In 1887, in the middle of the sugar crisis, Homère Clément, mayor of the municipality of Le François in Martinique, bought a bankrupt sugar farm and saved it from imminent ruin. He did not want to produce sugar, however, but to distil rum.
He began building a distillery back in 1917. When he died in 1923, he was succeeded by his son Charles Clément. Since then, the company’s famous Rhums Agricoles have been produced according to the rules inherited from Homère and Charles Clément. Today, Clément is one of the world’s leading producers of Rhum Agricole.
They are produced according to the strict rules of the Martinique AOC. Fermented and distilled sugar cane juice is turned into a white rhum agricole with an aromatic profile characterised by floral and fruity notes – typical of Martinique. The amber-coloured rums mature for 12 to 24 months, the “Vieux Rhum” for at least three years in new American and French oak and ex-bourbon barrels.