Only in Martinique would an old rum distillery, complete with a gift shop hawking several varieties of the strong stuff, be a must-see historical attraction. And it’s not just for Habitation Clément’s array of original machinery—though they do have that—but also for the plantation’s exquisitely preserved 18th-century Créole house and even a small building that served as the setting of a political summit. As with everything else on this island, you go for one thing (here, the rum) and come away with so much more.
Habitation Clément (French only) was acquired in the late 19th century by Homére Clément, but the sugar plantation and rum distillery didn’t see its glory days until after his death in 1923, when his sons took over. They oversaw the implementation of updated machinery and perfected the distillation process, creating a rum still renowned—and now sold in the U.S.—for its excellent flavor and use of pure Martinican sugarcane in lieu of molasses. The distillery was moved in the early 1990s, but the rum is still aged in massive oak barrels in on-site warehouses, and the plantation house has been painstakingly preserved and restored for viewing, complete with antique furnishings and authentic details.
What’s more, a tiny one-room building on the property hosted the 1991 Presidential Summit between George Bush, Sr., and François Mitterrand of France. This building has been filled with white benches—it resembles an old-fashioned schoolhouse—with a large screen at the front, showing looped news coverage of the summit. Around the walls are photos from the historic day. It’s worth taking a quick look, but unless you have a special interest in politics or presidents, you won’t miss anything by passing up a full viewing. Spend your time at Habitation Clément exploring the plantation house—you can see every room, upstairs and down, and admire the exquisite period architectural details—tasting the rums in the gift shop and ambling through the botanical gardens on the grounds, which are surprisingly serene for a place that once bustled with so much activity.
Alas, since Clément is no longer a working distillery, you can’t actually take tours of the factory and see the distillation in process (though you can bask in the oaky smell of aging rum in the storage warehouses). There are placards to guide you through the original machinery, describing the distillation process, but if you’re looking to see it in action, try the Rhum St. James distillery at Sainte-Marie, near Marigot.
Be sure to hire a driver so you may fully partake in the rum tastings—and don’t leave without a bottle of your own. They just don’t make it like this back home.