Casa Bravada distillery in Toa Baja launches 1st Puerto Rico-made vodka
Puerto Rican entrepreneurs Carlos J. López-Vidal and Claudia Ferrer-Tañón inaugurated the first local vodka distillery Casa Bravada — which entailed a $1.5 million investment — and their Bravada Vodka, a 100% artisanal product, manufactured in Toa Baja.
“Casa Bravada arises from a dream to establish a family business together with my husband Carlos, with a vision to leave a legacy in the Puerto Rico´s brewing industry. The pandemic gave us time to reflect and start the great and challenging project of setting up our own distillery,” said Ferrer-Tañón, president of Casa Bravada.
“In addition to the Casa Bravada opening, we developed the first premium vodka distilled in Puerto Rico from scratch, Bravada Vodka,” she said.
Bravada Vodka is the first and only Puerto Rican grain-based vodka, distilled six times in copper alembic and in small batches, using the highest standards in its raw materials to guarantee the highest product quality control.
The 6,000 square-foot Casa Bravada “has capacity to produce 600,000 bottles of our flagship product per year,” said López, who is CEO of the operation.
“Accounting for an overall investment of $1.5 million, this operation generates more than 50 direct jobs and 200 indirect jobs. More importantly, Bravada Vodka is a vodka elaborated in Puerto Rico with a pure and smooth taste; and its price per bottle is entirely affordable to the local consumer,” he said.
The Casa Bravada distillery has the support of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC, in Spanish) and the endorsement of the Puerto Rico government as local manufacturers, they said.
Puerto Rico Supplies Group will handle the distribution of Bravada Vodka and the product will be available in different points of sale throughout the island in its 750ml bottle, whose design is “allusive and inspired by the island.”