Tanduay Distillers History

The story of Tanduay rum starts in 1815 when José Joaquin de Ynchausti is born the son of José Antonio de Ynchausti, a Basque trader. The family moved from Spain to settle in the Philippines during the mid-1830s when trade restrictions were removed in Manila and its ports opened to western trade. One of the country's prime exports was high-quality sugar and the processing of this sugar produced molasses, the key ingredient to run making.

At the time the Spanish government had the monopoly on rum production in the Philippines but this changed in 1834 due to lobbying by local sugar planters. The Ynchaustis seized on the opportunity and by the 1850s had moved into the fledgling but already flourishing rum industry.

José Joaquin de Ynchausti, then head of the family business, formed a partnership with Valentin Teus e Yrisarry who had recently acquired a distillery in Hagonoy, Bulacan from Elías Menchatorre. In 1856, the distillery was brought into the Ynchausti family's Ynchausti y Compañía.

Although the Hagonoy distillery was already in operation when acquired by Ynchausti family, it is 1854 when the Ynchausti y Compañia was founded, which is used for the foundation of Tanduay rum.

In 1860, a rectifying plant was constructed in Isla de Tanduay, bordering the Quiapo and San Miguel districts of Manila, and this is considered the original Tanduay distillery. Tanduay originates from "tangwáy", the Tagalog term for "peninsula" that also meant "low-lying land", a reference to Isla de Tanduay's susceptibility to flooding during the rainy season.

Tanduay rum flourished but its growth was suddenly checked when Manila found itself in the midst of a world at war. On 7th December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour and just 10 hours later attacked Manila. Prior to leaving Manila ahead of the Japanese occupation, General Douglas MacArthur ordered the closure of distilleries in order to safeguard workers and the city's infrastructure.

Tanduay quickly recovered and celebrated its centennial in 1954, just ten years after the war. The centennial marked the entrance of Señor Faustino Munarrix, better known as "El Maestro", the master blender who created a new distinct style of rum for the company. In 1965, Tanduay released its first five-year-old rum and this won two medals from the Monde Selection in 1971, a mark of its quality.

In May 1988, Filipino Chinese businessman, Lucio Tan, acquired the Tanduay rum brand and Tanduay Distillery. An ambitious modernisation and expansion program followed, increasing the distillery's production capacity from 2,000 cases to 160,000 cases per day.

In 2005, Tanduay celebrated its 150th anniversary with its first exports to the United States under the brand name "Tanduay Asian Rum" with exports to other parts of the world quickly following. By the end of 2017, Tanduay overtook other popular rum brands to become the world's largest selling rum.