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Barbancourt is Haiti’s cane-juice rum house, at Damien since 1949
Rhum Barbancourt is made at Damien, on the plaine du Cul-de-Sac, from fresh cane juice. It is aged in French oak and sold at three ages: four, eight and fifteen years. The family of the founder’s wife, the Gardères, has run it since 1907.
Rhum Barbancourt at a glance, from Rumporter and Rhum Attitude (secondary sources) and Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 as retained
Founded
- Rhum Barbancourt
- 1862, by Dupré Barbancourt of the Charente
Location
- Rhum Barbancourt
- Domaine Barbancourt, Damien, plaine du Cul-de-Sac, Haiti, since 1949
Owner
- Rhum Barbancourt
- Delphine Gardère, who has led it since 2017
Raw material
- Rhum Barbancourt
- Fresh cane juice; about a fifth of the cane grown by the distillery
Stills
- Rhum Barbancourt
- Column stills, up to 94% ABV; the house calls it double distillation
Casks
- Rhum Barbancourt
- French oak from Limousin
Legal term
- Rhum Barbancourt
- Cane-juice rum; not rhum agricole in UK law
Signature bottlings
- Rhum Barbancourt
- 3 Star, 5 Star Réserve Spéciale, Réserve du Domaine
| Feature | Rhum Barbancourt |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1862, by Dupré Barbancourt of the Charente |
| Location | Domaine Barbancourt, Damien, plaine du Cul-de-Sac, Haiti, since 1949 |
| Owner | Delphine Gardère, who has led it since 2017 |
| Raw material | Fresh cane juice; about a fifth of the cane grown by the distillery |
| Stills | Column stills, up to 94% ABV; the house calls it double distillation |
| Casks | French oak from Limousin |
| Legal term | Cane-juice rum; not rhum agricole in UK law |
| Signature bottlings | 3 Star, 5 Star Réserve Spéciale, Réserve du Domaine |
Under the UK’s retained spirit drinks rules the word agricultural may qualify rum only with a geographical indication of the French overseas departments or Madeira, so Barbancourt is cane-juice rum, not rhum agricole in law.
Dupré Barbancourt brought cognac’s methods to Haiti in 1862
The founder came from the Charente
Rumporter says Dupré Barbancourt came from the Charente, the cognac region of France, and drew on the double distillation of cognac. Rumporter dates the business to its creation in 1862.
The Gardère family has run the house since 1907
Rhum Attitude, a French retailer, gives Dupré Barbancourt until his death in 1907, then his wife Nathalie Gardère with her nephew Paul Gardère managing the house, and Paul’s son Jean as head from 1946 to 1990; Rumporter has Paul dying in 1946. Rhum Attitude dates the new distillery on the plaine du Cul-de-Sac to 1949 and the estate’s first rum from pure cane juice to 1952.
By Rhum Attitude’s account, Jean’s son Thierry ran the house from 1990 and replaced the old still with a modern column. Rhum Attitude records the 2010 earthquake costing the distillery 30% of its stock and halting production for four months. Rumporter reports that Delphine Gardère, Thierry’s daughter, has led the company since his death in 2017.
Barbancourt distils fresh cane juice in columns
The cane is pressed fresh, not boiled for sugar
Barbancourt ferments fresh cane juice, not molasses. Rumporter reported in 2022 that the distillery grows about a fifth of its cane and buys the rest from planters nearby, mostly of a Haitian variety called Madame Mevs.
The house calls it double distillation
Rumporter says the founder drew on the double distillation inherited from cognac. The equipment today is column stills, reaching up to 94% ABV, according to Rumporter. Rhum Attitude, a French retailer, describes a three-column still, two columns of stainless steel and one of copper. Delphine Gardère told Rumporter that pot stills were once used too.
Barbancourt beside Martinique rhum agricole, from Rumporter, the AOC Rhum de la Martinique specification and Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 as retained
Raw material
- Barbancourt, Haiti
- Fresh cane juice
- AOC Martinique
- Fresh cane juice
Still
- Barbancourt, Haiti
- Column stills
- AOC Martinique
- Creole column
Strength off the still
- Barbancourt, Haiti
- Up to 94% ABV
- AOC Martinique
- 65% to 75% ABV
Age rules
- Barbancourt, Haiti
- Set by the house
- AOC Martinique
- Set by decree: VO three years, VSOP four, XO six
Agricultural on a UK label
- Barbancourt, Haiti
- No
- AOC Martinique
- Yes
| Feature | Barbancourt, Haiti | AOC Martinique |
|---|---|---|
| Raw material | Fresh cane juice | Fresh cane juice |
| Still | Column stills | Creole column |
| Strength off the still | Up to 94% ABV | 65% to 75% ABV |
| Age rules | Set by the house | Set by decree: VO three years, VSOP four, XO six |
| Agricultural on a UK label | No | Yes |
The rum moves from new oak to old
Rumporter reported that the rum ages in French oak from Limousin and moves through the casks in order, from new barrels to older ones, so a four-year-old 3 Star holds only four-year-old rum.
High-strength spirit leaves more of the work to the oak
Spirit taken to 90% ABV and above keeps less of the cane’s character than a Martinique Creole column at 65% to 75%, so the oak does more of the shaping. Barbancourt sits between the grassy agricoles of Martinique and the heavier molasses rums of the English-speaking islands.
Delphine Gardère told Rumporter that clairin, Haiti’s village spirit, is made in the provinces with no real regulatory framework, from columns and pot stills, and is mostly drunk white and unaged.
The stars count the years
The Barbancourt range, from Rumporter (a secondary source)
White
- Age
- Unaged
- Strength
- 55% ABV, as Haitian Proof
3 Star
- Age
- Four years
- Strength
- 43% ABV
5 Star Réserve Spéciale
- Age
- Eight years
- Strength
- 43% ABV
Réserve du Domaine (Estate Reserve)
- Age
- Fifteen years
- Strength
- 43% ABV
| Bottling | Age | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| White | Unaged | 55% ABV, as Haitian Proof |
| 3 Star | Four years | 43% ABV |
| 5 Star Réserve Spéciale | Eight years | 43% ABV |
| Réserve du Domaine (Estate Reserve) | Fifteen years | 43% ABV |
Rumporter reported that the aged rums are bottled at 43% ABV and the white as Haitian Proof at 55%.
Mix the white and the stars, and sip the Réserve du Domaine
The white rum suits a Daiquiri. The 3 Star and 5 Star suit drinks written for aged rum, such as the Rum Punch, and make a Haitian variation on the Queen’s Park Swizzle, which classically takes Demerara rum.
The Ti’ Punch calls for rhum agricole blanc from Martinique, which Barbancourt is not. Keep the Réserve du Domaine for a glass on its own.
The facts come from the trade press
The history, the cane, the stills and the casks are from Fabien Humbert, Barbancourt, the revival of Haitian rum, Rumporter, 3 October 2022, and the dates of the house from Rhum Attitude. The still configuration and the 1952 date are from Rhum Attitude, a French retailer.
The use of the term agricultural is from Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Annex II, as retained, and the Martinique rules from the AOC Rhum de la Martinique specification. Rum, rhum or ron sets out the French style.
Jerry Can Spirits is an independent company: we are not affiliated with Rhum Barbancourt, and we do not act for or on behalf of them. This page is our own account, drawn from the sources it lists.