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Artisanal Spirits Advocate, US Importer, NY Wholesaler, Brand Creator, PM Spirits

Zooming in on the Distillerie Poisson, started in 1860, the smallest of 5 located on the island of Marie Galante: Distillerie Poisson (Poisson = "fish" in French) makes the brand Pere Labat. The distillery was purchased in 2007 by J.C. Brot, who was born and raised in a family with a long history in Guadeloupe and Marie Galante proper. Culturally, on these islands, making rum is seen as a high achievement and JC always dreamed of being a rhum maker. The distillery employs 17 people and manages about 250 hectares of land, some of which is cultivated with cane that feeds the distillery, while much of the cane is bought from small planters to maintain good relationships with the local Planteurs. Being a French territory, working hours are highly regulated (35hr/week, 5 weeks off per year). The teams is working from 7am to 1pm Mondays to Fridays and 7am to noon on Saturdays. Distillation occurs from Feb to July. The facility is not large or glamorous; it's rusty, it's beat-up, it experiences a lot of daily operational challenges which causes frequent repairs and maintenance issues. Despite these conditions, the distillery continues to produce super high-quality booze, experimenting with aging in various types of casks, including ground cru white Burgundy and Mouton etc... The fermentation process lasts 72 hours and is inoculated. The 2 "Creoles" columns, one from 1955 the other from 1977 are all copper and consist of 15 plates - 11 stripping plates and four concentrating plates. White rhum flows out of the stills at 70.7% alcohol by volume and eventually entering casks at around 63%. The distillery makes about 1,500 liters of booze per day and sells about 40K cases a year (3/4 to the French market, the rest sold internationally). The distillery's operation is deeply intertwined with the local community; some planteurs have scheduled appointments to deliver their cane, other randomly show up. The unpredictable supply of sugar cane from the small local planteurs reflects the totally artisanal nature of its production. The island's hot (temp typically varies between 74 and 95 F) and humid conditions contribute to about 7+% annual evaporation in casks, more than twice the evaporation typical in the Cognac or Armagnac regions of mainland France.

Robin R.

Author of "The Complete Whiskey Course: A Comprehensive Tasting School in Ten Classes"

7mo

A magical place and a great rum, good to see it in the US

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