The world-famous rums of the Dominican Republic are known as the 3 Bs, for Brugal, Barcelo, and Bermudez. Unlike most other rums, Dominican rums give more importance to "smoothness", producing a unique rum thanks to an original and natural process of distillation and aging done in American white oak kegs.
The most well known family name in the Dominican Rum industry is Bermúdez. According to reports, one of Christopher Columbus' first companions on his trips to Hispaniola was Don Diego Bermúdez, who brought sugar cane to extract alcohol, the basic ingredient in rum processing. The House of Bermúdez goes back to 1852, when Don Erasmo Bermúdez created the formula for the Amargo Panacea, a famous rum to be drunk as an appetizer. Thus, the first Dominican spirited drink of repute was born and the first industry established in the then recently created Dominican Republic. Until 1927, the company was directed by Don Armando Bermúdez, who transformed it into a national industry. Later, as it became a corporation. Its first administrator was Domingo O. Bermúdez, under whose direction the company reached its current status of national institution.