Liquor makers since 1851, Suau is a Mallorca-based family distillery famed for its spirits, including brandy, rum, gin and anise. Located in a 200-year-old building in Pont d’Inca, the 170-year-old cellar is open for tours and tastings with a shop stocking all its finest products. But how did Suau come about? It’s an interesting story. Let’s find out.
The story of Suau
Back in the 1800s, the Mallorcan entrepreneur Juan Suau was sailing across the Atlantic on his ship, fittingly named El Mallorquín. He voyaged between his home island and Cuba, where the distillery was originally established, transporting his products back and forth wherever they were wanted. Then he fell in love with a young Mallorcan woman, settled back on the Spanish island and moved his business in 1851.
Suau spirits
This beautiful symbiotic relationship between the Mediterranean and Caribbean islands led to the importation of the finest raw materials from Cuba to produce Suau’s famous rum, now known as Ron Jungla. Meanwhile, their anise, La Paloma, crossed the Atlantic to America, joining the brandy and rum served in the old taverns. Over the years, contacts were lost, and the business returned to the islands, hindered by the Spanish Civil War, which began in 1936. Subsequent generations of the Suau family continued to distil wine in Felanitx, Mallorca. Today, Suau products are sold in 25 countries, from China to the United States. The brandy is the only one produced on the island and it is so popular that you should always ask for a Suau over a brandy.
Try the products
On the Suau website, browse liquors and liqueurs from Suau Orange, which fuses the peel of Sóller oranges with its unique brandy, to the Ron Jungla, produced through a double-aging process in American oak casks, mixing the flavours of Caribbean rum and Mallorca’s local solera brandy. Gin lovers should try the Maior gin packaged in an attractive blue and white bottle.
Visit the bodega for a tasting
For the ultimate experience, visit Suau in Pont d’Inca on the outskirts of Palma and choose between two traditional tastings. You can sample two or six spirits in the cellar, extracting their distillates directly from the barrels at different stages of ageing. Reserve your space online. Bodegas Suau also hosts events and weddings!
We hope you’ve enjoyed this local story. On your next visit to Mallorca, make sure to discover Suau for yourself and share the romantic story of the company’s origins. Visit the bodega too—a car ride away from Ca’n Bonico in Ses Salines. And as always, enjoy responsibly. Cheers! ¡Salud!