thanks for this amazing report, the pictures and impressions. This is what makes this community and rum so special. Enjoy the trip and looking forward to the next story. Cheers Stefan
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You’ve done yourself proud with this report! Thanks for the level of detail- hope you enjoy your break!
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Following up where I left off then. Today was supposed to be chilled out and that was executed to plan. Sunday, most stuff is expected to be closed and that’s what it was. Today we did 2 things while being based out of the capital Fort de France:
- Rhum bar: Le Petibonum
- Distillerie Neisson
Both these places are next to each other which made life very easy. Renting a car is a must when going here, buses don’t run on Sundays and taxis are prohibitively expensive.
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Le Petibonum
This is a beach shack with a gorgeous view with an amazing rhum selection. Saw the biggest rhum selection that I’ve seen in a bar here, 50+ bottles across all the distilleries on the island. Rhums are not meticulously cataloged, just look at the selection and request your pick at the bar. Tried a Clement Vieux, HSE Blanc and the missus enjoyed some cocktails.
Reservations are highly recommended and would suggest giving this one a visit for a leisurely lunch when visiting Neisson
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Next up Distillerie Neisson
Summary: Finally the thirst for cask strength rum was quenched and maybe a little too much. Still recovering from the strong sun and tasting a few too many rhums, but it had to be done! Huge estate with lots of cane grown on the grounds. It’s a self service tour (which is really a small one around the distillery). The highlight is the tasting room (no surprises here). This was the only distillery shop where I saw rhum vieux at cask strength, compared to the rest where it ranged between 42-46%. French was needed, the missus helped out again. Rhums were pricey - but I do see that compared to LMDW (their official distribution partner in Europe) the rhums at the distillery retailed for most 10-20% cheaper while I found 1-2 at the same price.
More pictures coming below
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There were quite a few pricey rhums on display even to taste. I reckon I tried about 7 rhums here in total, some left a lasting impression, others less so. Ended up buying some stuff, so was not charged for the tasting.
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Wow, since my visit there, last year around April, they seem to increase the selection of rums available in their shop. Last year there was one blanc and then the Profiles and a normal Vieux. This was also the only stuff available for degustation. Nothing older than three years.
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Hope you enjoy your journey and have much fun with the R(h)um
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Hello again folks, reporting some more Martinique. Yesterday was another 2 beautiful distilleries, the drive was a bit painful I must say because of the traffic and the winding roads. Given I was doing the tastings; the missus did the driving, pretty certain she wasn’t too pleased about it 
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Stop 1: HSE
Summary: This was a good 45 min drive from Fort de France. Winding roads and dare I say not the best ones. The estate in itself was one of the bigger ones with a self service tour to go around. Rhums were tried, decent stuff, but nothing stood out personally as a big highlight. Chances are I may have missed some of the good ones, since I have not tried much of HSE before.
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Last distillery of the day La Favorite
Summary: This has been a highlight for 2 reasons. The rhums I tried were nothing short of outstanding and the lady who was kind enough to walk me through the tasting was supremely knowledgeable. I mentioned earlier about some locals anecdotally telling me about not liking this distillery so much - I’ve got no clue why, nothing to not like based on what I saw!
Their white rhums were some of the best I’ve tried so far, if not the best on the island. The lady mentioned they’re one of the smaller family owned distillers on the island, and production is quite limited. They are not as well distributed as Neisson, Clement or Depaz on the island. I can also confirm the prices are much lower in the distillery shop compared to the rest of the island. This is one place where I kicked myself for not having more space in my baggage because I wanted to pick up more rhums from this place.
La Favorite is rather close to Fort de France (6 km) and easily accessible.
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I was also told that La Favorite is one of the only or few on the island that hand cuts the cane at source, which is better than the machine cut cane because hand cutting exposes only one end to be oxidized whereas machine cut canes are sliced at both ends, leading to faster drying and oxidization of the cane.
Moving on to some of the incredible rhums that were tried in La Favorite:
Rhum 1 was the standard Rhum Blanc from La Favorite at 100 proof. Higher sweetness on the nose (honey and cane juice) than any rhum blanc I’ve tried on the island so far, which extended to the body and ended with a peppery finish. Would make for a good ti punch with just a dash of honey.
The 3 white rhums come from different varietals of cane grown on the island, largely all around the distillery (although they source some from smaller producers as well). The blue had a nice saline nose a delicate mineral body, red was punchy as hell (pepper forward) and the green had a touch of menthol and a body that reminded me of anise.
PS: I am an absolute amateur when it comes to tastings, but was super happy to see that the notes above were very prominent
Then came the tastings of the vieux rhums, detailed tasting notes to follow separately (although my palate was fatigued by now despite the break and water)
Ended with their overproof rum (~70%+), could only think what an amazing daiquiri this would make
This one makes the best tasting so far on the island.
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Yeah, Favorite was also one of my favorites 
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They make excellent rums 
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Bar recommendation: Le Kano has a very good rhum selection, bigger than any other bar that I’ve come across so far on the island
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Strange prices at HSE distillery.
135€ for the 2006 and 450€ the 2003!!! 
They’re often still available at retail prices of 120€ & 150€. Really I don’t understand.
I’ve read an article recently about spiritourism in the French islands, and it seems to have driven up prices… Usually prices were around 60% of the recommended retail price in France.
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Partially relieved to hear this @Rodolphe, I didn’t buy any of the pricey ones from HSE
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