelito , and PitoRico , a smaller brand.

One way to learn more about Puerto Rico's rum production (and to taste some of the libations) is to go on a tour. Bacardí and Ron del Barrilito offer a variety of tours and cocktail experiences at their San Juan area facilities. Don Q’s tour is located in the Castillo Serrallés Museum in Ponce.

Travelers offer mixed reviews of Bacardí's tours. While most enjoyed the cocktails and tastings offered, some felt the experience was overpriced. Reviewers of the Ron del Barrilito called both the tour and the location a wonderful outing, praising the guides for their knowledge.

Casa Bacardí is located across the bay from Old San Juan in Cataño. You can drive to the distillery, take a taxi or Uber or hop on a ferry from Old San Juan. The facility opens daily at 9 a.m. and tours run at various times throughout the day; the last tours run around 4 p.m. Tickets cost $30 to $75, depending on which tour you book. Read more in our roundup of the best tours in Puerto Rico .

Ron del Barrilito operates its tours out of the historic Hacienda Santa Ana. It's located in Bayamón, approximately 10 miles southwest of San Juan. You can drive, Uber or taxi to the distillery. Tours operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Tickets start at $25 per person for the basic Heritage tour; tasting tours are $80 per person. Visit Ron del Barrilito's website to learn more.

Don Q's rum tours are offered from Wednesday to Sunday. The English language tour is at 1 p.m., while the daily 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. tours are in Spanish. Tours are limited to 15 people each and cost $60 per person. The museum in Ponce is about a 75 miles southwest of San Juan.

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Printed on 14 May 2024 from PuertoRicoDayTrips.com

Don Q Rum Tour in Ponce

If you enjoy rum like we do, you should know that Puerto Rico is full of rum distilleries and rum tours. One of the newer rum tours available provides the opportunity to explore the oldest Puerto Rican rum, Don Q! Find out why rums produced by Don Q are the best selling rums in Puerto Rico. While the tour is not of the actual distillery, they have created an interesting tour, which takes you from the beginning of the Serrallés story to the newest Don Q rum offerings. And it is a mixology tour, so you get to make (and drink) a few delicious drinks.

The home of Don Q rum is in Ponce, on the south coast of Puerto Rico. They have developed the rum tour inside the Museo Castillo Serrallés (the Serrallés family mansion). So it is an added bonus that you get to see some of the home and gardens on this tour.

You are greeted by your tour guide, and the rum starts flowing right away with a welcome drink at the bar. The tour is a combination of live presentations, videos, photos and displays, and hands on activities. You learn the history of the Serrallés family, who moved from Spain to Ponce in order to open a sugar plantation and processing facility. They started their rum production in 1865, and have been making delicious rum ever since! They even have the original copper still they used on display inside the house.

On the tour, you learn about the sugar plantation, processing, and how sugar (and other a few additional items) is converted into rum. They had a nice display/discussion about the whole hacienda, plantation, factory, and the the distillation, aging, and blending processes. We had a taste test of a 7-year aged rum straight from the barrel (and you learn how and why high proof rum is diluted to the typical 40% alcohol by volume). There was a presentation on all of the Don Q products.

After all that learning, it was finally time to go to the mixology room, where our guide walked us through how to make two drinks. The first was an Old Fashioned, made with Don Q Reserva 7. That was a nice sipping drink. As you sipped on that, you made a Piña Colada, using Don Q Gold rum. That was delicious, too!

After our drinks, we checked out the (optional) virtual reality “Making of Rum” game. As it turns out, we are really bad at virtual reality games but that just added to the fun.

At the conclusion of the tour, we were free to walk around the house gardens and take photos. It is a beautiful place. If you have never been on the house tour before, I recommend you do that while you are there, because you see more of the house. In addition, there is a separate Japanese garden, a butterfly sanctuary, and the emblematic Cruceta del Vigía (the giant cross lookout), that offers a great view of Ponce.

The cost of the mixology tour was $60 per person when we went, but that is subject to change.

The mixology tours are offered Thursday through Monday at 10:30am and 3:30pm in Spanish, and 1:00pm in English. There is a limit of 15 people per session.

The tour lasts about 90 minutes. Plan to arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled tour, and allow some additional time check out the gardens afterward.

You can call Museo Castillo Serrallés at 787-259-1774 for more information.

You can visit the Don Q website for more information or to book a tour.

Parking is roadside, in front of the museum on both sides of the street.

Click on a placename below to view the location on Google Maps ...

• Serralles Castle

PuertoRicoDayTrips.com assumes no responsibility regarding your safety when participating in the activities described in this article. Please use common sense! If your mother or that little voice in your head tells you that you are about to do something stupid … then don't do it! Read more about Safety →

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Don Q Rum Tour

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Don Q Rum Tour - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Exceptional Rum Since 1865

Our heritage.

At Don Q , our Heritage shows up at the Destilería Serrallés every single day. Our company's legacy is a living force that drives our constant quest to perfect the art of rum making. It is the collective wisdom passed down through six generations of the Serrallés family through over 150 years at our craft. Our commitment to the people and techniques that define Don Q have made us the unquestionable favorite in the land of rum: Puerto Rico . Now available in the U.S., we are confident you’ll enjoy our steadfast devotion to the excellence of Don Q .

