Production
Brugal sources the molasses for its rums exclusively from the Dominican Republic, particularly from the sugar refineries of Barahaia, La Romana, and San Pedro de Macorís, at a minimum of 85 Brix.[5] The molasses is then diluted with demineralized water, and fermented with a proprietary strain of yeast for 40-48 hours.[5][4] The mash ferments to a wine of 7.5-8.5% ABV, at which point it is distilled using two-column stills, with the first column being pressurized to a vacuum.[5] The first column produces spirit at 90% ABV, which is then diluted back down to 25% ABV, before being distilled once again to 94.6% ABV.[5][13] This double-distillation to a very high ABV produces a spirit that is very light in flavor and congeners, common in Spanish-style rum production.[5] The distillery has two stills, with the smaller capable of producing 15,000 liters of spirit per day, and the larger one capable of producing 40,000 liters of spirit per day.[2]
The distilled spirit is transported to Puerto Plata, where it is aged.[5] The spirit is diluted down to 65% ABV before being barreled in American ex-bourbon or Spanish ex-sherry casks, destined to be aged for one, two, three, five, or eight years.[5] Some rums are then re-barreled to be aged for several more years, sometimes in a different barrel, in a process that the company calls "double aging". The rum must age a minimum of one year and the barrels cannot be moved or topped up, per Dominican law.[5]
After aging is finished, the rums are briefly rested, before being filtered through cellulose paper and the color made consistent with caramel color.[5]
The carbon dioxide produced by the fermentation is captured and sold to manufacturers of carbonated beverages.[5]
