My Share for #BeautifulSunday initiated by @ace108

Today I will take you with me to Destileria Limtuaco Museum which houses the history of the oldest distillery in the Philippines. Founded by Bonifacio Lim Tua Co in 1852 in Binondo, Manila it is still in operation until this present day. Come with me and see how alcohol was produced and also witness a collection of the liquor from the past until the present day.

Distillery Museum

This is one of the popular tourist spots here in Intramuros, Manila. The place which houses it is called Bahay na Bato (Stone House) bought by the family in 1979 to be used as the museum. Spanish themed from the colonial era it a perfect place for the museum.

The Entrance Fee
50 pesos for students - $1
100 pesos for adults - $2
200 pesos ticket upgrade with alcohol tasting for adults - $4

I am just an occasional drinker and we came here not knowing what to expect. It was fascination to see the story behind the oldest distillery that led me to this place. The door knocker itself gave me more interest to see what lies behind these doors. We came inside immediately thru this door not knowing it was the exit. Someone greeted us and offered to give us a tour around the place. I was a bit hesitant with a guided tour as I only wanted to take photos. The guide insisted for us to go thru the tour to get the full experience and also told us that we went thru the exit. Alright on with the tour then.

The guide first showed us the bar and asked if I would like to upgrade my ticket to experience alcohol tasting from their collection. It was a hot afternoon we had other places to go to and I didn't want to get tipsy so I had to pass.

Then we were taken to see the area how the alcohol was bottled and sealed back in the days. Machinery that they preserved for us to learn more about their bottling history.

This is the Semi Auto Labeling Machine which the family imported that can label 480 bottles in one run.

Next is the Paper Tape Sealer for the cartons. The machine dispenses a moisturizer for
the paper to allow it to seal the cartons for the bottles.

This is the Manual Crowner to put caps on the bottles which dates back from 1945.

Another Semi Automatic machine which is the Filling Machine that can fill 480 bottles per hour.

Here is a collection of old bottles that they used for their other product which they saved throughout the years.

Sugar cane was also used in their other products and this machine is called the crusher. As the name suggest we already know what is does.

This copper device is used to distill their dark rum made from sugar cane and molasses.

Corn is used to produce their whisky which is milled first, cooked, liquefaction process, saccharification then fermentation, distillation, second distillation, aging and finally bottling. Too many process for me and I wasn't listening that much but seems to be a very fascinating process for those who loves their whisky.

Here are two of the oak barrels which they used to age their whisky.

Now this is and innovation they are using to age their rum. Instead of barrels they have the oak wood inside a stainless container which prevents losing rum during the aging process. As was told a significant amount of the rum is lost during the aging process thus this innovation was applies. This is real rum by the way which actually surprisingly smells good for me.

Outside the also showed us how sugar came is crushed the traditional way which is pulled by a water buffalo.

Kung Fu Siok Hoc Tong is their original product which is a medicinal wine made from sugar cane and mixed with around 11 Chinese herbs. I think it is still being sold out in the market and I will buy one as it looks very potent with all those Chinese herbs in the mix.

Among the attractions in the museum is this replica of the large distillers that are being used. It looks real but the guide said that they are just replicas which were very well made.

Upon climbing the stair the pictures of the five generations of master blenders can be seen. Starting from from the founder Lim Tua Co until the present.

Now to all the drinkers out there enjoy all these liquor that they have on display from 1852 until their present day products. Enjoy all drinks on me!

Those coolers were very popular during my younger days. I still remember the fun I had with my cousin sneaking in a bottle or two of these coolers. Those were crazy times

A lot of these product I do see on the market and exclusively sold here at his museum. If our trip was later in the afternoon I would have loved that alcohol tasting.

They also have products which they export specifically all over the world. Not sure if some of you might have encounter some of their product.

Coffee liquor and chocolate liquor is a new product that they have is store for our local market. Though our guide was not sure when it will be released.

After that walk thru their alcohol display, the guide led us to a small spot on the floor to buy souvenirs if we are interested. That Siok Hoc Tong tshirt looks really cool which I just noticed while going thru my pictures.

I think you would ask me "Why is there a bikini in the glass display?"
That I would explain shortly.

One of the most popular commercial for their product "White Castle Whisky" is the iconic red bikini. A lady in red bikini riding a white horse on the beach is the commercial which made the whisky very popular is our country. Everybody knows the commercial during that time and popular local models and stars were chosen to be white castle girls for the commercial. They even had a small tv to show the old commercial throughout the years.

The tour ended with the commercial area but I noticed a place which was not included in the tour. There were more old bottles and containers from the past which gave a very nostalgic feel in this area. @bearkid wanted to check it out and have her photo taken in that area. She enjoyed this tour and she said that she learned a lot how it is made. Good to know but no alcohol for you until you are all grown up and with a job of your own.

I hope you enjoyed the tour with us as we had fun sharing with you another part of our culture. Please do leave comments and feed back as we would appreciate it a lot.

Thanks Steemians and bottoms up!

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All photos are original and taken with

Lumix GX85 and 12-32 mm