A Haitian house founded in 1862 had to cross the Atlantic in the opposite direction to rediscover its original craft. With Héritage 1862, Barbancourt returns to double distillation in a swan-neck pot still, the Charente method that Dupré Barbancourt introduced when the house was founded, and that French expertise is now helping to revive.
The project was not simply a matter of bringing an old still out of the back of a warehouse: the distillery called on Chalvignac, a French company renowned for its expertise in still design, to develop equipment suited to Barbancourt’s particular requirements. Installation took place in 2025 with support from Chalvignac’s technical teams, before the collaboration extended to Cognac, where the Haitian teams went to immerse themselves directly in the heart of Charente’s expertise at the Distillerie du Peyrat. This physical journey, unusual for a rum house, says something about how Barbancourt chose to approach this return to its roots: not as a marketing exercise in historical reconstruction, but as a complete technical relearning process.
The distinction between column and pot still, central to this project, is far from a minor detail for anyone interested in rum production: while the column allows continuous production and great consistency, the pot still requires work in small batches and encourages the pursuit of a more distinctive expression. The resulting double distillation yields a distillate richer in aromatic compounds, with more body and texture than conventional continuous distillation, in turn opening up new possibilities for future ageing.
Héritage 1862 Rhum Blanc, the first chapter of a collection set to expand in the coming years with brown rums shaped by ageing, stands out for its aromatic intensity, carried by fresh notes of cane and citrus. On the palate, roundness and lusciousness emerge through nuances of stewed pear and plum, balanced by a delicate thread of acidity. Made 100% from pure juice of Madame Mevs cane, an emblematic Haitian variety, this rum follows the pure cane juice tradition that has historically distinguished Barbancourt from industrial rums made from molasses.
Priced at 49.90 euros including tax and distributed to specialist wine and spirits retailers by Distill Spirit, Héritage 1862 will be presented at Whisky Live on the Rhum Gallery stand at the end of September. Under the impetus of Delphine Gardère, the fifth generation to lead the house, Barbancourt is thus pursuing a transformation at several speeds — strengthening its industrial operations, modernising the brand and expanding internationally — without ever severing the thread connecting it to its founding craft: that of a man who, in 1862, chose to bring to Haiti a distillation method straight from Charente. The house also continues its longstanding social commitment to Haitian communities through its foundation, which supports sustainable projects in health, education, equal opportunities and culture — local roots that accompany, without ever contradicting, this opening up to technical expertise from France.
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