The history of the Assier family in Martinique begins in 1710 when Jean Assier, a young lawyer from Montpellier, arrived on the island and worked for the Governor of Phélypeaux. A few centuries later, his direct descendant, Yves Assier de Pompignan, embarked on a daring and exciting project: the creation of a new rum cellar bearing within it the history and richness of the Antilles terroir. Indeed, the takeover of the Habitation du Simon, ideally located in the heart of an exceptional terroir, and the unfailing passion that animates it for its island and its riches, have enabled Yves Assier de Pompignan to create a rum brand combining tradition and modernity.
In 2010, the decision was taken to start the project and then began the work of selecting the best Rhums Vieux intended for blends. An aging cellar equipped with a cask previously used for Cognac and a laboratory are created at the Habitation. The first selections, then aged 6 to 11 years, were left to age in 320-litres French oak barrels. At the same time, the search for an innovative distillation solution, both qualitative and traditional at the same time, directs Yves Astier towards the choice of a Charentais copper still, completed with a column still with seven plates. Temperature-controlled tanks allowing long fermentations are used in order to obtain cane wines with strong aromatic potential. The administrative procedures, long and tedious, ended on December 31, 2015 following the authorisation to open a distillery intended for the manufacture of Rhums Agricole. Work on the rum factory then began and it was installed in a former 18th century sugar purge, in the heart of the estate. Finally, and after 10 years of time spent learning and imagining, the brand new A1710 distillery was inaugurated in December 2016 at the Habitation by Yves Assier de Pompignan and his team.
Rums A1710 are produced organically from sugar cane from a plot cultivated without fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals, which was planted on the site and where two varieties of cane grow: the "Blue Cane" and the "Violet cane".
