Port Morris Distillery WRITTEN & PHOTOGR APHED BY BENJA MIN PEIM
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ucked among auto shops and warehouses in an industrial section of the South Bronx sits the Port Morris Distillery. Named for the local neighborhood, this distillery has only been around since 2011, however, it’s already developed a reputation The pair had just sold a music and recording studio that they throughout the five boroughs of New York, garnering mentions in owned together when the idea to start their own operation formed, nearly every major media outlet, from The New York Times to the and only a handful of distilleries were open in New York City at the Daily News. The distillery has been hailed as a symbol of the local time. revitalization of the South Bronx, and it produces a Puerto Rican “My uncle was in town and we were talking pitorro,” Barbosa said. spirit called pitorro. “We knew that breweries were up and coming and we thought, why The distillery was launched by two childhood friends, Rafael not do this with pitorro? So then we started Googling.” Barbosa and William “Billy” Valentin. They’re proud “Nuyoricans,” “At first I thought he was crazy, but I followed,” Valentin said. New Yorkers whose families came from Puerto Rico. The two grew The pitorro recipe comes from Barbosa’s uncle, who taught his up together just a few miles away at the Fredrick Douglass Houses nephew to distill as a teenager during trips to Puerto Rico. After in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and they’ve known about pitorro opening the distillery, they brought their entire lives. Barbosa’s uncle over from Puerto Rico to “Ever since you’re a teenager you’re into be the head distiller. Barbosa took over as pitorro. All the holiday events you go to, head distiller two years ago. it’s always around,” Barbosa said. Their pitorro recipe features apples, The distillery is the first commercial honey, and brown sugar, all of which they seller of pitorro in the country, and only source from farms in upstate New York. the second distillery in the Bronx since The ingredients sit in fermentation tanks Prohibition. Prior to opening their doors for 17 to 21 days, where they turn into a in 2011, it took Barbosa and Valentin form of wine. It’s then transferred to the two years to obtain the federal and state still, where it’s distilled seven times in liquor licenses they needed to start their total before hitting the shelves. business. But they say it was worth it. The Port Morris distillery produces “The thought of being self-employed, around 3,000 six-pack cases a year, of being able to create something that bottled very intentionally at 92 proof. could be a legacy for the next generation Barbosa’s uncle back in Puerto Rico coming after us — it’s an amazing rush,” — WILLIAM “BILLY” VALENTIN never used measuring instruments when Valentin said. “Companies like Bacardi making his pitorro. Instead, he worked by started just like we did.”
“The thought of being self-
employed, of being able to
create something that could be a legacy for the next
generation coming after us — it’s an amazing rush.”
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