Mauritius

A brief history of Mauritian rum

Rum production inMauritius dates back to the 19th century... Read more

A brief history of Mauritian rum

Rum production inMauritius dates back to the 19th century. At the time, some forty distilleries were in operation... Read more

A brief history of Mauritian rum

Rum production inMauritius dates back to the 19th century. Back then, there were some forty distilleries in operation. Today there are fewer than ten.

Sugar cane was first introduced by the Dutch, who cultivated it for the production of arak. It was during the French and English occupations that production changed direction and sugarcane was exploited to the full.

In the early 2000s, Mauritian law, which dated back to British colonial times, changed. It is now possible to distill below the former legal alcohol levels that prevented the production of aromatic rum.

Since then, the historic distilleries have begun to produce quality rums for export (notably Grays with its New Grove brand, Medine with Penny Blue, and Saint Aubin). At the same time, new distilleries have sprung up, generally of a more modest size: Chamarel, Oxenham, Labourdonnais...

Since 2010, rum export revenues from Mauritius have more than doubled, making it a key sector for the Mauritian economy.

There are 3 types of rum in Mauritius: traditional rum (from historic distilleries), rhum agricole (from new distilleries) and rhum arrangés or rhum épicés.

Our classification of rum brands in Mauritius

These include brands associated with specific distilleries: Chamarel, Labourdonnais, Saint Aubin, New Grove (Grays distillery), Penny Blue and Pink Pigeon (Medine distillery), Bougainville and Lazy Dodo (Oxenham distillery).

Alongside these, there are also brands that do not specify the distillery of origin of their rum: Arcane, Emperor, Beach House, Gold of Mauritius, Mauritius Club, Rom Club.

Finally, some rums unknown in Europe are destined for the local market: NPK Rhum and Starr African Rhum , for example. These rums are designed for cocktails, and are fairly low in aroma, as they are distilled at a very high alcohol content at the end of the column still. You're sure to come across them in the local bars. Read less

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