Best distilleries to visit in Martinique

if you’re going to Martinique, you’ll definitely want to add a visit to one or two distilleries to your trip itinerary ! The quality and the taste of Martinican rum is famous and recognized in the whole world. If you’re passionate about rum, you can visit all 13 of them in the “Route du Rhum” (translated as rum road). But as some of them are no longer in operation, and some are just basic fatories, I’ll list you here the best ones to visit.

Distillerie Depaz is located at the foot of Mount Pelée. To give a bit of context, in 1902 the Mount Pelée erupted and resulted in the deaths of 29 000 people, as well as the destruction of the city of Saint Pierre. The deadliest eruption of the 20th century also completely destroyed the Distillerie Depaz. It has been wonderfully rebuilt by Victor Depaz an his descendants from 1917 to 1922.

But above all, it’s one of the oldest Habitations (In the Antilles, “Habitation” refers to a coffee or sugar farm) in Martinique.

There’s 5-hectare of green space with century-old trees and huge fields of sugar cane as far as the eye can see.

You can visit on your own (then it’s free), or book a guided tour (but there’s a lot of people, and there’s many information panels, so it’s as good if you go by yourself).

The visit starts at the roue à aube (vane wheel), which supplied the energy needed for the distillery for a long time. It was then replaced by steam engines, which supplies the steam needed to power the mills crushing the sugar cane and the columns distilling the rum.

Next, the path leads you to the castle (there’s a fee if you want to visit the inside, 5€ if I remember properly) and then you will get to discover the distillery, see the plant and its production tools.

Behind, in the ageing cellars, 190-litre barrels are stacked on top of each other to allow the rum to mature for a few years.

Finally, you can end your visit with a tasting at the boutique (we didn’t pay but from some reviews, I understand that a fair share of people had to pay 2€ for a tasting).

Opening hours are from 10am to 4:30pm and it is closed Mondays and Sundays.

It’s the most complete distillery we visited :

• The scenery is absolutely breahtaking : located at the foot of Mount Pelée, with a large green space, there’s the cane fields on one side, the distillery on the other and the Caribbean sea in the distance.
• The mansion is gorgeous and very well maintained.
• The distillery is still in use so you can see everything in action (barrels being moved, ageing cellars fully stacked, machines working and the smell of rum everywhere !)
• The explanations are quite good so you can really do the tour by yourself.
• We got a great tasting afterwards (we tried many different rums and punch).

Habitation Clément is a first of all a former colonial sugar plantation. The plantation then became a distillery, after Homère Clément bought it in 1887. From here, the rum rapidly gained an international reputation. Although distillation is no longer carried out on site, aging still takes place in several ageing cellars that can be visited.

The habitation Clement is famous for its beautiful mansion that occupies the highest point of the estate. Its traditional architecture overlooks the surrounding landscape : a vast 160-hectare agricultural estate. It features a wonderful botanical discovery path…

… that then leads to the former distillery which can be visited (it’s now introduced as a “rum interpretation center” with many informative panel detailing how rum is made.

The trail takes you next to the different ageing cellars with beautifully stacked barrels and a nice smell of rum !

The last part of the visit is to discover the Creole culture with the mansion, the stable, the kitchen, the president’s hut… :

When you make your way back to the reception, at the back of the room you can have a tasting of all the rums you’d want ! If you are in a player mood, head upstairs to guess the different flavours that can be found in rums (it’s really not that easy !).

The Habitation Clement is open all year round from 9am to 6:30pm and the entrance fee is 13€ for adults, 11€ if you’re a student.

Saint James distillery produces several types of rum from locally-grown sugar cane since 1765, making it the oldest one of the island. Like Depaz distillery, it was victim of the 1902 eruption and partially destroyed.

The distillery is still in use and can only be visited (guided tours only) from March to June, but what’s really interesting here is that they made a rum museum inside the old colonial house. From the history of the agricole rum to the unique collection of engravings, labels and bottles, including a photographic exhibition, there’s a lot to see inside and it’s free.

While you’re there, you can discover and taste all the varieties of rum ! The opening hours are from 9am to 5pm everyday.

Plantation Trois-Rivières is one of the oldest in Martinique : it started out in 1660 as as successful sugar plantation, and began producing rum at the end of the 18th century. The distillery ceased operations in 2004 and has since been relocated at the La Mauny site.

You can still visit the old distillery, either on your own for free (there are many informative panels detailed all the steps in the rum-making process), or via a guided tour (there are a few different slots during the day that you can check on the website).

The distillery isn’t huge so the tour is done quite quickly, but you can then head to the artisanal craft huts or walk by the mangrove swamp (inhabited by “Touloulous”, Martinique’s little red crabs), around the impressive cheese tree :

This plantation is best known for its emblematic cane mill that you can see right at the entrance. This is what makes it worth the visit because otherwise the other distilleries have nicer surroundings, mansions and big parks, but you also see more of the factory (ageing cellars, machines in use…).

This plantation is open everyday from 9am to 5pm.

Little tip : For Habitation Clement and Distillery Depaz, I’d suggest visiting early in the morning as they are many tourists buses that comes because it’s the most famous sites. For Museum Saint James and Plantation Trois Rivières, you can come end of day instead, the lighting with the cane mill for the last one is really beautiful.

If you are looking for the names of the 9 others distilleries, here you go :

That’s it for my recommendations on the best distilleries to visit in Martinique !

If you need more inspiration you can check out my 10 days itinerary in Martinique. I also made an article about the food specialties and where to eat, as well as one on the top 10 best beaches on the island.

If you need a custom itinerary, you can fill this form and I’ll make your own personalised itinerary.