After fifteen years of relentlessly pursuing the various State bodies, Jean-Pierre Bourdillon (Chairman of the Board/Executive Directors of the BBS Group and President of the CODERUM until his death in 1998) obtained, following bitter struggle, the AOC Martinique Official State Accreditation of Origin for the rums of our island. As of November of 1996, Martinique agricultural rums benefit from the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée official label. To date, Martinique is the sole French overseas region to possess this distinction.

Only those rums obtained by distilling fresh, fermented sugarcane juice have the right to bear the label Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée “MARTINIQUE” guaranteeing origin, followed by the term, “RHUM AGRICOLE” (Agricultural Rum), which meets high standards regarding:

- the production grounds,
- sugarcane fields,
- cane variety,
- juice extraction,
- fermenting process,
- distilling process,
- storage and aging process.

Rums claiming the AOC Martinique origin label cannot be marketed without an official certificate issued by the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine – INAO (National Institute of Origin Accreditation).

The distinctive logo, created by the Martinique Rum Syndicate, appears on the capsule.

This grand distinction is a guarantee of the origin as well as the quality of our products.

It is a victory which rewards a savoir-faire and a local soil that no one to date has been able to match.