1850 Anisette 'La Paloma'

Captain Suau sold his ship, but not his business. By 1851 he had installed the business in Palma making what he knew how to make best: traditional Caribbean drinks. He brought to Palma the precious stills and countless tools used in the liquor industry. Today, these are kept as treasures in our museum, which was opened two years ago in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Bodegas y Destilerias Suau in Mallorca.

The event commemorated a very important date, the birth of our company in the liquors market of the Balearic Island, making us the oldest of its kind. Links with the overseas remained healthy, as Captain Suau had sweethearts of all kinds: we exported anisette to Mexico, the Dutch Antilles and Buenos Aires. Pancho Villa, the legendary Mexican general, was a regular and respected customer in our Majorcan distillery: the best anisettes were for him and his troops, as the famous anisette “La Paloma” .

The neighbourhood where this anisette was made was named after it. Probably one of the battles won by our famous customer was named also “La Paloma”. Possibly the same liquor comforted him after a disaster. In our last stage we focused on two products: Herbs Liqueur and Brandy … We started producing the latter around seventy years ago. Around 20 years ago, we stopped producing the other drinks.