After Losses Abelardo de la Espriella’s Rum Brand Pulls Out of United States

Dominio De la Espriella’s accumulated deficit nears $4 billion COP

The liquor company owned by Colombian presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella continues to lose money and has shut down its operation in the United States, according to an investigation by La Silla Vacía based on the company’s most recently published financial statements.

Dominio De la Espriella, the firm that produces and markets the candidate’s spirits brands, reported a net loss of $503 million COP (about $124,000 USD) for the year ended December 31, 2025, according to its published financial statements. With that result, the company has accumulated losses of roughly $3.88 billion COP (about $960,000 USD) since it was founded in late 2020, the same statements show. (USD figures throughout are approximate, converted at the 2025 average of about 4,050 COP per USD.)

Dominio De la Espriella produces Ron Defensor 12-year and 18-year rum and Vino Fratellone wine. Before De la Espriella’s entry into politics, it had become his most visible business project outside his law firm, La Silla Vacía reported. A bottle of the rum sells for between $265,000 and $351,000 COP and the Fratellone wine for $189,000 COP, according to prices listed by De la Espriella Style, the candidate’s merchandising company, as cited by La Silla Vacía.

The brand was formally launched in 2022 alongside vallenato singer Silvestre Dangond, who holds an 8% stake through the company Music Dreams, according to La Silla Vacía.

The US push was the company’s most ambitious bet. When Dominio De la Espriella launched, it set a target of more than $4 million USD in US sales, the outlet reported. According to the financial statements published for 2023 and 2024, the company recorded only $1,199 million COP in international sales — about $272,000 USD, or 7% of the target, La Silla Vacía reported. The 2025 statements report that “se cerró la operación” (“the operation was closed”) in that market.

The US chapter was brief. The financial statements show that in 2023, when the company entered the country, it received an injection of $1 million USD (then $4,332 million COP) from US investors, identified in the accounts only as “Dominio Estados Unidos,” money meant to fund production of 33,000 bottles, according to La Silla Vacía. A year later, the company reported that the deal had fallen through and that it now owed the $1 million back. La Silla Vacía reported that the recorded obligation fell from $1,891 million COP in 2023 to $799 million COP in 2024; the 2025 statements list a remaining “obligation for rescission of the US operation contract” of $722 million COP (about $178,000 USD).

With the US exit, revenue dropped sharply. La Silla Vacía reported a roughly 60% fall in operating income; the company’s statements show net operating revenue declining from $1,637 million COP in 2024 to $687 million COP in 2025. The 2025 statements report just $7 million COP (about $1,800 USD) in cash at banks, with the company’s resources concentrated in rum and wine inventory valued at $1,397 million COP and $1,403 million COP in receivables.

“Se cerró la operación” — “the operation was closed,” reads Dominio De la Espriella’s 2025 financial statement, describing the company’s exit from the US market (as reported by La Silla Vacía).

The statements also show how the business has been funded. Thirteen of the company’s 15 shareholders have contributed an additional $4,829 million COP (about $1.2 million USD) on top of the $500 million COP in founding capital to increase their stakes, but the shares have not been issued and the money remains recorded as a liability, according to La Silla Vacía. The candidate himself has been financing the operation, lending the company $1,695 million COP (about $420,000 USD) through 2025, the outlet reported.

A separate La Silla Vacía investigation into De la Espriella’s business holdings reported that 14 other companies hold stakes in the venture. According to that reporting, the 50% owner is Somos Inversiones, a Panama-based company whose papers list figureheads, and the structure also includes companies tied to relatives of Hugues Rodríguez — convicted for promoting paramilitary groups — and to oil businessman Serafino Iácono.

The US retail presence has also wound down. Liquor Dreams, the Instagram account that presented itself as Ron Defensor’s official ambassador in the United States, stopped posting about the brand, and a new management has been announced for the store in the Coral Gables area of Florida, La Silla Vacía reported. The venue had served as a place for De la Espriella to host Colombian politicians, among them former president Álvaro Uribe, according to the outlet.

The US departure follows the closure of De la Espriella’s Místico restaurant, also in Coral Gables, where he had likewise promoted his liquor brand. La Silla Vacía said it confirmed that Místico closed months ago and that a different restaurant now operates in its former location. Among Místico’s partners, the outlet reported, were Dangond and Héctor Amaris, known as “Oso Yogui.”

The reporting lands as De la Espriella heads into the June 21, 2026 presidential runoff against leftist senator Iván Cepeda. De la Espriella, an attorney campaigning on a hardline security platform, led the May 31 first round with 43.7% of the vote to Cepeda’s 40.9%, according to results reported by CNN and other international outlets.