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Destileria Limtuaco Museum

MANILA — Tucked inside a restored bahay na bato in Intramuros is a museum dedicated to one of the country&#x27;s oldest surviving businesses, offering visitors a glimpse into more than 170 years of Filipino distilling history.Operated by Destileria Limtuaco, which traces its roots to 1852, the museum chronicles five generations of master distillers through vintage equipment, historical documents, memorabilia and some of the company&#x27;s most iconic brands.At the Destileria Limtuaco Museum, both rum- and whiskey-making processes are prominently displayed. It used to be a bodega before it was turned into a two-storey museum.<div> </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1782704549878Museum.jpg" style="width:655px" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-dragging" width="655" alt="The Bahay na Bato turned into a museum "/>The Bahay na Bato turned into a museum </div>Founded in 1852, Destileria Limtuaco is the oldest continuously operating distillery in the Philippines. Through its museum, the company traces five generations of master distillers while preserving more than 170 years of Filipino craftsmanship, entrepreneurship and innovation.The museum showcases the history and production of the company&#x27;s spirits, including whiskey and rum, and features a collection of vintage bottles, distilling equipment and artifacts dating back to the Spanish colonial period. Also on display are personal belongings, photographs and memorabilia from the generations of the Limtuaco family who helped build and sustain the business over the decades.The stone house was purchased in 1979 and developed, later on, as a museum dedicated to the company’s history showcasing some original and miniature equipment in distillation process. A brainchild of Olivia “Olive” Limpe-Aw, a fifth-generation master distiller, the museum opened for public viewing in February 2018, and since then has been recognized by the Department of Tourism as one of Manila&#x27;s must-see cultural and tourism destinations.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17827046416581000017977 (1).jpg" style="width:655px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="655" alt="Miniature bottles of liquor displayed at the wine museum "/>Miniature bottles of liquor displayed at the wine museum </div>Greeting museum guests is a dadapilan, a traditional carabao-drawn sugar cane crusher used in the early days of Philippine spirit production. Upon entering the museum, a dedicated corner features Tiok Tong (Siok Hoc Tong), the distillery’s flagship product. Introduced in 1852 by Chinese immigrant Lim Tua Co, who had to be Filipinized to be able to do business in the country and thereby changed name, and became popular as Don Bonifacio Limtuaco among his business circle. This traditional, bittersweet, medicinal herbal wine built the company’s foundation, and is popularly known as sioktong or choctong. This lapad drink is still highly patronized today for its medicinal property. Also, within the display are historical bottles and original brewing herbs.The ground floor showcases the traditional distilling process and displays memorabilia steeped in history showing, not only the various products of Destileria Limtuaco, but also a collection of bottles throughout the years. Visitors can also see vintage, traditional oak barrels and imported white oak, and the machines they used to produce various spirits.<div> </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17827046883601000017981 (1).jpg" style="width:655px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="655" alt="The liquour counter where the &#x27;exciting part&#x27; part happens: sip and taste. Dining is also allowed for a special package rate. "/>The liquour counter where the &#x27;exciting part&#x27; part happens: sip and taste. Dining is also allowed for a special package rate. </div><div>White Castle calendar girls</div>Not to be missed on display are some of the White Castle Whisky calendars. This iconic Philippine promotional campaign started in 1974 with its first model, beauty queen Evangeline Pascual, followed by showbiz personalities Carmi Martin, Maria Isabel Lopez, Lorna Tolentino, Cristina Gonzalez and Glydel Mercado. Recent calendar bearers also include celebrity chef Ninong Ry (the first male calendar model), content creator Sassa Gurl, actress Ria Atayde, tattoo advocate Angelie “Pench” Andanar, and its 2026 model Ashley Rivera (aka internet personality Petra Mahalimuyak).Interestingly, the concept — a woman wearing a red bikini, riding on a horse on the beach with a castle for a background — came to Julius Limpe, Olivia’s father, in a dream and, upon waking, he sketched it, and this became the inspiration for the brand’s storyboard.The framed sketch is hung on the second floor which also exhibits company permits throughout the years and even their old cashier, dial-up phones, cameras, cash registers, typewriters and family memorabilia such as old photos; newspaper clippings; furniture (office desk, rocking chair, the wooden dresser of Teh Siu Yong Limpe, grandfather clock, etc.); the paintings of Julius Limpe, brand evolution booklets (tracing label changes over 166 years); and awards of her lawyer-mother Lily Cheng-Limpe.<div>Accolades for modern spirits</div>The woman behind the museum, Olivia Limpe-Aw, decided to turn the stone house into a family gallery after a visit to a wine museum in Germany realizing the rich heritage of her family.Multi-awarded in her field of endeavor, she was named among Forbes Asia’s Power Businesswomen in 2020,  for expanding the brand internationally while preserving its 170-year legacy. In 2024, she received the Outstanding ASEAN Women Entrepreneur Award, acknowledging her contributions to regional business excellence.She has also developed her own brands. Julius James, a whiskey made purely from corn dedicated to her grandfather and father, is a collector’s item currently prized at P3,000 per bottle.Her well-crafted liqueurs such as Mango Rum Liqueur, Manille Liqueur Calamansi, Manille Liqueur Dalandan, Amadeo Coffee Liqueur, and Intramuros Liqueur de Cacao are also best-sellers and award-winners.Intramuros Liqueur de Cacao, a rich chocolate spirit, inspired by traditional tablea tsokolate from 100% roasted local cacao from Davao, won as World&#x27;s Best Chocolate Liqueur at the World Drinks Awards 2025 in London. Her sons Clifford, Aaron and Brandon are now helping steer the family business as members of its sixth generation of distillers and executives.A fitting tribute to the distillery&#x27;s grand patriarch, the Bonifacio Rum series — the company’s first-ever line of pure pot still rums — has also been launched. Made with molasses transported overland from a sugar-rich region of Luzon to the distillery in Guiguinto, Bulacan, Bonifacio Rum is available in limited quantities for now. Indeed, the spirits live on as the Destileria Limtuaco Museum continues sharing with the public the journey of all these iconic and more Filipino brands to come.

Tucked inside a restored bahay na bato in Intramuros is a museum dedicated to one of the country's oldest surviving businesses, offering visitors a glimpse into more than 170 years of Filipino distilling history.

Tucked inside a restored bahay na bato in Intramuros is a museum dedicated to one of the country's oldest surviving businesses, offering visitors a glimpse into more than 170 years of Filipino distilling history.

This Manila museum chronicles 170 years of Filipino distilling history

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This Manila museum chronicles 170 years of Filipino distilling history

Leony Garcia

Published June 29, 2026 04:17 PM PHT

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Destileria Limtuaco Museum

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