We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Crystal Rivera. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Crystal below.

Alright, Crystal thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. In response, and through a non-profit we created in 2011 to promote Bomba and Plena (two Afro-Puerto Rican musical traditions), we organized a fundraising event called “Guavate en Maryland” in October 2017. The event was called Guavate in Maryland because we were able to incorporate several of the elements found in the Guavate area of Puerto Rico. Those elements were roasted pork, the beloved Medalla beer, and pitorro (Puerto Rican moonshine rum). The fundraiser was successful, with more than 3k attending from as far south as North Carolina and as far north as Connecticut. The event raised more than $17k that was donated to World Health Kitchen and other worthy causes. But the lasting impact of that fundraiser was that it made clear the demand for pitorro in the diaspora. The buzz and interest in pitorro before and during that event gave birth to the idea of Puerto Rico Distillery on that same day!

Pitorro involves the tradition of craft distillation of fermented sugarcane molasses and the blending of tropical flavors into the distilled rum. In 2017 there was only one distillery in Puerto Rico that was making rum commercially that smelled and tasted like pitorro, and that was Destilería Cruz in Jayuya. Coincidentally, pitorro from Destileria Cruz was the rum we found in New York and used for Guavate en Maryland. So once we decided to embark in our adventure to open a pitorro distillery, reaching out to Destileria Cruz was the very first thing we did.

We reached out to the President of Destilería Cruz, explained our idea and received immediate support and encouragement from him. We began to research what was needed to have the distillery in Maryland and began looking for a place where to set up shop. After a year of looking for a place we decided on Frederick, Maryland because it had an established, vibrant and growing spirits industry. And the Frederick Office of Economic Development was very receptive to the idea and very helpful, approachable and supportive. Once we decided on Frederick, we sold our home an hour away in Columbia, Maryland and moved to the City of Frederick to be closer to the business, and today we call Frederick home.

Although Puerto Rico Distillery was Angel’s brainchild, Crystal (his daughter) joined the project from the very beginning. Crystal promptly left her job with the National Restaurant Association and became a partner on the project. She was the motor behind our ability to open the distillery when we did. She researched permits, made contact with contractors, and later became our main Distiller. During the two and a half years it took us to open, everyday at the end of the day, we would meet and check what progress had been made and what next steps needed to happen. During this time we also went to Puerto Rico so we could train with moonshiners in the mountains of Puerto Rico. We learned to distill pitorro in our hometown of Comerío, and to this day we still use that same recipe and those techniques to distill our rum. We also learned from our friends in Jayuya (Destileria Cruz) and still source pitorro from them in order to meet our demand for pitorro.

We did our build up and when it was finally time to open, the CoVid 19 Pandemic hit. We had to adapt our plans, and our first product on the market was actually hand sanitizer. We slowly added our different flavor rums. At this point we actually have 11 different flavors in our inventory. Those are Classic (unflavored), Traditional (raisins, prunes, and cranberries), Almond, Coconut, Pineapple, Coffee, Coconut Chai, Honey Mango, Tamarind, Passionfruit, and Kiwi. And in March 2023 we are planning to release Butter Pecan and Pineapple Ginger. We also offer pitorro flavoring workshops that teach people how to flavor their own pitorro. We love sharing information about pitorro because for us pitorro is more than rum, it is tradition.

Crystal, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Who we are: Pitorro rum has always been part of our culture, our families and our stories. It has been present in every celebration of our family as well as every sad occurrence. It has been a way for multi-generational family members to bond, especially when they all reunite. It transcends age, language and ranks, so it is not a surprise that just like music it was one of the ways that my daughters bonded with their family members on the island every time we would travel back to Puerto Rico. Every December they would go back to Puerto Rico and would pick their favorite fruit infused pitorro to share with their grandparents, friends and relatives.You can’t go anywhere in Puerto Rico, specially during the holidays, without tasting a plethora of pitorro flavors, and people quietly competing for the bragging rights of having the best pitorro. We developed a love for the experience of sharing the process as well as the implications of sharing the love for the product- because it is not just rum- it is culture, it is tradition.

Our Rums:
Clandestino is rum in the style of rum made by moonshiners in the mountains of Puerto Rico. We focus on the tradition of taking unflavored pitorro as a base and crafting unique lines of flavors distinct from other rums on the market. We have rum that has been distilled in Frederick, Maryland and in Puerto Rico. All the flavoring, processing, and bottling is done by us in our facility in Frederick. At this point we have the following flavors: Classic, Traditional, Almond, Coconut, Pineapple, Coconut Chai, Coffee, Honey Mango, Kiwi, Tamarind, Passion Fruit, Pineapple Ginger (March 2023) and Butter Pecan (also March 2023).

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

After years of research, planning, build up, meetings, permits, etc. and having a detailed plan we had prepared to execute upon opening, we were hit with a worldwide pandemic that caused us to lockdown. Businesses could not open their doors to their customers. So we were flexible and resilient on many fronts. These are some of the things that we did to remain in business: The US Government called out to all distilleries to make hand sanitizer and make it accessible to the community. Our first product in the market was actually hand sanitizer, not our rum.
We created a Founders Club that gave the opportunity to people to support our project and get 5 bottles once they became available, their name on the founders wall and 10% off every sale.
We delivered our rums and Ready to Drink cocktails instead of having people come to the distillery.
Provided hand made masks for our customers.
Opened a YouTube channel that taught people different recipes of pitorro to do at home.
Collaborated with the Sandy Spring Museum and Cultura Plenera to create virtual pitorro Blending workshops.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

We believe these have been the key to our great reputation:

Our Product

Pitorro to Puerto Ricans is what tequila is to Mexicans, mamajuana is to Dominicans, cachaça is to Brazilians, and pisco is to Peruvians. It is our national spirit and what most Puerto Ricans prefer and actually drink. The only reason pitorro is not known as well as those other spirits is its clandestine history and underground practice. But with pitorro being available commercially, people are now learning what has been common knowledge in Puerto Rico for centuries…pitorro is an amazing sipping rum.

As a small business, we do not have a large budget to advertise Clandestino. But the product has grown, and will continue to grow, because of word-of-mouth recommendations from very happy customers.

Our Love for the Craft and our Traditions:

Our business and product were born and nurtured by the same love of culture and tradition that has motivated us to volunteer years of our lives to community building projects where the main offering that attracts attendees are cultural traditions.

And because tradition is our north star, we will not divert from what we do well…pitorro! We got into this business because we love the style of rum we make, and we love the tradition. We will never try to make whiskey, gin, vodka, or any other type of spirit. Actually, we will never try to make another style of rum either. We make pitorro!

Also, sharing our culture and traditions is important to us. So people feel like they are somewhere in Puerto Rico when they visit us because our distillery and products are as authentic to our culture as possible. For example, we use natural ingredients that we bring from Puerto Rico (like the coffee to infuse into our coffee pitorro) or source locally (like the honey we use to sweeten some of our pitorros).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.puertoricodistillery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puertoricodistillery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PRDistillery/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PuertoRicoDistillery
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/puerto-rico-distillery-frederick

Image Credits
Myriam Montañez Comito