Brugal Rum announces that it will be sponsoring Brugal Merengue Festivals in Santo Domingo and San Juan this summer. The traditional hosting of street dancing and performances by top merengue bands at hotels and Santo Domingo’s seafront boulevard the Malecon will take place on 24-27 July this year. On closing night, 27 July, the first ever Brugal Merengue Festival will be held simultaneously in Puerto Rico. The stage for the Puerto Rican extravaganza will be the 25,000-seater Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan. Angel Duverge, promotion director for Brugal, is in charge of coordinating both events.
The announcement comes on the heels of the new export push now that the company is under the reins of Scotland’s Edrington Group (of Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark, Macallan’s and Highland Park fame). In February 2008 Edrington announced that it was acquiring majority stock in Brugal, the oldest and leading rum brand in the DR where it has over 80% market share. Brugal is one of the largest international golden rum brands in the world and sells around five million cases a year. It is in the top 20 of Impact’s Top 100 growth premium spirit brands worldwide.