Braud & Quenesson, the new rhum from Martinique

9 June 2023 | Interviews & Meetings
Braud & Quenesson, the new rhum from Martinique

Interview with Charles Terrel, Commercial Director of the distillery Braud & Quennesson

Hello and thank you for granting us an interview. We hear the words “renewal” or “rebirth” concerning your rum. It is true that its origins date back to the 19th century. Can you summarize this long story for us? What is the origin of the name "Braud and Quennesson"?

We can neither speak of renewal nor of rebirth, but of a birth, because if there is a past of the cane and rum industry in the town of Le Marin in Martinique, and of cane plantations in Grand Fonds on this same town, it is above all the birth of a brand carrying a product that had never before been made on the Marin, namely agricole rhum AOC Martinique.

Indeed, Le Marin experienced a real industrial development around sugarcane with its Central Factory launched in 1866 by Joseph QUENNESSON who was the 1st director, and a few associates including Charles Jean Braud who became his son-in-law, then the second director. 

A central factory

 

This Central Factory, which opened three years later in 1869, was to be the economic lifeblood of the town of Le Marin for a century, employing directly or indirectly 1,200 people out of the 4,000 people in the town.

What audacity to have at the time by these metropolitan engineers and merchants, mainly, to launch such a project! We are after the abolition of slavery and since 1812 Napoleon passed a decree in favor of beet cultivation and sugar production in the North of France. And yet this tool will prosper and develop, modernize and reinvent itself. We find traces of a bronze medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1878 for an eau-de-vie made from Quennesson cane, for example, proof of their diversification strategy.

But… beet sugar and the wars got the better of the sugarcane industry in Martinique, so much so that the tool was liquidated in 1970. Taken over in 1974, nothing helped and the cane disappeared 10 years later, to come back up to date in 2018.

It is in homage to the founding men that the name of our AOC rhum was thought up.

For the rest, today we would not be comparable to the past. If the canes have gradually regained space on the exceptional terroir of Grand Fonds au Marin, which had the reputation of having the sweetest canes on the island to the point of giving one of the best sugar, rum was then a marginal under-production of the sugar factories, so these were so-called industrial molasses rums.

Never until the BRAUD & QUENNESSON brand saw the light of day had AOC rhums been produced; that is to say, pure cane juice, at the Marin.

For those who do not know the site, what do you find when you arrive at your Habitation Grand-Fonds where you are located?

The BRAUD & QUENNESSON rhum plant sets the scene with its alley of immense royal palm trees, a straight line, and hovers within a verdant geological cradle in the heart of which is discreetly implanted a very beautiful dwelling with its outbuildings, which was erected there in the 1650s.

In these surrounding plots there are sugarcane, a herd of zebus, centuries-old trees, tropical flora, and a rhum factory entirely relocated to the Habitation Grand Fonds estate in Marin, not far from the ruins of the “sucrote”*.

The house which welcomes visitors wishing to taste BRAUD & QUENNESSON rhums bears witness to the industrial past with photos of the factory when it was a smoking sugar factory. The visit continues with the cellars, the dwelling which overlooks two entirely refurbished gardens, equipped with a water spot, old and majestic trees, to end at the rum shop.

*sucrote: small sugar factory like Martinique had in the heart of almost every home. More than 530 sucrotes dotted the island before the area of ​​the large central factories.

Do you own your own cane fields? What varieties do you use?

Yes, the land that is part of the heritage of the Marin factory allows us to have our own cane fields, and our other agricultural activity allowed us to have part of the needs for this new activity.

We use three canes that particularly appreciate wet soil: The reed cane (B59-92), the red cane (R579) and the blue cane (B69-566)

What type of device is your rhum distilled in?

We are distilled in a continuous multi-stage column, in accordance with the criteria of the AOC Martinique.

Have you started aging rhums yet?

Yes, we started our aging in July 2022, on the juices of our first harvest.

Today two Braud and Quennesson rhums are present in France and a third should arrive soon. What are the taste characteristics of Braud and Quennesson 50, 55 and 59° rums?

Our rums are both complex and accessible, built on generosity, balance, roundness and respect for the intentions of nature and the essence of our canes mixed with the markers of our terroir.

This is why we offer smooth, rich rhums, with a good length in the mouth, which offer aromas of cane, spices, fruit and citrus, even going towards pastry notes, which is rather rare on white rhums.

When can we expect to see Braud and Quennesson 59% rum in France?

End of May beginning of June 2023!

braud & quennesson 59%

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Interview by

Matthieu Lange
Matthieu Lange
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