Our Story
It began somewhere in the 1960’s, when the Red Anchor was manufactured by Hoesch Dortmund Horde, a German foundry, and patented by the “Deutsches Bundes Patent” (German Patent Office). Both logos can still be found on the actual anchor.
The small number “4112” is believed to be a serial number, the number “21772K” refers to the weight of the anchor in kilos.
Around 1972 a fully laden oil tanker lowered its anchor at a mooring location at the southern part of the island of Aruba. The weather was extraordinarily rough with strong winds and current. The rough weather caused so much tension on the winch that it broke. The winch, the chain and the anchor landed on the bottom of the sea.
A few years later, around 1975, while attempting to salvage the anchor from an entirely different ship, the Red Anchor was accidentally lifted. It was laid to rest in the Oranjestad wharf.
Somewhere around 1985 Mr. Charlie Brouns Jr., from the famous Charlie’s Bar and Restaurant, and a number of friends wanted to do something for the people in San Nicolas. The Red Anchor came to mind.
It was relocated to its present location and dedicated “To All Seamen” on the occasion of the closing of the Lago Oil Refinery on March 31, 1985.
Fast forward to 2022…..
Austrian national Gunther and Dutch national Marco are both Aruba residents and fanatic beach tennis players. One night, after having lost their match (again), they realized that a career in beach tennis might not be their path forward.
A heavy brainstorm session ensued and by the time the club bar closed, an idea was born.
Every island in the Caribbean has its own spirits producing distillery, except Aruba. On Aruba only foreign imported spirits were consumed, nothing was produced or distilled locally.
They found this to be a shortcoming for the local Aruban population as well as the continuous flow of tourists who all come to Aruba for beach, sun and a (local) premium drink.
It was time for a distillery on Aruba !
The initial research quickly showed that it was not going to be easy, given the fact that neither one of them had a history in distilling spirits. Gunther being an investor and Marco being an engineer (and a damn good one as well), they needed to be educated. They embarked on a pilgrimage that took several years.
Besides their mantra that if you can’t have fun, there is no sense in doing it, these travels resulted in two goals;
- It has to be about superior quality and excellent taste. We believe that this can only be achieved when producing in small handcrafted batches.
- It has to be about recognition, by every Aruban, resident, expat and visitor. What better landmark than the Red Anchor offers this kind of recognition.
In 2024 Red Anchor Distillery was born, Aruba’s first full range distillery.
Unfortunately, the timing was not right for Gunther to continue this venture, he stepped out. He will remain one of the spiritual fathers behind the Red Anchor Distillery.
At Red Anchor Distillery, we offer a range of premium
Vodka, Rum, Gin and Whisky.
Passionately handcrafted, distilled, bottled & aged in small batches on Aruba.
