I stepped out of the taxi and breathed in air filled with the tantalizing aroma of fresh crushed sugar cane intermingled with the sweet treacle smells of its open tank fermentation. The clank of old machinery at work and the roar of sugar cane laden trucks assaulted my ears. This was a distillery in full action mode turning cane juice into rum as I watched.

I was in Martinique and while a majority of vacationers seemed to be here for its wonderful nature trails and unspoiled beaches, I was among those who preferred its routes to rum. The island guide quipped “All roads lead to rum could be the motto of Martinique” and it wasn’t far off. While there is no longer a rum distillery in every community of this rugged Caribbean island, there are about a dozen still in production.

The third largest island in the Lesser Antilles, Martinique’s just a few blocks smaller than New York City. Sugar cane and banana plantations seem to occupy most of the agricultural land of this fertile volcanic island. In some parts they roll on as far as the eye can see, though permanent crops are less than ten percent of the land use. Much of this green paradise is forests, woodlands and nature preserves.

Its rum production is unique and protected. Much of the world’s rum is produced by fermenting and distilling molasses, a by-product of sugar production. In Martinique, the “rhum agricole” is made from the juice of fresh cut sugar cane brought directly from the fields to the distillery, where it is crushed and fermented immediately.

Martinique is an overseas department of France and in November 1996, the rhum agricole of the island was granted the French “appellation d’origine contrôlée” (AOC) designation, a guarantee of the origin and quality of the products. “AOC Martinique Rhum Agricole” blanc is a young white rum, most often used in cocktails while rhum vieux, which must be aged at least three years in wood barrels, is more for sipping. All of the distilleries I visited offered much longer aged AOC rhums as well ones aged or finished in a variety of different barrels. With some, the French connection has led to a collaboration with French Cognac houses for this purpose.

Rum making season on the island is from February to June – thus my visit in February coincided with the start of the harvest. It was a perfect time to pay some of the distilleries a visit. The ones I toured all offered a good experience, free tasting samples and a wide choice of rums for purchase.

J.M Distillerie in a lush green setting at the bottom of the valley of the River Roche was the one where I got up most close and personal with the rhum production process. I picked up a map of the place and followed the numbers. The self guided tour started in a sugar cane garden where several varieties of cane were grown, continued by the sugar mill where the juice was extracted and then by the ovens where the dry cane residue was burnt to create the heat for the stills.

Next, I went by the open fermentation tanks, bubbling away as the sugar cane juice was converted by yeasts into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Point six on the map housed the stills where the magic of changing fermented juice into ‘rhum agricole’ happened. Number seven was the barrel room where barrels were charred with fire to caramelize their interior enhancing the flavour of the wood. Then I saw the cellar where rhum was aged, the laboratory to analyse and test the products, and a sensory room where I could smell the seven characteristic notes found in J.M rhum.

Finally, the eleventh stop was the tasting room where I could sample away and of course buy. J.M has collaborated with three French spirit houses to create its new “Finish” range of rhums. I bought one that first spent nine years aging in former bourbon barrels, before being finished for several months in 400 litre casks that previously contained Delamain Cognac. On the palate the classic rum flavours of vanilla, butterscotch and ripe banana were overlaid with the woody finesse and structure of Cognac. www.rhum-jm-la-distillerie.com

Depaz Distillerie, rebuilt by Victor Depaz in 1917 after the original property was destroyed by the Mount Pelée eruption in 1902, was nestled at the foothills of Mount Pelée. There I saw the oldest steam powered engine on the island, a paddle wheel and steam museum and of course a tasting room and shop. For a small fee, I could have also visited Château Depaz, built from 1917 to 1922 and occupied by the Depaz family until the mid-1980s. www.depaz.fr

Saint James originated in 1765 in Saint-Pierre, the town which was wiped out by the volcanic eruption of 1902. It was relocated after the tragedy to Sainte-Marie on the Atlantic coast. Next to the distillery is a splendid colonial house which houses its rum museum and tasting room. In the second floor museum I saw a documentary film about rum production and a display of artifacts which told the history of the Saint James. Another building, their new House of Distillation contained ancient alembics used at the distillery since it was founded. (Al embic means a still in Arabic. Distilling entered the Western world in the 14th century via the Arabs.) https://rhum-saintjames.com/en

My final visit was to Trois Rivières Plantation near Sainte-Luce on the road to the southern beaches of the island. Its name comes from the three rivers that border its acres of sugarcane fields. During the 18th and 19th centuries the plantation specialized in the production of sugar. In 1907, sugar production was stopped and solely rhum agricole was made. Today it produces a wide and impressive range of rums: single cask, vintage dated, Cuvée de l’Océan, which is one of the first mono-zonal rums with a sea saltiness from its fields close to the water, Triple Millésime which is the first multi-vintage rum from Martinique and Cask Strength, bottled without dilution and aged in new American oak casks. www.plantationtroisrivieres.com

Touring these rhum distilleries, I learned a lot not only about rum production but also about the island’s history and culture. Sipping fine rhum agricole while expanding my knowledge made the lessons go down so easy.