Rhum Barbancourt

Le Rhum des Connaisseurs

Aujourd’hui la quatrième génération de la famille Gardère dirige la société et poursuit son engagement d’excellence et de tradition.

La Société du Rhum Barbancourt exporte ses produits dans plus de 20 pays et emploie 250 personnes. La Société du Rhum Barbancourt est l’une des plus anciennes entreprises haïtiennes et génère indirectement plus de 20 000 emplois a travers le pays.
Description

Les rhums plus jeunes sont traditionnellement utilisés dans des cocktails, tandis que les rhums vieux sont à déguster avec un cigare, tel un grand Cognac.

Sugar cane (saccharum officinarum) was introduced to the Americas by Christopher Columbus during his second voyage of discovery in 1493. Imported from the Canary Islands, it was first cultivated on Hispaniola island. Its history begins somewhere around 1640 when cane spirits made their first appearance on Barbados.

The first official mention of the word 'rum' appears on an Order from the Governor General of Jamaica dated July 8, 1661. Later, after the distillation process was improved by Father Jean Baptiste Labat, the Rum distilled on St Dominique began to gain a reputation in France where it compared well to the finest French Brandy. And so the French begin using the word 'rhum' to designate sugar cane spirits.

Today, rum has become the spirit of Haitian life, infused with Island warmth and a carrier of dreams, it is a fine, noble drink. From full bodied and aged flavors, to light refreshing white rums, it is a drink that is demanded
the world over.

In 1862, Dupré Barbancourt, a native of the Charente region in France, put the finishing touches to a recipe for rum that still bears his name today. Using a double distillation method usually reserved for the very finest cognacs, he discovered a rum of incomparable quality that has always received the highest international distinctions.

Dupré Barbancourt left no heir and when he died the company passed to his wife Nathalie Gardère who managed it with the help of her nephew, Paul Gardère. When she died, Paul then directed the company’s destiny until 1946. At this time Rhum Barbancourt’s distillery was still located on le Chemin des Dalles in Port au Prince and only produced a limited quantity of rum. The older aged rums being exclusively reserved for family and friends.

Paul then died in 1946 and his son Jean Gardère took up the baton, furthering the family tradition until 1990. An entrepreneur and a visionary, Jean Gardère was the instigator of Rhum Barbancourt’s modernization. In 1949, he relocated the distillery at the heart of the sugar cane fields of the Domaine Barbancourt.

And by 1952 the plant began to produce rum from the sugar cane grown on its own plantation: the Domaine Barbancourt. This allowed the company to grow from a small cottage industry to a proud international exporter, and by the middle of the 1960’s Rhum Barbancourt’s finest product, the 15 year old Reserve du Domaine was on public sale for the first time.

When Jean passed, Thierry Gardère took over and today, this fourth generation man of the Gardère family leads the company with his commitment to quality, fine natural ingredients, craftsmanship and the unique cognac-based production process that has ensured la Societe du Rhum Barbancourt has grown to become Haiti’s leading brand of rum. La Société du Rhum Barbancourt’s now sells its products in 20 countries and employs 250 people. Its wide reaching activities are responsible for the livelihood of 20,000 people. La Société du Rhum Barbancourt, is one the oldest of Haitian companies, and today they continue to produce the finest rum for connoisseurs in the purest tradition in line with every point of Dupré Barbancourt’s original recipe

The Rhum Barbancourt collection is refined and versatile.

Our product line consists of five distinct rums: Rhum Barbancourt White; Pango Rhum; Rhum Barbancourt Three Star, Aged 4 Years; Rhum Barbancourt Five Star, Aged 8 Years; and Rhum Barbancourt Estate Reserve, Aged 15 Years.

The younger rums are traditionally used in mixes and cocktails, while the older aged rums are excellent when sipped, with a cigar, just like a Cognac.

COLOR/NOSE
Perfectly clear and colorless. This young rum develops immediately an intense aromatic richness, with soft notes of banana, mango
and nougat.

PALATE
The palate entry is primarily sweet, it is very coating; by mid-palate there is an appearance of a dominant sharpness, a nice spicy force. It is then that the fruity aromas smelled by the nose are expressed, with great frankness and determination.

FINISH
The finish is strong, slightly astringent, showing with great finesse the intricacies of a rum that has been distilled remarkably.

CONCLUSION
A refined rum.

SERVING
With a light perfume and subtle spicing, it shows all its form in your favorite cocktails and mixes.

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The latest addition to the Rhum Barbancourt product range. Pango Rhum is made from pure sugar cane juice (not molasses like most rums) and aged in oak casks.

The aged dark rum is then hand blended with natural mango and pineapple.

The result, a refreshingly smooth rum bursting with flavor. It can be consumed on the rocks but it shows all its form in your favorite cocktails and mixes.

