DISTILLERIE HBS

This is the story of the rebirth of Habitation Beauséjour, a listed site since 1996, whose origins date back to 1671. The Habitation Chambert, consisting of a sugar mill and a cattle mill, was founded on the north side of the island. Over the years, the owners of this sugar mill changed names several times. It wasn't until 1900 that it was christened Beauséjour, under the impetus of its new owner, Amédée Alexis Augustin Knight. With him, the farm expanded by buying out the plots of land of the adjoining houses. He also converted the old sugar mill into a distillery and created the HBS brand. On his death in 1916, the estate was sold to the de Lucy de Fossarieu family, who continued to raise the quality of HBS rums to such an extent that they were awarded a gold medal at the 1931 International Colonial Exhibition in Paris. After the Second World War, banana cultivation began to supplant cane, and the distillery ceased operations in the late 1950s... until 2016, when Jean-Louis de Lucy and his son Arthur decided to relaunch the adventure of Martinique's oldest distillery. Renovation work took place in 2019, and in January 2020 the first HBS white rum was born! From the outset, the quality is top-notch: it's the result of a highly artisanal process (the canes are hand-cut, which limits oxidation, and harvested throughout the year according to maturity), and confirms the choice to distill in copper stills, which brings more roundness and smoothness. It exacerbates the aromas of HBS rum, whose canes also benefit from very rich volcanic soil, thanks to their proximity to Mount Pelée. All that remained was the choice of container. It was Arthur, a fervent Tintin fan, who came up with the idea of taking inspiration from the bottle in The Secret of the Unicorn. Since 2020, the distillery has set itself apart with its upmarket positioning: unlike most of its sister distilleries, which can only harvest cane from February to June, HBS harvests and distills all year round, resulting in the marketing of small, confidential cuvées (500 to 1,500 bottles per cuvée) several times a year in white and aged (with or without finishing in former cognac or whisky casks...). A visit to this traditional distillery, where you'll be greeted by Brice, our passionate cellar master, is well worth the detour!