“And here is our still, tailor-made for us! Cédric and Nathalie Carpentier make organic artisanal rum in their workshop. We are not in the Caribbean, nor in Louisiana, but in Baillargues (Hérault), near Montpellier…
In the land of wine, these two agronomists have bet on opening, in their countryside, a distillery, to make their own beverages. “Rum is an alcohol that has never gone out of fashion,” rejoices Cédric Carpentier. Distilleries like ours, I believe, will soon experience a boom similar to what craft breweries have experienced in recent years. There are the big makers, who have standardized products, but if you want to venture into slightly different paths, we’re here! »
“We replaced the milking machine with a still! »
But the Carpentiers have not always been on the rum route. Two years ago, these two Héraultais, trained to work in the dairy industry, were at the head… of a goat farm. But, together, their business, however flourishing, was no longer manageable. Exhausted, prisoners of the infernal rhythm imposed on them by their livestock, they ended up giving up their aprons. “We had probably not sufficiently considered the scale that this activity represented, explains Cédric Carpentier. To give you an idea, the last year, we produced around 180,000 Pélardons, with a herd that went from 100 to 300 goats, at the time of birth… It was a real disappointment. »
But the farmers quickly got back on their feet. As the Covid-19 raged, and the periods of confinement and curfew followed one another, they had the funny idea of getting into rum. “We replaced the milking machine with a still! laughs Cédric Carpentier, who has always had a passion for the distillery.
“I felt like I was reliving Prohibition! »
In the midst of a health crisis, the Carpentiers have transformed their huge barn and their workshop from top to bottom, and have installed equipment there to make their own alcohol. “We set up the concept during the Covid-19, and I sometimes felt like I was reliving Prohibition a bit! Everything was forbidden, you had to have papers to circulate! laughs the rum maker. Entrepreneurs also refer to this filiation on their bottles, and in the brand they created, hidden distillery (“The Hidden Distillery”). “But I assure you, we have all the prefectural and customs approvals necessary to make rum! smiles Cédric Carpentier.
Among the beverages that make up their range, some are totally unexpected: the Carpentiers make a rum liqueur with honey, a rum liqueur with goat’s milk (obviously) or a rum infused with CBD. From Perpignan to Marseille, around sixty wine merchants and around fifteen night establishments have, for the moment, placed their trust in this new distillery. At the end of the month, another rum, distributed in amazing stainless steel flasks under the name Moonshine, will be on sale in supermarkets.
“Of course, you have to taste all the time! »
And these former farmers do everything, from A to Z. Or rather, from R to M. They receive, on their farm, organic sugar cane molasses from Cuba, which is more ecological and fair trade than elsewhere, and they put it to ferment, in barrels, with yeast. This mixture is then entrusted to the columns of the still, which separate the water from the alcohol, before it matures quietly for five weeks. The rum finally obtained, the couple is then free to flavor it by hand, with local products, or to place it in barrels, so that it ages for at least three years.
All that, of course, had to be learned. “There is a lot of literature on the profession, but above all, there is a very nice community, the distillers are very open to exchanges, confides Cédric Carpentier. Regularly, we give each other little tips. Because every day, there are small difficulties or good surprises. And, yes, of course, you have to taste, constantly! It’s a tough job, I know! And it is often Nathalie Carpentier who is responsible for this task. The Héraultaise, whose taste is particularly developed, took part in the World Championships of sensory analysis, in the United States, a few years ago. “She has an extraordinary palate! “, smiles her spouse. Yet, she… doesn’t drink alcohol. “You have to disregard the degree of alcohol, and look for the tastes, the perfume, the smells, etc. “, she confides. And in this distillery, there are heaps of them.