Martinique rum distillery

One of the must-dos in Martinique is to visit a rum distillery.

There are several dotted around the island and its a big part of the Martinique culture and landscape- local rum is served in every bar and exported, and the sugar cane fields, which provide the raw material, are a typical sight.

With a group of friends, we decided on visiting Neisson, as we were up in the northwest of the island.

Here are their sugar cane fields.

After harvest, stage two is milling, to extract the cane juice.

The bagasse (left over cane) gets sent outside, where it is taken off to be dried, then burnt for heating the still, with the remaining ash being used as fertiliser.

The juice goes into large fermentation tanks.

Then after a few days of fermentation, the juice is heated and the alcohol is distilled off in a copper chimney, forming a 70% alcohol liquid.

Ageing and maturation takes place in stainless steel and then wooden casks.

The 70% rum needs to be watered down with mineral water to between 50-55%, for consumption.

After filtering, bottling takes place.

Bottling line.

Adding the lacquer by hand on to premium bottles of rum.

In the shop, plenty of bottles. This is the commercial line.

More premium.

High quality, limited edition rums, on hand painted bottles.

Happy friends at the tasting.

And their classy sandals.

Beautiful paintings, showing scenes of the the Martinique sugar cane and rum landscape.

And then the rum distillery visit was followed by friends drinking rum in the evening (a compulsory affair in Martinique).

Here's Oriel (a 26 year-old transatlantic sailor, who had just arrived in the Caribbean from South Africa, for a season of skippering yacht charters) making rum punches (rum, plus a teaspoon of local sugar and a squeeze of lime) so typical of Martinique.

And Yann, the mad Frenchman, getting coconut water and then the flesh to put in a blender, making the other classic rum punch of Martinique, with coconut milk and nutmeg.