Opportune 1791, the legacy continues

24 June 2024 | Interviews & Meetings
Opportune 1791, the legacy continues

Hello Mr. Madkaud, thank you for granting us an interview. You created the brand Opportune 1791®. It's quite a unique name in the rum world. What does it refer to?

The brand is French or at least Martiniquais. Based on an authentic history, I created this rum brand in homage to a woman named Opportune. Opportune Bésub was born in the commune of Lorrain in Martinique in 1791. She was the child of two slaves, Louis and Irène, originally from Africa. Throughout her life, she worked in the fields of the same estate in Lorrain and raised her 7 children there. All her descendants had at some point in their lives worked in the sugarcane and rum industry. I am a direct descendant of Opportune and we are separated by 5 generations.

Philippe MADKAUD
Philippe MADKAUD
You didn't originally come from a rum background, but your family did. Why did you choose to get closer to this family tradition?

So, I am a graduate engineer with a 25-year career in the field of electricity and renewable energies. During the missions I carried out in the Caribbean and some Latin American countries, I realized that these regions have experienced almost the same histories around the sugar industry and then rum, linked to the use of enslaved labor, whether they were under Spanish, French, English, Dutch, or Portuguese domination.

I recently decided to turn a page in my professional life to dedicate myself to this rum activity. It is a passion project that has come to fruition. In fact, I was somewhat born into it, as on my father's side we are descendants of 2 families of rum makers in Martinique. I remember at the age of 6/7 accompanying my father to one of the family distilleries to fill "demijohns" straight from the distillation column. I still recall these organoleptic experiences which help me today to select the rum profiles I wish to share through the brand Opportune 1791®.

What is the philosophy of the Opportune 1791® rum brand?

In terms of rum, we offer a range of tasting rums from different origins and also produce rum blends. This range shows a wide diversity of rums with great organoleptic quality. All our rums are pure, without any added sugar, caramel, or coloring.

You have some AOC Martinique aged rum in your range. Does this mean that you have bottled these vintages on site to comply with AOC regulations? Are all your rums bottled in Martinique?

Due to our original connection, we offer a range of AOC aged rums from Martinique. These vintages are therefore produced, aged, and bottled in Martinique in full compliance with the AOC. For the most part, for the rest of our range of different origins, we select and import our rums in bulk from our producers. And in Cognac, where we perform the final production stages, alcohol reduction, filtration if necessary, blending, and bottling.

Can you give us an overview of your product range?

We offer 2 distinct ranges; First, the AOC Martinique range with white agricultural rum at 50%, the amber at 45%, the VSOP at 43% (awarded "RUM OF THE YEAR" at the CWSA 2023 competition in Hong Kong), and the XO at 43%. The 5 other references are distilled and aged in their country of production with a true age statement, namely: the old Panama rum 3 years at 43%, the old Guatemala 3 years at 40%, the white Cachaça from Brazil at 45%, the Chabine Dorée cuvée - a blend of a white rum "pure juice" from the French West Indies and an old 3 years from Barbados molasses-based rum, and finally the blend of 3 Central American rums (Panama, Guatemala, and Nicaragua) aged 3 to 5 years at 43%.

What should we start with to understand your brand?

In support of storytelling, a true story, we highlight the historical aspects of the sugar and rum economy in our regions. You will understand the delicate and divisive nature of this period of enslaved labor. But we humbly and informatively attempt to tell historical episodes of this era on each of our bottle labels, covering experiences in the Caribbean islands, the Indian Ocean, and Latin American countries.

In terms of tasting, we offer "pure juice" rums, molasses rums, and some daring blends. During masterclasses or exhibitions, we first have participants taste and compare the "pure juice" white rums, then our aged AOC rums to understand the evolution of a rum profile during the maturation process, followed by tasting the aged molasses-based rums, and finally our blends.

All our rums were awarded in 2022/23, with 10 medals received at the German Rum Awards in Berlin and the CWSA in Hong Kong.

Looking ahead, our range will expand with tasting sets and limited edition rums aged 12 to 15 years that will excite our taste buds.

In order to continue reading, I suggest that you...

Discover all the rums Opportune 1791

Interview conducted by

Matthieu Lange
Spirits Advisor