Creating a micro-distillery in Martinique (RUM)

[Arhum972]

Hello,

I have a plan to start a very small distillery in Martinique to create a brand of rum (producing 1000-2000 bottles -50 cl- per year). It will be an artisanal production, as you know guys, we have plenty of famous rum brands in the island so the idea is to make a very small quantity and make some tests of barrel aging with different style of “finish” (Sauternes, Red Wine, Sweet wine...).
I’ve worked before in some wineries so I have a few skills about fermentation and barrel aging but I have only a few knowledges about distillation. I’m doing right now a short diploma of distillation (from molasses) and if my plan will succeed, a friend of mine is a wine-maker and he will be available for a couple of weeks to start with me.

Therefore, i really need some help about equipment.
I need before starting to know how much all the equipment will cost and I still don’t know what kind of alambic / still I will use. I would like to make rum using PURE SUGAR CANE. I was thinking about the capacity of the alambic (from 100 L to 300 L) as the quantity of wines will be small. Normally, here in Martinique, we do at the end of distillation a white rum about 65-70% ABV and then after a few weeks we start to “reduce” it with pure water till 55-50% ABV.
I think that I will need :
- a small tank for the fermentation (around 1000 L) (a plastic one will be cheaper than a stainless steel one)
- a small pump (plus hoses, ...)
- an ALAMBIC
- some tanks to receive the rum
- barrels, bottles, labels...

I insist that it would be an artisanal production. I’m struggling to find an alambic that will fit to my project. I would like a copper still at less than 10.000 €. I’ve started to ask for some quotes and I’ve found the following one:

The guy who sells it tell me that the final wine degree will be between 40-50 % ABV but by adding two floors of column or doing a double distillation we can reach 60-70 % at the end.

I would like to have some advices about the kind of alambic I will need (size, ...) and some advices of fermentation, distillation, aging would be great too. So feel free guys! I would be happy to give you some updates about the creation of this brand: it’s a big mess with all the paperwork here when you deal with alcohol...

Thank you in advance for your time and your answers...
Cheers.
Julien

[Odin]

Depends on flavor profile you are looking for. For heavy rum, you basically need a potstill. Using a fruit brandy / bubble cap design will give you a lighter, more front of mouth oriented rum.

Odin.

[NZChris]

That still is mostly stainless steel with a few copper plates and silicone seals, plus plated stills are not ideal for making rhum agricole. You'd be better off getting local tradesmen to build you a copper pot still.

Don't spend any money until you know a lot more about distilling and fermenting than you do now.

[WeegieDistiller]

Most Martinique rhums are made on column stills. I would check with the regulations on Martinique regarding rum production as they have tight rules similar to Whisky with the AOC I think it is called.

[Single Malt Yinzer]

For equipment check out:
http://www.stilldragon.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
http://distillery-equipment.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

For commercial beverage alcohol production http://adiforums.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow has experienced commercial distillers.

Martinique rum rules: https://cocktailwonk.com/2017/06/the-un ... 4-aoc.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Fraser]

Do yourself a favor and splurge for the larger boiler. That's almost always the first thing people regret (myself included) not going larger on.

[Arhum972]

That still is mostly stainless steel with a few copper plates and silicone seals, plus plated stills are not ideal for making rhum agricole. You'd be better off getting local tradesmen to build you a copper pot still.

Don't spend any money until you know a lot more about distilling and fermenting than you do now.

Hello,
Thanks a lot for your answer. I understand that I really have to learn more about distillation before starting to operate.
That’s what I’m doing those months. But I need to know more or less how much I’ll spend on equipments before starting. That’s why I already search the prices of equipments I will need.
Regarding the fact to find some local tradesmen to build a pot still, here, it’s a small island and all the distillation equipment comes from abroad (mostly from France).
But anyway, thank you for your help...
Cheers,
Julien

[Arhum972]

Hello guys and thank you for all your answers...
Regarding the “AOC” régulation here in Martinique, yes indeed, there are plenty of rules to follow if you want to pretend to use the “AOC” denomination in your label (using a colomn still is one of them).
But, I need my case, I won’t produce Rum under this denomination. As I said, I would like to produce a small amount of rum -1000 to 2000 bottles of 50cl per year- so I’m free to use another kind of still. Pot Still? Other?
I’ve planned to spend less than 15000 € on it (just for the still).
But I’m still struggling to know which one will do the best quality rums from pure cane juice.
Cheers!
Julien

[nerdybrewer]

You (IMHO) need a pot still.
You need to learn the safety lessons about materials to avoid in order to not add poisonous toxins to your rum.
There is a lot of that here, if you will take the time to read it.
I have no direct experience with the sort of scale you are planning so I cannot give you much more advice.
Is sugar cane still plentiful and cheap where you are?

[WeegieDistiller]

A good way to start is to look at the copper alembic pot stills.
They can be bought for a few hundred bucks to a few thousand depending on the size you require.
I would have a look at Haitian rum called clairin as their processes are old school, using home made pot stills and make some fine rum!

[NZChris]

It's not difficult to fabricate a copper pot still. Any skilled plumber should be able to do it. If you have nice juice that will make a nice full flavored pot stilled spirit and have a market for it, that would be the cheapest setup.

How do you intend heating the still? Electric, gas, wood, bagasse? If the fuel is expensive, adding a preheater saves energy costs and heatup time, making stripping the wash an almost continuous operation if you want. http://www.pediacognac.com/en/la-distil ... arentaise/

If the cane variety doesn't make nice rhum, then you might need a reflux to turn it into something saleable. Maybe that's why many use columns in Martinique.

As for boiler and fermenter sizes, you need to work out how many ferments and distillations you are able to make during the crushing season so that you don't go undersized.

[casamayor]

Hello Rhum 972
The best way to have some inputs for make a good rum agricole is to visit the small distillery A1710 located at François Martinique, they make the rum with an alembic charentais modified, they use a small plated column to do the job in a single run. In my opinion the key of the succes is not only the shape of the alembic but the way you drive the fermentation of the fresh cane juice.
Cordialement

[NZChris]

Hello Rhum 972
The best way to have some inputs for make a good rum agricole is to visit the small distillery A1710 located at François Martinique, they make the rum with an alembic charentais modified, they use a small plated column to do the job in a single run. In my opinion the key of the succes is not only the shape of the alembic but the way you drive the fermentation of the fresh cane juice.
Cordialement

Don't be put off by all the curves in their still, they don't need to be that fancy unless it's to impress visitors.

[Saltbush Bill]

Spend 12 months with a small keg boiler based still learning how to make Rum, finding out if indeed you really want to do this....finding out if you can make something that you and your friends really like...and that future customers might want to buy.
In that time you will learn much and probably will change your mind several times about what sort of still you want to use.
A business like that is not something you want to be jumping into headfirst without knowing a fair bit about distilling to begin with.

[casamayor]

I agree with both of you, on my side i have a good pratice in making agricole rum and molasse rum. I built a small 8 gallon pot still with 2 plates, i got a nice product with a heart at 85%Volume...

[casamayor]

This is an pot still for Arum972