The Marsolle rums, a Guadeloupe comeback

6 August 2023 | Interviews & Meetings
The Marsolle rums, a Guadeloupe comeback

Interview with Sébastien and Anna Marsolle, Rhums Marsolle

Hello, thank you for granting us an interview. It was not without courage that your family, a rum producer for decades, rebuilt from almost nothing at the end of the 2010s, after major difficulties in the field.

You launched a range of punches and presented several rums at Rhumfest 2023. Before talking about it, what is your assessment of your first years of rebirth in the world of rum?

Sébastien: Hello Matthieu, thank you for giving us the opportunity to talk about the relaunch that we have initiated since the end of 2018 for our rums & punches made on the Domaine de Séverin. As you said, we have experienced great difficulties in recent years on the Estate, between a failed transmission of our distillery, followed by a pandemic which will have resulted in the closure of the Estate to visitors.

It should be remembered that the MARSOLLE family is the oldest Guadeloupe family active in rum, with an adventure that began in 1893 in the town of Bouillante with Habitation La Lise. And fun fact, there are currently two branches in operation, the MARSOLLE de Sainte-Rose at Domaine de Séverin and the MARSOLLE de Petit-Bourg at Montebello!

So, you will understand that when we saw the ugly turn taken by the sale of the distillery with the incredible mess that we observe today, it seemed inconceivable to us to let die this passion and this know-how which had been passed down from generation to generation… At the beginning, if we wanted to sell it was first of all to ensure the sustainability of the distillery.

So we started again with what was the simplest at first, namely implementing our family punch recipes. Punches that are produced and bottled by hand, by us, on the estate under the "MARSOLLE" brand. In 2020, we selected several new and red barrels and put some rum back into aging.

And this year, as you said, another step in our relaunch was taken with the presentation of our new range of BAR & COCKTAILS rums during RhumFest 2023, which received a warm welcome from professionals & consumers. We are now working on our first old rums from our cellars and also on the reopening of the Domaine de Séverin to visits, which is a big deal. There is quite a bit of work ahead.

Assessing results today still seems a little early to me, because we are still "under-performing", the fact of operating without our Domain, the sale on site, having started "just" with our punches, we don't did not choose the easy way!

With the launch of our various ESB rums, old rums, we will gradually ramp up.

Sébastien Marsolle presenting his rums at Paris
Sébastien Marsolle presenting his rums at Paris
Habitation of Domaine Séverin
Habitation du Domaine Séverin

You now offer several rums, young, with special aging. How would you define the spirit of this range and how many references does it contain? Can you detail them for us?

Anna: Indeed, even if our punches have been quite successful since their launch and some have won several medals, we were keen to work on a range of rums to be able to express our ideas and bring Marsolle rum back to life. We have therefore thought about this range which we have baptized BAR & COCKTAILS. Presented this year at RHUM FEST PARIS, it marks 130 years of Marsolle family know-how.

All these new rums, from our cellar at Domaine de Séverin, represent the spirit of this marvelous profession that is rum making.

The idea was to use the different barrels we have, with different characteristics (wood species, volume, toasting) as an artistic palette allowing us to create almost infinite mixtures and new flavors, according to our desires. As the painter uses his palette of colors, shades, shapes to create his works.

These flavors and these sometimes surprising notes mix and give birth to a particular universe, the ART&RHUM’ATIQUE universe.

We invite you into this universe so you may also pursue this creative spirit and make your own unique cocktail mixes.

Our new BAR & COCKTAILS range contains 6 references:

• N°1 SILVER COCKTAIL MASTER 43% white rum

• N°2 GOLD COCKTAIL MASTER 43%, ESB rum between 12 and 24 months

• N°3 ACACIA FINISH 45%, ESB rum 18 months

• N°4 ACACIA 41%, ESB rum 12 months

• N°5 MERISIER FINISH 45%, ESB rum 18 months

• N°6 MERISIER 46%, ESB rum 12 months

Why did you select these specific woods?

Sébastien: When we wanted to put our aging cellar back into operation, we immediately wanted to put a few unusual barrels in it. At the time, my father José had brought in barrels of Cognac, red Bordeaux and Sherry, which gave super interesting finishes! And at that time, he was the first to offer this in Guadeloupe.

So, once again, it's in a way a bias, a desire to break the codes and express ourselves without ever forgetting traditions and our history. We are a small rhumerie, which gives us flexibility and an ability to test things that larger units cannot necessarily afford.

The cellar of Domaine Séverin
The cellar of Domaine Séverin

So why these essences in particular? I had already seen uses in the world of rum: Acacia in Martinique and Cherry wood in Mauritius. I found it interesting and wanted to see what could be done. Moreover, we have a third essence in the process of aging, which we hope to present at the next Rhum Fest.

How did you get to know these different essences, in particular to know the aging time of your rums?

Sébastien: First of all, I asked an oenologist to find out the characteristics of these "exotic" essences and how I should expect to see the rum react.

Then, the most difficult and unpleasant part… (irony) Tastings and more tastings over time to monitor the evolution until one considers that the rums are ready.

But, our barrel maker did an exceptional job, the barrels are superb and the rums reacted very well. It was a pleasure to work.

Which rum should we start with to begin the range of your rums?

Sébastien: It all starts with a good white rum coming out of the column, carefully selected, of course!

It is this same rum that we use for aging and for the preparation of the N°1 of our range: the SILVER COCKTAIL MASTER 43%. So, it would rather be that one as the starting point.

Anna: It is true that there is a certain logic of tasting. As Sébastien said, it all starts with our white rum, the DNA of this range. It expresses fresh vegetal notes of sugarcane, tender and without aggressiveness. In the mouth it develops sweet aromas blending with spicy notes of the gray pepper type. This same white rum that we put in new French oak barrels, having 3 different toasts in which it stays between 12 and 24 months, gives us our N°2 GOLD COCKTAIL MASTER 43%. A young round rum with gourmet notes of vanilla, honey, supported by a nice woody contribution, with an arrival of tonic peppery notes at the end. Then, we choose our universe, either the floral and woody Acacia, or the fruity and gourmet Cherry.

To obtain N°3 ACACIA FINISH 45%, our 12-month ESB GOLD rum from the blend of 3 different new French oak barrels, was put in new Acacia barrels for 6 additional months to finish its aging and obtain its floral notes. To go further in this expression of the essence of Acacia, we aged our white rum directly in new Acacia barrels for 12 months to obtain our N°4 ACACIA. A rum with a floral aromatic profile with sweet gourmet notes of Acacia honey.

For the Cherry wood universe, it is the same principle: the N°5 MERISIER FINISH 45% was born after a stay of 6 additional months of our ESB GOLD blend in Cherry barrels and also displays 18 months. Powerful and elegant, with notes of ripe fruit on the nose and woody and mineral notes on the palate. Our latest N°6 MERISIER 46% is obtained after a 12-month stay of our white rum in Cherry barrels to express its powerful fragrance of wild cherries and notes of macerated fruits.

In summary, the range is best savored in the order of the numbers. We advise in any case to start with N°1 and N°2 in order to know the markers of the range, before diving into the world of “exotic” woods.

The best thing about this story is that everyone can find their own rum, according to their preferences and desires of the moment. And, even if they are young rums generally oriented for cocktails, they can very well be enjoyed alone.

In any case, they are seducing by their originality and provoke curiosity.

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Interviewed by

Matthieu Lange
Matthieu Lange
Spirits Advisor