THE MORNING LIST
Discovering the principle of maceration, distillation and double distillation, rubbing shoulders with the angels’ share (the natural evaporation of eaux-de-vie) and understanding the secrets of ageing, it’s easy, and it doesn’t does not necessarily require a long journey. With two million visitors in 2021 in France, distilleries are opening their doors wide to spirit tourism. White or brown, fruit or cereal, all alcohols are in nature. Just choose.
In Cognac, everyone is looking for their blend
Cognac houses are welcoming. Their clientele is mainly foreign, and they understood very early on the interest of offering tourists from all over the world careful visits. Train journeys, sensory museums and visits to cellars where certain cognacs have been waiting for more than half a century, the entire region is well versed in spirit tourism.
So why Camus? Certainly, this independent and family house, created in 1863, produces beautiful cognacs, particularly aromatic. It also offers an elegant tour, which details the cognac grape varieties, the double distillation of the wine, the aging in small barrels, with a compulsory passage through the “paradise”, where the oldest eaux-de-vie are stored. And, at the end, various tastings.
But the most fascinating thing is the possibility of creating your own XO cognac blend. From four cognac eaux-de-vie (Borderies, Fins Bois, Petite and Grande Champagne), you decide your dosage directly from the barrels, fill your bottle and make your label. Here, the angel is you, and you take your part.
In Martinique, on the rum routes
To stay on this Caribbean island without going through one of its ten distilleries would be to forget a pillar of its heritage, as agricultural rum, made from cane juice, is constitutive of its history, its culture and its economy. .
If Martinicans can debate for a long time on their preference for one or the other, all are unanimous on Habitation Clément: it is essential. And what does it matter if it is no longer “smoking”, the distillation no longer takes place on site. It perfectly represents the culture of the cane of the XIXe and XXe centuries.
The old distillery is perfectly preserved with the tools of the time: steam engine, grinding mills, distillation columns. The cellars are still used to age the rum. As for the splendid mansion, furnished in the “Compagnie des Indes” style, it is now listed as a historical monument and is the highlight of the visit.
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