Distillation

At La Favorite stand two Creole columns, as Martinique's continuously running stills are called. According to the house, one is built entirely of copper and has been running since 1957, while the other dates from 1986.

How does such a column work? The fermented juice enters at the top and trickles down over trays, while steam rises to meet it, picking up more alcohol at each tray. At the top, the vapors escape and are condensed back into liquid. The copper is no mere decoration—copper binds unpleasant sulfur compounds, making the rum cleaner. Because juice keeps flowing in continuously, there's no need to empty the column in between.

How strong is the distillate? The AOC allows 65 to 75% ABV at the outlet. Under the name L'Initial, Clément offers a bottling as Brut de Colonne at 71.4% ABV. Brut de Colonne means the rum has not been diluted to drinking strength.

At Clément, the house itself does not distill; that task falls to Distillerie Simon in Le François, which also distills the rum for HSE. A brand and its distillery, then, are not always the same thing, and visitors to an estate would do well to ask where the rum is actually distilled.

In Rivière-Pilote, La Mauny does the distilling, and since 2003/04 the BBS group has also consolidated the distillation of Trois-Rivières there. One distillery thus produces two brands, each with its own name and history. From the distillate come, in each case, the blanc, which is bottled after resting in tank, and the rum destined for the casks.