Juan Serrallés Colón, born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, was the son of Sebastian Serrallés, a wealthy Spaniard from Catalonia who settled in Ponce in the early 19th century and went into the sugarcane business, and Juana Colon. Serrallés Colón was the owner of "Hacienda Mercedita" as well as the neighboring Hacienda Fe and Hacienda Laurel.[2][3]
Juan Serrallés was raised in Ponce and educated in Spain. When Juan Serrallés returned to the island, he returned to lead the work in his hacienda (plantation).[4]
In 1865, Juan imported a still which he purchased in France and produced his first few casks of rum. He named the rum Don Q in honor of the legendary Spanish fictional character Don Quixote. Soon after, the "Don Q" brand of rum became very popular in Puerto Rico and the family business began to grow.[5]
In 1903 the Serrallés family, under the leadership of Juan Serrallés, installed the first continuous still in Puerto Rico. Juan Serrallés died in 1921 just as the production of rum was being halted because of the United States Prohibition Act of the 1920s. Juan's family continued to run the sugar side of the business but for the distillery side started to produce medical alcohol instead of the outlawed rum. It was called Alcoholado Superior 70.
The Serralles Castle, built by Juan's son, Juan Eugenio Serralles Perez in the 1930s
Juan Serrallés Colón married Mercedes Perez (1845–1922), after whom he named his sugar plantation.[6] They had three sons and two daughters. His eldest son, Juan Eugenio Serrallés, became the head of the Serrallés family business after Juan died in 1921. Juan's grandchildren – via Juan Eugenio's marriage to Rosa Maria Sanchez – were Rosa, Juan Eugenio, and Felix Juan.
Juan Eugenio built a huge castle in Ponce, called the Serralles Castle, for his three children some ten years after his father's death, a testament to the prosperity of the plantation business that Juan Serrallés had started the previous century. Eventually one of these grandchildren, Felix Juan, became the next in line to run the sugar plantation and rum distillery businesses, which he did until his death in 1985.
The sugarcane business ceased to operate in 1994, with only the rum distillery that Juan had spearheaded decades before still operating. Today, Juan Serrallés Colón's great-grandson, Felix Juan Serrallés, Jr., presides over Destileria Serralles, Inc.[7]
The Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has honored the memory of Juan Serrallés Colon by naming both a grade school and a high school[8] in Ponce after him. There is also an elementary school named after his wife Mercedes.[9]
^Neysa Rodriguez Deynes, historian, writer and curator of Museo Castillo Serralles states Juan Serrallés Colón was born in 1834. See Neysa Rodriguez Deynes, El Museo Castillo Serrallés /The Serralles Castle Museum, published by Patronato del Castillo Serrallés , 1998, ISBN0-9650059-0-9, p. 96.
^Neysa Rodriguez Deynes, historian, writer and curator of Museo Castillo Serrallés states Juan Serrallés Colón died in 1897. See Neysa Rodriguez Deynes, El Museo Castillo Serrallés /The Serralles Castle Museum, published by Patronato del Castillo Serrallés , 1998, ISBN0-9650059-0-9, p. 96.
^Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. El Museo Castillo Serralles/The Serralles Castle Museum. Patronato del Castilo Serralles. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 1998 ISBN0965005909. p. 99.
^Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. El Museo Castillo Serralles/The Serralles Castle Museum. Patronato del Castilo Serralles. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 1998 ISBN0965005909. p. 99.
^Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. El Museo Castillo Serralles/The Serralles Castle Museum. Patronato del Castilo Serralles. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 1998 ISBN0965005909. p. 99.
^Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. El Museo Castillo Serralles/The Serralles Castle Museum. Patronato del Castilo Serralles. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 1998 ISBN0965005909. p. 99.
^Neysa Rodriguez Deynes. El Museo Castillo Serralles/The Serralles Castle Museum. Patronato del Castilo Serralles. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 1998 ISBN0965005909. p. 99.
