Neisson

The history of Neisson rums

The Neisson distillery was founded in 1931 by two brothers from a family of merchants from Carbet who had acquired the Thieubert house. Located near Saint-Pierre, at the foot of Mont Pelée, this 20-hectare sugarcane plot enjoys particularly favourable conditions, both climatically and geologically. The rum quickly gained an excellent reputation on the island of Martinique.

Jean Neisson, the younger son, was studying chemistry in Paris and set up an import-export company to sell his rums in France. Soon, Neisson rum was as successful in France as it had been in the West Indies. At the same time (1952), the famous Zépol Karé bottle, recognisable among all others, was created and a new copper Savalle column was installed at the distillery. This new distillation apparatus, modified and personalised by Jean himself, marked a further leap in quality for Neisson rums.

Adrien, the youngest brother, died in 1971, and Jean died in 1986. The distillery was taken over by Jean's sister, assisted by the master distiller, but the management of the production tools and the marketing were difficult and the family business experienced great difficulties.

Claudine Vernant-Neisson, Jean's daughter, inherited the distillery in 1995 after the death of her aunt. This great biologist and doctor was not at all predestined for this profession, but she nevertheless undertook to fulfil her father's wish to bequeath the distillery to his grandson Grégory.

Grégory Vernant-Neisson also inherited this great house, as well as the passion and philosophy of his grandfather, whom he knew when he was very young, particularly with regard to respect for the terroir with agricultural practices that were already avant-garde for their time.

The takeover was difficult, with production equipment in poor condition and stocks of old rums left to rot. It was necessary to learn the trade but also to make very important investments to regain a satisfactory quality. Today, this objective has been largely surpassed, as Neisson rums are among the most famous and applauded agricultural rums in the world.

Neisson Rum

The Neisson distillery is one of the last two independent family distilleries in Martinique, along with La Favorite. It represents barely 2% of the island's production but holds an important place in the hearts of its inhabitants.

From the original 20 hectares of cane, the estate has gradually grown to 49 hectares today (of which 4 hectares are organic), making the distillery self-sufficient in raw material.

The first organic rum was born in 2016 after the start of the conversion of the land in 2013, a further step towards a true legitimisation of the notion of terroir.

Neisson produces exclusively agricultural rum (based on pure cane juice) and presses its juice using a mill dating from 1937. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats and can last up to 5 days, the maximum allowed by the AOC Martinique (120 hours), which is very long compared to most of its colleagues. Since 2011, an extensive research campaign has enabled him to work with his own yeast strains, in order to best reproduce the identity of his terroir.

The distillation is carried out by Grégory Vernant-Neisson himself, on the Savalle column installed and modified by his grandfather. The rum that comes out of the column has a strength of 73°, it is then placed in stainless steel tanks and blended with distillates from previous years in order to keep an aromatic coherence from one year to the next. The white rum is slowly aerated and reduced before being bottled.

For a long time, the old rums were matured in the "traditional" way in ex-Bourbon and Cognac casks of 180 to 650 litres. However, these casks are gradually being replaced by new casks specially made for Neisson, using French and American oak, as well as carefully selected grains and toast. The ultimate goal is to have barrels dedicated solely to rum.

The range of Neisson rums is vast, ranging from the classic 52.5% white rum and its organic version, to the 21 year old, a real technical feat, via the brut de colonne L'esprit de Neisson (which also exists in organic), the vieux, the XO, and incredible vintages. Read less