In the history of Caribbean rums, Martinique has gained a place of its own through the production of rums produced under an Appelation d’Origine Contrôlée usually reserved for wines and fine cognacs. Rums are traditionally distilled from sugar cane juice, sugar cane syrup, or fermented molasses. (Most rums imported into the United States are made from molasses-often imported from countries other than those distilling the rum.) Rhum agricole (agricultural rum), on the other hand, is made from freshly-harvested and -squeezed sugar cane juice (vesou) fermented in large vats to produce a sugar wine called grappe, which is then distilled into a variety of rums, some aged in oak barrels for as long as 10 years with techniques learned from the wine and cognac industries.

  The Clément Distillery was founded in 1887 by Homère Clément, the son of a tailor who studied medicine in France and rose to become a grand mulâtre. He purchased a bankrupt plantation, the Domaine d’Acajou, and developed the techniques of rum production that would in time make him “the father of rhum agricole.” His domain, now known as Habitation Clément (Clément Plantation) is a popular heritage tourism site in Martinique. Its Creole House, the original plantation house, is one of the most beautifully preserved examples of colonial architecture in Martinique.