The Domaine l'Habitation du Simon is located between Le François and Le Vauclin in the heart of a sugar cane plantation. It is an 18th-century building that still lives to the rhythm of harvests and rum production.

A1710 rum is produced on site. You might think that 1710 is the year this rum was born, but that's not the case. It's the latest brand to arrive in Martinique, and its rum was only launched in 2016!

In 2006, Yves Assier de Pompignan embarked on an ambitious project: to create a new rum distillery imbued with the history and richness of the Caribbean terroir. With the help of a determined and passionate team, he took over the Habitation du Simon to set up his rum brand.

In 2010, the decision was made to launch the project, and work began on selecting the fine aged rums to be used in the blends. An aging cellar previously used for cognac production was introduced, and a laboratory was set up at the Habitation. The first selections of rums, then aged between 6 and 11 years, were put back into French oak barrels of 320 liters for further aging.

At the same time, with the aim of setting up an innovative, high-quality, traditional distillery, they opted for a Charentais still made entirely of copper, complete with a 7-plate column and temperature-controlled fermentation vats allowing for long fermentation periods in order to obtain rums with strong aromatic potential.

After several years of setting everything up and completing the administrative procedures, De Pompignan and his team obtained authorization to open their distillery for the production of agricultural rums, the last rum distillery founded in Martinique.

Work began on the rum distillery, which was set up in an old 18th-century purgerie (a type of distillery) in the heart of the estate. The house was also refurbished to accommodate visits and tastings.

The new A1710 distillery was inaugurated in 2016 at Habitation du Simon.

In 2023, a second still, almost identical to the first one installed in 2015, was introduced. It allows us to push even further in our quest for aromatic excellence and quality in A1710 rums. The cane wine will therefore continue its ritual of double distillation.

List of A1710 rums:

• White rums
• Aged rums
• Limited editions
• Organic rums
• Rums aged in wood

The Hardy distillery is located in Tartane, facing Anse de la Brêche and near the Caravelle Peninsula. It is undoubtedly one of the lesser-known distilleries in Martinique. Yet it produces a historic rum of the island, born in 1830 when the estate—then called “La Grâce”—was renamed “Habitation Sucrerie Tartane.” At the time, it included a residence, industrial buildings, sugarcane plantations, and a windmill, which can still be admired from the roadside.

A few years later, Émilien Bonneville, a wealthy landowner from the Tartane region, decided to purchase the estate.

In 1880, in a habitation that had previously produced only sugar, Bonneville installed a steam engine to begin distilling rum. Martinique was then in the midst of a sugar crisis, and many distilleries had turned to rum production.

He later passed the estate on to his daughter Clémence, who was married to Gaston Hardy des Sources.

In 1905, the estate was officially transferred to Gaston Hardy, who gave it its name: “Rhum G Hardy Tartane.” His rum was distinguished and won several medals in mainland France. Although the distillery was devastated by two fires, it was fully restored by his son—also named Gaston—who was an engineer.

In 1955, Gaston Hardy Jr. became the owner. To boost the brand’s reputation, he created the famous Rhum Paille, aged for 12 to 18 months in oak barrels. This helped solidify Hardy’s renown.

In the 1970s, he personally oversaw the renovation and modernization of the production facilities, including the windmill mechanism, a concrete chimney, a distillation column, and an automatic feed belt that he built himself.

He passed away in 1990, and the distillery continued operating until 1994.

His heirs took over and transferred production to the Saint-James distillery in Sainte-Marie. Hardy rum is now produced according to the strict standards of the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (A.O.C.). A boutique at the entrance of the original site offers tastings and sells the full range of Hardy rums. Production remains limited (120,000 bottles), and distribution is local only.

Over time, the buildings suffered damage from humidity, but public authorities launched a fundraising campaign to restore the site. Some buildings are currently undergoing renovation, but this historic location remains open to visitors.

Habitation Saint-Étienne, or H.S.E., is a distillery built to replace an old sugar mill, La Maugée, covering more than 400 hectares from Gros-Morne to Saint-Joseph.

In 1882, the distillery was bought by Amédée Aubéry, a young captain of industry who became one of the iconic figures of the Martinican economy. Towards the end of the 19th century, faced with the sugar crisis, it was converted into a distillery, like many sugar plantations of the time.

Amédée Aubéry expanded the factory and gave it a remarkable façade with 28 arched windows, ensuring optimal ventilation of the building. He modernized the entire facility to maximize rum production efficiency.

In 1909, the distillery was bought by the Simonnet family, who developed the business until its decline in the late 1980s. In 1994, Yves and José Hayot took over the operation, relaunched the Saint-Étienne brand, and undertook the restoration and enhancement of the architectural heritage of the property.

Today, although rum distillation no longer takes place (since 1988), it continues to produce rums, known as HSE rums. Its preserved architectural ensemble is one of the best examples of the housing system in Martinique, offering a glimpse into life in the 19th century. The master's house and the former slave huts, later used by paid workers, have survived for two centuries and are open to visitors.

The site is listed in the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments (I.S.M.H.). During the tour, you can see how HSE rum is produced, including the barrel storage system and bottling process, before tasting the rums made on site. Numerous exhibitions are held there throughout the year.

La Favorite distillery was born in 1842 between Fort-de-France and Lamentin under the name of "Distillery Jambette", named after the river that fed it.

Its name was changed in 1851 by its owner, Charles Henry, in reference to an anecdote. Indeed, Joséphine de Beauharnais would have offered a bottle of rum from Habitation Jambette to Napoleon at the beginning of the First Empire, and she would say "This is my favorite liquor".

