A barrel in a dry cellar at Habitation Clément, Le François, Martinique.

I had the amazing opportunity to go to Martinique this month, thanks to the generosity of Benjamin Mélin-Jones, of Rhum Clément & Rhum JM. I have wanted to visit Martinique and the rum distilleries there for as long as I can remember, so this trip was really, really exciting for me. Agricole rhum is, to me, everything that a perfectly crafted rum should be; I love all rum styles but go to rhum agricole first when choosing one to drink for myself, almost every time. Seeing the distilleries and learning about this wonderful island was a dream come true for me. Thank you, Ben Jones, for a truly life-changing trip!

I arrived in Martinique the night before the world finals of the Ti' Punch cup, and while they were setting up for the contest I was able to sneak away for photos to explore the grounds. These photos were taken at Habitation Clément:

Bust of Homère Clément outside the aging cellars

The grounds with rolling hills full of sugarcane are truly beautiful

Rum barrels aging in one of the humid cellars

Tall, Cognac style vats

Aging at Rhum Clément is done with roots in the Cognac style. Some aging is done in large vats, as shown above, with further aging done in a combination of "humid" and "dry" cellars. The "dry" cellars are tall, open and allow the fresh air to come through, although calling them dry is somewhat of a misnomer, as the humitity levels in Martinique are quite high. They also use "humid" cellars, which are, as in Cognac, dug partially into the ground, built of thick stone for insulation, and are temperature and humidity controlled with environmental systems. As with the "dry" cellars, however, the humid-style cellars are only controlled to a certain extent - the front and back doors of the cellars are wide open, and I suspect this is as much for the air flow as it is for tourists to see in and admire the view.

Environmental controls for two humid cellars at Habitation Clément

Walkway between the dry and humid cellars. Dry on the left, old fashioned construction for the humid on the right.

Buffalo Trace barrels in the aging house - one of the handful of bourbon companies I saw (and the most copious)I fell in love with this barrel stamped on the wrong side - Rhum Clément and Buffalo Trace on top of each other, as they are in the final aged Clément product.

The grounds and old plantation house at Habitation Clément are also exceedingly pleasant. On the site of the old distillery (production moved to Distillerie Simon in 1989, more on that in a future post) there is now a museum that was used as the event space for the Ti' Punch competition. Some of the gears, old fermentation tanks, and parts of the cane conveyance system still remain, as well as a fascinating cross section of a column still on display for all to see and understand:

a section of an old copper column still, opened up to show the cups



The transformation of the old distillery to a museum space was done well. The space is beautiful, open and very artful. Clèment has a commitment to art as a part of the company ethos, and also runs the Fondation Clèment on the property - a museum dedicated to celebrating Martinican artists in a gleaming, hyper-modern design building that is breathtaking. Some of the style elements of that building are drawn from the open brickwork in the old distillery building. The two are attached together.


Open brickwork in the old distillery building, for air circulation as well as asthetics
Nature through the brickwork
Old advertising posters that now hang in the space

A photo that hands above the old fermentation tanks

The hyper-modern Fondation Clement juxtaposed against an old fashioned stone wall

Hervé Télémaque, the exhibition on display during my visit

Hervé Télémaque, Infirmière de couleur, 2011

an excerpt from a poem by Aimé Césaire

Another photo of the Fondation Building. I love modern architecture and was absolutely smitten with this building. Note the open design in the steel near the windows and how it echoes the open brickwork of the distillery, and how the shape continues across the facade of the building.

Open brickwork, also echoing the old distillery building, but made up of the letters H & C (for Habitation Clément, or Homère Clément)

to be continued...