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AGED 4 YEARS

COLOR/NOSE
Pale gold. Medium intensity, but crystalline brightness. The nose is elegant and fresh with hints of vanilla and spices.

PALATE
The palate shows a medium body, a very smooth and rich rum.

FINISH
The finish reminds the aromatic freshness of the nose, and the characteristics of the palate with a bit of pepper.

CONCLUSION
Aged 4 years, the three star is a light - tasting delicate rum.

SERVING
Pleasant with a mixer, it lends itself to the best cocktails as well as in cooking recipes to the delight of connoisseurs and gourmets.

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RÉSERVE SPÉCIALE, AGED 8 YEARS

COLOR/NOSE
Pale gold, a bit more golden than the three star with green shades. A rich and harmonious nose of vanilla and pepper.

PALATE
The palate is powerful, smooth, and well- balanced.

FINISH
The finish is powerful and complex, with some notes of roasted, cooked fruits (prunes), and citrus fruits compote (orange marmalade)

CONCLUSION
Aged 8 years, the five star rum, or “Réserve Spéciale”, is well – balanced.

SERVING
It is excellent neat. Splash it on the rocks with a zest of lemon to bring out all its subtleties.

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ESTATE RESERVE - AGED 15 YEARS

COLOR/NOSE
The nose is perfumed and complex with candied citrus fruits and roasted, tannic flavors.

PALATE
The palate is powerful, with a great aromatic richness. Almost explosive with cooked pear, citrus fruits, cinnamon, and pepper.

FINISH
The finish is long, with a return of citrus fruits and spices.

CONCLUSION
Aged 15 years, the Estate Reserve has an unsurpassed finesse.

SERVING
A true sipping rum, It is excellent neat

PARTICULARITIES
Each year a limited quantity is released and made available to connoisseurs. It was originally reserved for the Barbancourt family and their friends. It was offered for public sale for the first time in the middle of the 1960's. Today, the Estate Reserve and its incomparable flavor has become a veritable institution in the world of connoisseurs.

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What makes Rhum Barbancourt so special? It is our dedication to the use of pure sugar cane juice, our unique double-distillation method and exacting the standards established by Dupre Barbancourt.

La Societe du Rhum Barbancourt prides itself on producing it’s rums from pure sugar cane juice, no molasses. The sugar cane is harvested from November to June and comes uniquely from la plaine du cul de sac. This region produces a unique sugar cane variety that gives the distinctive bouquet and aromas so particular to Rhum Barbancourt.

Today, over 600 hectares of land are exclusively dedicated to sugar cane cultivation for Rhum Barbancourt, counting the 20%, which are on Domaine Barbancourt’s own plantations.

The sugar cane juice is mixed with a special yeast formula prepared by Rhum Barbancourt’s laboratory and then placed into special vats for the fermentation stage. Maintained at the optimal temperature of 30 degrees Celsius, the yeast initiates the process of transforming the sugars into alcohol.

Approximately 72 hours are needed to obtain a cane wine with 7% of alcohol that will be sent for distillation. The fermentation process is longer than most other rums in order to have an alcohol that is richer in aroma and taste.

La Societe du Rhum Barbancourt uses a double distillation method known as the Charentaise method, from the region of France where Dupre Barbancourt finds his origins. The Charentaise method is usually reserved for the very finest of cognacs.

The first stage consists of separating the cane wine from the water through heating and evaporation in the distillery columns. At this stage, a white agricultural rum known in Haiti as “Clairin” is obtained, testing at 70% by volume.

The second distillation allows to retain only the finest spirits, following Dupre Barbancourt’s rigorous guidelines of selecting only alcohols that test at 90% and above by volume, in order to ensure the tradition of producing a premium quality rum.

After distilling, the rum is stocked in luxurious Limousin oak barrels, as are some of the very finest cognacs. The larger pores of Limousin Oak facilitate the exchange between the rum oxygen in the surrounding air. It is in these oak barrels that Rhum Barbancourt expresses it’s unique flavor and bouquet, a subtle blending of Haiti’s sun and soil.

During the long aging process the rum is regularly blended and tested in order to ensure the quality of our traditional processes.

La Societe du Rhum Barbancourt’s laboratories, use leading-edge technology in order to ensure the quality of the rum during the production process. Whether controlling the quality of the sugar cane, the level of alcohol, sugar, color, and taste, nothing is left to chance in maintaining the Barbancourt tradition. It is in these same laboratories that Barbancourt’s yeast is grown in keeping with a secret traditional recipe.

Whether white or dark, our rum is filtered prior to bottling, removing the small amount of sediment that results from the aging process, as well as improving the purity and color. Barbancourt then goes one step further by finishing with a cold filtration technique. This last technique is used for rum exported to non-tropical countries to avoid deposits that can be caused by sudden climate change. Rid of its impurities, all that’s left to do is to bottle it for the pleasure of connoisseurs.