For the European Heritage Days 2025, Martinique has put the spotlight on a singular place: Habitation Beauséjour located in Grand-Rivière. With its artisanal distillery and exceptional botanical garden, this family estate illustrates the island’s rich heritage, at the crossroads of history, agriculture and cultural transmission.
An estate steeped in history
The Habitation Beauséjour has its roots in the XIXᵉ century. As current owner Jean-Louis de Lucy reminds us :
“First and foremost, it’s a very old property, dating back to the early 19th century in its current state.”
After a long hiatus, the distillery came back to life in 2020. “We restarted the distillery in 2020 with a still distillation system”, he explained. This restart symbolized the desire to preserve an artisanal tradition faithful to the spirit of the old Creole houses.
The rebirth of a traditional distillery
The Habitation Beauséjour has opted for a production closely linked to the terroir. “We have… sugar cane on the estate, less than 500 meters away. These plots are harvested entirely by hand”, explains cellar master Marin Bressac. a new addition to the team.
Three varieties of cane are grown: vanilla cane, which is finer and sweeter, and the traditional red and blue cane. “In the different plots, we have three varieties… vanilla cane… red cane and blue cane”, explained Marin Bressac. Every day, a ton of cane is crushed, yielding around 800 liters of juice.
The choice of alembic distillation is a strong marker. “Our particularity… is still distillation”, emphasized Marin Bressac, where the majority of Caribbean rums are column distilled. This method gives rise to a rum produced in just 20,000 bottles a year.
Varied, carefully-crafted cuvées
At the Habitation Beauséjour, the range reflects a quest for authenticity. White rums are aged in stainless steel tanks, while aged rums benefit from a variety of barrels. “In barrels, we have new barrels and older barrels… used for red wine, white wine, cognac, armagnac”, explained Marin Bressac.
The ages spoke for themselves: “Our VO is at least 3 to 4 years old… the VSOP around 4 to 6 years old”, he added. The combined use of young casks, bringing roundness and woodiness, and second-fill casks from other wines and spirits, offers a wide range of aromas from ripe fruit to sweet spices.
An exceptional botanical garden
The other richness of Habitation Beauséjour lies in its vast garden. “…a vast garden of some two and a half hectares, inhabited by more than 400 varieties of plants and flowers, making it the most varied garden in America,” emphasized Jean-Louis de Lucy.
This biodiversity, rare in the Caribbean, forms a heritage setting where nature converses with Creole history. Visitors were able to take advantage of this exceptional opening during the European Heritage Days.
A place to visit and share
The Habitation Beauséjour welcomed a large audience for this 2025 edition. As Jean-Louis de Lucy explains, “we open the gardens to the public twice a year: at the beginning of June for the Journées au Jardin and in September for the Journées du Patrimoine”. Throughout the year, the distillery remains accessible, but the large gardens are only opened at these two special times. In Grand-Rivière, this event attracted both local and foreign visitors. “We sell almost all of our products on the local market… we don’t need to export,” he added, underlining the estate’s traditional, Martinican roots.
The European Heritage Days highlighted a unique place where history, nature and craftsmanship meet. Habitation Beauséjour is a living transmission of Martinique’s rum and botanical heritage. With its exceptional rum and rich plant life, this estate offers visitors a rare experience, confirming the essential place of Creole dwellings in the Caribbean cultural landscape.
