OK. My thoughts/experience in Martinique.
We enjoyed our Martinique adventure. This is the third year that we’ve done a Memorial Day (US holiday) trip to visit a rum location. The first trip was to Barbados with FourSquare and Mount Gay. Last year was Hampden and staying in Negril in Jamaica. This year Martinique.
The inspiration from this trip was inspired by a year-long craving for Rhum Agricole that started while I was taking the WSET Level 3 Spirits course and studying Martinque. I had purchased some Martinique rhums before while in France, but they were all oak matured variations and had started craving the unaged versions. It’s a whole other conversation, but I feel like I only want unaged spirits these days. All I want is Blanco Tequila, Pechuga Mezcal, Mexican unaged rums, Shōchū.
We stayed in Les Trois-Îlets. It’s about a 30 minute drive south of FDF and is somewhat central - although the island is pretty small, so that’s relative.
If you are staying there, I’d recommend a few restaurants: SAM CIELO, L’ANTARES, and Le Kano.
And also please visit the incredible (in all meanings of the word) La Savane Des Esclaves that tells the story of the island.
OK. Rhum. Our plan was one distillery a day. My spouse likes distillery visits but I also know that maybe ALL distillery visits ALL day won’t win many spouse points.
Our first stop was J.M Rhum. Driving on these narrow mountain roads is exciting. Rent the smallest car you can. At J.M they are doing some renovation, so you can not see any stills but otherwise it’s all open.
They have a small shop and of course do tastings. My french is toddler-level (a toddler who also seems to know a lot of french villages and winemaking terms, but a toddler nonetheless) and there was a guy who seemed to be the appointed english speaker which was nice. I’m not a super nerd of all J.M’s expressions, but it seemed like a relatively small selection. I grabbed a bottle of their bio/organic unaged rhum and their small 6-bottle tasting sampler - which included their creole shrubb which is great but I’m not sure I need an entire bottle right now.
Post-J.M we had lunch at Restaurant De La Cascade Ajoupa Bouillon which is nearby and pretty great. Then we spent the afternoon on the beach.
The next distillery was Neisson. On the way to Neisson, we made stops at the museum that documents the Mt. Pele explosion (Musée Volcanologique de Franck Perret) and popped into the Paul Gaugin museum.
Note: if you go to Clement, they will give you free passes to the volcano museum, so in hindsight we should have tweaked the schedule. Alas.
We had a terrific lunch at Le Petibonum before heading to Neisson. Possibly the greatest octopus I’ve ever had?
At Neissom, the have lots of sugarcane to look at and then the standard self-guided tour. All signage was in French so get your google translate app out if you need it.
The tasting room was probably the best one we visited. Super helpful and friendly staff. We tasted a number of rhums.
I’m not sure I was taken with their aged expressions - tasted a few and they reminded me of a comment I once heard from a winemaker: “I want my wines to taste like grapes, not trees”. The oak was overpowering. Maybe my palate.
I have some Neisson already (their organic blanc) so I just picked up some of the small TATANKA bottles.
Note: The staff explained the whole Tatanka bottle theme and we were really confused by and still am. I’m blaming the ol’ language barrier on this. That will be another post: “explain to me who/what/why TATANKA is”.
[UPDATE! Researching Tatanka ]
Oh my. The roads out of Neisson back to the main road: rutted!
We did an early morning at the Rhum Clement estate. I realize that it’s not a working distillery and feels a bit touristy, but it is a great experience. Maybe it was being there early or it being May and not high-season, but it was quiet.
The sculpture garden tour was great. The tour of the former distillery was well put together and included a cut-out of a column still with the bubble caps and all that - kudos for that one (although maybe not for my spouse who maybe didn’t want to fully understand how they work).
This was the perfect tour for rum nerd + spouse who likes history and other stuff.
Their tasting room was very handsome. We didn’t taste a lot - I have a few Clement Rhums already and I’m not sure I’m blown away by their oak matured expressions.
The gift shop was well stocked and included various non-rhum products like a delicious banana spread that we grabbed.
The next day was a Sunday and Mother’s Day on the island. What does that mean? Well, everything seemed closed and the places that were open were packed with fancy dress families and their mothers. Cheers to them! As a sloppy sweaty tourist trying to find lunch it was a challenge.
We wanted to poke around at A1710 but I misread their open times. Ugh. Crud. We did end up at Pam Snack with a view of rocher du Diamant (the Diamond Rock) for lunch. Would recommend. They had a banana gratin that we will try to recreate.
We stopped off at Trois Rivières. So many land crabs!
Did the tour of the former facility which is small and maybe a bit lacking. The tasting room is large and well stocked (including items from their siblings within Campari Group). This was a quick visit but I did develop a taste for their Cuvee de L’Ocean which I know appears to be a polarizing bottle in some groups. Maybe I enjoy the vegetal Paranubes-esque notes.
Afterwards, make a stop in the small village of Anses D’Arlet so you can take the iconic photo of the church from their pier.
Every night at dinner was a Ti’ Punch and in our little rented apartment we had afternoon fruit juices and cracked open various small bottles that we had bought.
Finally…
When flying out, stop by the bar in the parking lot of FDF: Ti plage. We had ham and cheese baguette sandwiches and their rhum punch. Perfect last taste of Martinique.
A quick note about the airport FDF. It’s small and easy to navigate. Their security checkpoint is really well done - they do the automated bins like you have at ATL, JFK, LAX but have a slightly more clever way of doing it.
Also, duty-free is WELL STOCKED. They have all the standard expressions from almost every distillery. If you miss something on your trip, there’s a good chance you can get it at the airport.