If the Domaine de l'Acajou distillery has achieved glory, it is thanks to a man who has bequeathed us his name and his prestige. Nothing predisposed Homère, Charles, Marie and Hidulphe Clément to a life dedicated to rum. Clément is the name of a family that, above all, has given Martinique rum its letters of nobility.
At the end of the 19th century, there were more than 300 distilleries and sugar factories in Martinique. Very few of them have survived to the present day.
The distillery of the "Domaine de l'Acajou" has the honour of doing so. Homère Clément, the son of a tailor, born in La Trinité in 1852, studied medicine in Paris after his primary schooling in Saint-Pierre. On his return to Martinique, he settled in François to practise his profession, but his natural philanthropy soon led him to enter the political arena. He became a municipal councillor, then mayor of François in 1885 and then general councillor in 1887.
He was one of the first Martiniquans to receive the Legion of Honour in 1897. In 1880, when there were repeated crises due to the overproduction of sugar, the Habitation Acajou went into crisis. Homère Clément bought it in 1887. He devoted himself entirely to this new activity, at the same time as that of the "good doctor" and his political mandate. The only deputy for Martinique after the volcanic catastrophe of Saint-Pierre, he took a very active part in organising aid and restoring the island's economic life. In the meantime, tired of political life, he gradually withdrew from public life. He devoted all his time to the Clément distillery, taking great care to produce a quality agricultural rum. He died in 1923, while his "factory", to use the term he used to indicate a sugar factory or distillery in the French West Indies, continued splendidly to the present day.
His son Charles, assisted by his own sons Georges-Louis and Jean-José, took over the succession. It was under his authority that the François distillery developed and that Clément Rum reached its peak of prosperity. Charles Clément was an exceptional man. He was one of the great figures of his generation. But times were hard for his sons, who saw the island's distilleries close one after the other, but "l'Habitation" remained in the family until 1986, when it was acquired by Bernard Hayot.
Thus, in addition to all the whole lives dedicated to the love of their Martinican land and the passion for high quality agricultural rum, they have left us the name of a family who, above all, had given Martinique rum its letters of nobility.
Clément Rhum Canne Bleue
Canne Bleue is the only rum in the world made from a single variety of cane: the "Blue" cane (so called because of its purplish-grey to blue appearance). Selected several years ago for its richness in sugars and the excellent performance of its juice during fermentation, it has a pronounced floral bouquet with intense citrus notes and an exceptional finish. Clément bottles a limited quantity each year, always at the end of the year. It is an event for rum amateurs.
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