St. Etienne

Habitation Saint-Étienne has origins tied to an old 19th-century sugar works; the company took the name Saint-Étienne after its purchase by Amédée Aubéry in 1882, who established a distillery there. During the 20th century the property passed to the Simonnet family; the original distillery closed at the end of the 1980s. In the 1990s the brand was relaunched by the current owners (Hayot group) and commercial production of Saint‑Étienne (HSE) rhums is now carried out with the support of Distillerie du Simon, while the habitation is undergoing restoration and enhancement as local heritage.

The brand's philosophy emphasizes the terroir of Martinique and the production of rhum 'pur jus de canne' (rhum agricole), focusing on the selection of cane varieties, controlled management of production phases, and innovation in maturation and finishes (different cask types) to express distinctive aromatic profiles.

Martinique (French Caribbean). Historic site and ageing location: Habitation Saint‑Étienne, Gros‑Morne; operational distillation at Distillerie du Simon (Le François).

Typical rhum agricole production: the cane is processed to obtain vesou (sugarcane juice), which is fermented and then distilled; distillation for the HSE brand takes place on a column (traditional Creole copper column, with production entrusted to Distillerie du Simon). The range includes white rhums worked also with controlled maturation periods and aged rhums that mature in wooden casks and sometimes spend time in casks of different origin for finishes.

Copper column (Creole column) at Distillerie du Simon

For the whites: controlled maturation and gradual reductions; for amber and aged rhums: ageing in wooden casks with minimum durations for the Vieux/VSOP/XO categories; use of finishes in different types of casks for some special editions.