Our History

Here at Ron del Barrilito, we take our history seriously. Many hands played a part in who we are today and we want to honor their hard work and share a brief timeline of how Ron del Barrilito came to be.

In 1787, the Spanish Crown bestowed our beloved Hacienda Santa Ana to the Fernández family, located in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Our Hacienda is less than 20 minutes from Old San Juan and has seen us through generations of our families, barrels, and bottles of rum.

In 1871, Eduardo Fernández returned home to the Hacienda Santa Ana, looking to revolutionize the aged rum category by elevating (and perfecting) the crafting process. Fernández came back inspired by iconic peers such as Cartier, Michelin, and Eiffel. After 9 long years of formulation, aging, and recipes, Fernández had struck gold.

In 1880, after perfecting his craft, Fernández produced the formula and process used to make Ron del Barrilito. Our name pays homage to the fact that our rum was initially served from a little barrel–– or “barrilito” in Spanish. The Hacienda’s guests kept asking for more of that delicious rum from “el barrilito” and the rest is history. The Three Stars (or Tres Estrellas) denomination would be the only formula for Ron del Barrilito for the next decade.

Over 50 years later, in 1933, Prohibition ended in the U.S. It was then that we decided to launch a second product to join our iconic Three Stars rum. Ron del Barrilito Two Stars is a younger rum better suited for everyday drinking and use in cocktails. For almost 80 years, these were the only two products we offered.

Then, in 2018, we unveiled our first new product after almost 80 years. Four Stars (aged up to 20 years) and Five Stars (aged up to 35 years) are limited editions of Ron del Barrilito made with the same process we’ve been using for over a century. The difference with these two, compared with the rest of our lineup, is that we are incorporating older rums into the blends, aging them to perfection (and bringing out beautiful tasting notes). If you haven’t already noticed, we really like to take our time perfecting our blends. It’s the Ron del Barrilito way.

Finally, in 2019, we updated our Hacienda and opened our doors to the public. You’re invited to walk through our Hacienda, see our history, and taste all of our rums in one place. Much of who we are as a brand is because of who came before us, constantly raising the bar— which is something we take extreme pride in.