One of the Last-Remaining Family-Run Distilleries in Martinique
To tell the story of La Favorite distillery we must travel back to 1842. We find ourselves on a 900-hectare farm located in Lamentin, Martinique. Originally called Jambette, named after the river that supplies its water, it was eventually renamed La Favorite in 1851 by then-owner, Charles Henry. At the end of the 19th century, its sugar refinery fell victim to a drop in the price of sugar, owing to growing competition from sugar beet and went bankrupt.
In 1902, Henry Dormoy, a farmer from Saint-Pierre, lost his farm during the terrible eruption of Mount Pelée. In search of new lands to farm, he bought La Favorite at an auction in 1903 and decided to stop producing sugar and devote himself wholeheartedly to rhum agricole, a fast-growing product at the time. In 1905, he considerably upgraded the old distillery, installing a steam engine, which has since become an iconic. An attempt to relaunch the sugar refinery occurred in 1924, quickly failing in the face of tough competition. Henry Dormoy passed away in 1938, leaving his sons - Albert and André Dormoy - to take the reins of the family business.
Surprisingly, sugar refinery competitors helped André Dormoy renovate the distillery, honouring an agreement which remained in effect until 1956. One year later, with production up and running again, the brothers were equipped to progressively increase capacity. From the beginning of the 1970s, La Favorite took over the brand Courville and bought the Saint-Étienne distillery around 1980, becoming one of the major players in the Martinique rum market. However, this progression didn’t last long. The equipment from the Saint-Étienne distillery was sold to the Simon company and part of the farmland was also sold, of which only 70 hectares remain today.
The Steam Engine
La Favorite’s steam engine dates back to 1906. It can reach a respectable 360 horsepower, transmitting produced energy to a large wheel, which rotates at 60 revolutions per minute and is used to crush sugarcane. The pressure of the boilers supplying it are carefully checked on a regular basis using a barometer.
Heated by ovens in which bagasse (sugarcane residue) is used as a fuel, these boilers constitute large cylinders that are filled with water; 135 pipes run through these cylinders to boil the water and produce steam, which then activates the cane grinders and is then triumphantly injected into the distillation columns.
At the entrance of the grinding mills, the sugarcane is first chopped using a series of knives, before passing through a battery of three mills, each composed of three rolls (large cylinders). Each mill applies strong pressure to the sugarcane to gradually and satisfyingly extract all the juice.
Collected after grinding, the sugarcane juice is then filtered and pumped to the fermentation tanks. As for the bagasse, it is collected to be boiled in the ovens feeding the boilers, a totally cyclical operation. This closed-circuit operation vastly decreases energy consumption.
The distillery has two distillation columns: the oldest is made of copper and dates back to 1957, and the more recent one is made of steel, installed in 1986. The fermentation process takes longer here than at some other Martinique producers, lasting 72 hours. The 70 hectares of La Favorite allow a harvest of around 6,000 tonnes of sugarcane per year - amazingly, all cut by hand - which is supplemented by 2,000 further tonnes supplied by local growers. The total annual production comes to 500,000 litres and breaks down as follows: 80% rhum blanc and 20% rhum vieux.
La Flibuste, a Symbol of the Distillery
Many of the rhums vieux are aged in cognac and bourbon casks. Others, such as the versions from the Les Frères de la Côte range, focus on originality, matured for months on board the ship “Tres Hombres”, during an Atlantic crossing. But the fame of La Favorite was built on the La Flibuste bottlings, of which the name alludes to pirates - rife in the Caribbean at the time - settling in Martinique. According to Franck Dormoy, representing the 4th generation of the family, the earliest versions of La Flibuste date back to the 1970s and are works of his grandfather André Dormoy. Exceptional because of their canonical age, these rums have been aged in entirety amidst the dense and heavy heat of Martinique. The earliest versions were aged for 33 years, this reduced to 30 years up to the 1987 vintage and finally just 25 years. With an eye for intricacy and precision, and always produced in small quantities, they are highly sought-after by collectors. For example, on Fine Spirits Auction, the expressions dating between 1990 and 2000 are selling currently for around 500€. More impressive still, those distilled in the 1980s can go for more than 2,000€ on the secondary market. This is illustrated by a 1983 vintage which sold for 2,146€ at the end of 2024 and, more recently, the 1980 and 1982 versions selling for 1,848€ in April 2025. A symbol of historic expertise and preserved artisanal production, La Favorite confirms its status as a benchmark for connoisseurs and collectors the world over.
Tasting Notes
La Favorite 1990, rhum agricole, bottled around 1998, 40% ABV:
Colour: Bronze
Nose: Some woody notes at the beginning which rapidly give way to floral fragrances (lilac, honeysuckle). The sugar cane is not to be outdone, capped with lovely vegetal notes.
Palate: The slightly intense woodiness of the nose cascades and washes over you again, with tobacco, mushrooms, liquorice and a hint of mint peeking through subtleties of dark chocolate. Finally, a little candied ginger adds a sense of fullness to the finish.
Finish: It is slightly short due to its 40% ABV, nevertheless rather fresh with a wonderful salinity.
La Favorite, La Flibuste 1980, Lot n°0478, 40% ABV:
Colour: Amber
Nose: Heavily influenced by cognac with candied peaches and quince. Then, something more concentrated: notably, molasses, liquorice and a minty woodiness.
Palate: Very moreish and slightly sweet - inherent of La Flibuste bottlings. Notes of bananas and pineapple alongside some nuts. We also find licorice once again on the finish as well as coffee.
Finish: A lovely woodiness dancing beautifully alongside earthy tones and balancing out the sweeter notes on the palate.
Written by Camille Villeneuve