Don Juan Serrallés

Don Juan vastly expanded the family sugar cane business and founded the Serrallés rum making tradition. Using a copper pot still he imported from France, he produced the first casks of rum sold under the Serrallés name. He also founded the town of Mercedita, named after his wife, Mercedes. Don Juan laid the foundation not only for the Serrallés legacy, but for Puerto Rico becoming the world leader in rum production.

Félix J. Serrallés, Jr.

During his tenure as CEO of Destilería Serrallés (1981 – 2017), Félix Serrallés Jr. focused his efforts on the consolidation and expansion of the family business through significant investments and modernization. Under his guidance, Don Q rum returned to the U.S. after a decades long hiatus, expanded its range of products, and has adopted environmentally conscious production methods that have made a positive impact on local ecosystems.

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Fabricado para disfrutarse con responsabilidad

© 2016 Don Q Rum | El uso de este sitio implica la aceptación de nuestros Términos y Condiciones y Política de Privacidad.

Fabricado por Destilería Serrallés, Inc., Ponce, PR y distribuido por Serrallés USA, Dallas, TX. Ron 20%, 21%, 30% y 40% ALC/VOL.

Rum 20%, 21%, 30%, 40%, 75.5% ALC/VOL.

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Don Q Cristal Rum Review

This light mixing rum can almost pass for vodka—but is that a good thing?

Liquor.com / Laura Sant

Don Q Cristal Rum is a budget-friendly light rum with no additives and a light, clean flavor profile, making it good for mixed drinks. But it’s so light-bodied that it bears more resemblances to vodka than the spirit on the label.

Classification light/white rum

Company Serrallés USA

Distillery Destilería Serrallés (Ponce, Puerto Rico)

Cask American oak

Still Type column

Released 1978

Proof 80 (40% ABV)

Aged 1 1/2 to 5 years, and carbon filtered to remove color (and some flavor, too)

Awards Gold, 2019 World Spirits Awards

At less than $15 for a bottle, the price is right.

Don Q is committed to transparency about what goes in the bottle, and unlike many top brands, doesn't use any additives such as sugar or artificial flavoring post-distillation.

Its clean, light flavor makes it a great substitute for vodka in cocktails.

Rum drinkers may want a rum that tastes like rum rather than vodka, in which case this bottle doesn’t fit the bill.

Tasting Notes

Color : Absolutely clear, with thick legs that creep slowly down the side of the glass. Clearly, the filters have done their job: Though Cristal contains a blend of rums aged up to five years, it doesn’t look like it spent a day in a barrel.

Nose : It would be easy to mistake the nose for a vodka’s: There’s a slight mustiness and a hint of lemon, but the predominant note is alcohol.

Palate: Lightly sweet, with notes of cane sugar, coconut, banana, and melon, a light citrus tang, and a hint of spearmint

Finish : A dry, slightly harsh charcoal flavor lingers on the back of the tongue and in the throat post-swallow. Given how light the rum is, the finish lingers surprisingly long.

Don Q has been making Puerto Rican rum since 1865: a light, column-distilled spirit that may not be as thrilling to rum geeks as, say, a Jamaican pot still rum, but which has a smooth, elegant, approachable style that’s all its own. 

The producer launched Cristal in 1978, when the goal of most spirits was to taste like vodka. “Light” and “smooth” were the watchwords of the day, and if that’s what you’re looking for, Cristal delivers. Don Q goes so far to say on its website that Cristal is a great vodka substitute in cocktails, and indeed, it makes a fine Collins or Gimlet . As for rum cocktails, it makes a perfectly adequate if unspectacular Mojito or Daiquiri . 

But in the end, the problem with a rum that tastes like vodka is that it doesn’t taste that much like rum. Yes, it has enough telltale sweet tropical fruit notes to peg its origins to the tropics and not the frozen tundra. But while it’s clean and smooth and light, it lacks a certain something—let’s call it pizazz—that separates the really good stuff from the rest of the pack. This is a solid “rest of the pack” brand, featuring no added sugar or flavorings, at a price that encourages mixing on a blowout-party level. But if you want a white/light rum with more personality, it’s best to spend a little more and opt for The Real McCoy, Probitas, or Owney’s. And to get more of a sense of what Don Q can do, check out its excellent aged rums, such as the Gran Reserva.

Interesting Fact

The best-selling Puerto Rican rum in the world—and the best-known, too—is Bacardí. But the bestselling Puerto Rican rum in Puerto Rico is Don Q. The brand’s history on the island goes back decades further than that of Bacardí, which originated in Cuba.

The Bottom Line

If you’re looking for a cheap and pleasant mixer, Don Q Cristal is a solid choice. But if you’re looking for a light rum with character, it may disappoint.

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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

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Don Q Reserva 7 Review

A decadent rum with notes of warm baking spices and rich molasses

While it might not rank as the most complex aged rum on the market, that doesn't mean this release should be overlooked. This seven-year-old dark rum from Don Q packs a decadent punch with lovely baking spices and molasses. It exceeds expectations for its price tag, providing a lively addition to any home bartender's bar cart.

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