The estate has belonged to the Dormoy family for three generations. The estate, which has experienced ups and downs in its history due to periods of prosperity followed by more difficult times, was even a sugar factory at one point before becoming a distillery again.

Today, La Favorite is one of the last remaining family-owned and independent distilleries. It offers a wide variety of rums, including white rum, amber rum, and aged rum.

At the end of the 17th century, the famous “Father Labat” was the parish priest of the commune of Macouba. At that time, the house located on the banks of the Roche River was a sugar plantation.

In 1790, Antoine Leroux-Préville acquired it and gave it its current name, Fonds-Préville. In 1845, Antoine Leroux-Préville's daughters sold the property to Jean-Marie Martin, a merchant in Saint-Pierre and husband of Marie Ferment, daughter of a major plantation owner on the island.

Today, the Crassous de Médeuil heirs farm Martinique's three main crops: bananas (75 ha), pineapples (6 ha), and sugar cane (55 ha). It is the only farm to do so using crop rotation. The presence of these three crops and the JM distillery on the same farm is unique in Martinique and even in the Caribbean.

Since November 1996, Martinique's agricultural rums, including JM rums, have been awarded the Martinique Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) designation. The Bellevue estate has 150 hectares of arable land, all of which is AOC terroir.

Distillerie Dillon owes its name to Count Arthur Dillon, general and hero of the American Revolutionary War. He married a cousin of Joséphine de Beauharnais, Laure Girardin de Montgérald, owner of the house which, through this marriage, became the Dillon house. Elected deputy for Martinique in 1789, he was accused of conspiracy by Robespierre and beheaded in April 1794.

In 1857, Habitation Dillon was bought by the mayor of Saint Pierre, Pierre Hervé, who restored the canal and the dyke, and built a sugar mill, a guildery and railroads. But the sugar crisis of 1866 ruined it, and the plantation became a public limited company managed by Louis Domergue.

In 1891, a cyclone devastated the 18th-century dwelling and led to the death of Louis Domergue. In 1900, his son Raoul rebuilt it from a house in Saint-Pierre, which he had dismantled beam by beam, thus saving it from disaster.

But in 1919, one of the administrators had to comply with the quota policy and ended up transforming, in 1928, the distillery into a sugar factory. Managed by the de Laguarigue family, Habitation Dillon did not start making agricultural rum again until 1954.

It was bought in 1967 by the Bordeaux family company Bardinet: in more than twenty years, the Bardinet Group will quadruple its annual production by investing in fermentation tanks, distillation columns and an aging cellar with a capacity of three thousand barrels.

Since 1981, Dillon rum has been regularly awarded at the Concours Général Agricole, thus confirming its qualitative and commercial progress both on the Martinican and Guyanese markets as well as in mainland France, where it holds first place. Having become the property of the company La Martiniquaise in 1993, the Dillon brand continues to contribute to the influence of the Controlled Designation of Origin (A.O.C. in French for Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) Martinique, obtained in 1996.

Today, the Dillon distillery produces both rums and punches. During the visit, a slide show will allow you to see and understand the production and the different stages of production of agricultural rum, and then a tasting will be offered.

Unlike other distilleries and rum producers in Martinique, which have more than a century of history, the Neisson distillery was founded in the 20th century. In 1932, brothers Adrien and Jean Neisson created Habitation Neisson on the grounds of La Thieubert, a former plantation in the town of Carbet. Adrien built his small distillery with his own hands, salvaging a boiler dating back to 1830 and bringing new mills from France.

Although small in size, the Neisson Distillery already stood out from its competitors at the time due to the quality of its rum, which it distributed locally. With the help of his brother, Jean Neisson, a chemical engineer, they began developing the square bottle known as “Zépol Karé” and established a distribution network in Paris.

Since its creation in 1932, Distillerie Neisson, one of Martinique's last family-owned distilleries, has preserved the ingredients of high-quality rum in the purest Martinique tradition.

The distillery is now run by the daughter and grandson of Hildevert-Pamphille Neisson, the distillery's founder.

Habitation Clement is THE place to visit absolutely from Martinique. Throughout its history, what it represents for Martinique's past and present, this symbolic place will immerse you in the heart of the history of Martinique. Habitation Clement is a former sugar plantation. In 1996, it was classified as a historical monument. The property, on an area of ​​approximately 300 hectares, is called Domaine de l'Acajou.

Originally called "Habitation Acajou" by its first owners, Louis Hodebourg Desbrosses and Simon de Bassigny, Habitation housing was bought in 1887 by the Mayor of François, Homere Clement. Homere Clement was a descendant of a freed slave. First, he cultivates sugar cane, which he sells to the factory of François. Then, in 1917, following an order, he was allowed to build a small distillery.

When he died in 1923, his son Charles, an engineer who graduated from the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris and the Institut Pasteur, took over the business and worked to improve the quality (fermentation and distillation) of agricultural rums. He created the Acajou brand in the 1930s and Clément in the 1940s.

The company prospered until the 1980s before experiencing economic difficulties. It was bought by the Bernard Hayot Group in 1986. It was then that it definitively took the name “Habitation Clément” in tribute to the family that had made it prosper.

In 1991, following the Gulf War, it was a meeting place of prestige between the President of the French Republic at the time, François Mitterrand, and the President of the United States, George Bush.

Today, it is divided into three parts:

• the former Clément rum distillery, which is now a museum,
• the Clément rum aging cellars, which are still in use, and
• residential buildings, some of which are open to visitors.

You can also see many tropical plants and trees over an area of ​​17 hectares. The tour is free but paid and is done through audioguides freely distributed at the beginning of the visit.