J.M Distillery (Industrial heritage)

J.M, a story of men, homes and machinery.

A bit of history:
In 1790, Antoine Leroux-Préville acquired the 164-hectare estate and gave it the name Fonds-Préville.

There are few records of this property, the main house having been destroyed by fire in 1934. The house had a sugar mill with a water wheel, probably built in the 18th century. From the river Roche, a canal provided the water supply.

In 1845, the daughters of Antoine Leroux-Préville sold the property to Jean-Marie Martin, a merchant in Saint-Pierre and husband of Marie Ferment, daughter of a major planter on the island. He gave an essential boost to the sugar factory by transforming it into a distillery. To do this, he followed the techniques left by Father Labat, an 18th century missionary and engineer, parish priest in the commune of Macouba, and created the brand name J.M with his initials in order to market his rum. Little by little, the distillery developed and the oak barrels became increasingly successful. Situated at the foot of Mount Pelée, it was spared the eruption of 8 May 1902. In 1914, Gustave Crassous de Médeuil - already owner of the Bellevue house - acquired Fonds-Préville from his brother Ernest. The two estates were combined to form a single estate of 400 hectares. The encounter between the men and this unique nature created an extraordinary terroir. They transformed isolation into independence, into perfect autonomy, integrating all the trades, and used all the assets of the place to create a small model distillery, a jewel of intelligence and harmony with nature. Major improvements were made, which contributed to giving J.M. rum a worldwide reputation.

In 2002, J.M. rum joined GBH and in 2013 a complete renovation of the site was carried out to modernise the production tool and to move towards an eco-responsible approach and create a new experience for visitors.

And if you want to know more, go to : La route des Rhums ! WE VISITED FOR YOU !

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