Rum from Haiti

Haiti, or Hispaniola (the little Spain), is the name given by Christophe Columbus when he discovered the island in 1492. Taken from Spain by the French in the XVII° century, Haiti has known a trouble past. Development of the plantation lead to the establishment of slavery that was only abolished in 1793. The Haiti’s state declares its independence in 1804. Haiti produces agricultural rum, made from fresh sugar cane juice. Unlike the West Indies, the fermented must is stronger (7% volume) and the distillation is made from double heat. From the still, the rum is 90% pure alcohol (versus 70% for rums from Martinique or Guadeloupe). Emblematic from the island, the Barbancourt rum is made from cognac’s distillation methods: double distillation and aged in French oak barrel from Limousin. Other distilleries, or rather micro traditional distilleries, gave birth to exceptional and aromatic rums, somewhat surprising with pronounced noses.