Distillery

Distillerie du Simon

Le Simon is Martinique's ghostwriter. It is the island's most technologically advanced distillery, yet it sells no rum under its own name, runs no public tours, and ages nothing on site. Instead it distils two of the most beloved names in Martinique agricole, HSE and, until recently, Clement, on stills moved here from their original homes. What you taste as HSE is, in fact, Le Simon.

  • Strong 8.0/10 median rating
  • Wide range of expressions
  • Benchmark AOC agricole profile
Loved by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰, Vincent D, Godspeed & over 2,100 more

RumX market intelligence

Updated weekly

Community score
8.0/10
ratings
4,910
bottles catalogued
356
available to buy now
94

Best value from Distillerie du Simon

Highest community ratings for the price, from live offers.

HSE Blanc

HSE Blanc HSE Blanc
Martinique · 50%

Solid Ti’Punch-ready white agricole

7.2 /10 · 48 reviews
26 €
Add to cart

HSE Blanc

HSE Blanc HSE Blanc
Martinique · 55%

Rustic, dry Ti’ Punch workhorse

7.5 /10 · 55 reviews
28 €
Add to cart

Available to buy now from Distillerie du Simon

In stock across our shops right now, by community rating.

HSE Hors d‘Age 1960

HSE Hors d‘Age 1960 HSE Hors d‘Age 1960
Martinique · 45%

Legendary ultra‑aged agricole elegance

9.2 /10 · 22 reviews
1800 €
Add to cart

Community purchases

15,684 bottles from Distillerie du Simon bought by the community.

+276 purchases in the last 3 months.

Added to collections, last 12 months.

as of

Browse all rums from Distillerie du Simon

Explore our complete collection. Filter by price, rating, distillery, age, and more to find your perfect rum.

Sort by

Filters

Rating

Clément VSOP

Clément VSOP Clément VSOP

Textbook entry-level aged agricole

0.0 /10 · 0 reviews
38 €
Add to cart

Clément VO

Clément VO Clément VO

Budget-friendly woody agricole starter

0.0 /10 · 0 reviews
33 €
Add to cart

Clément XO

Clément XO Clément XO

Dry, woody agricole XO sipper

0.0 /10 · 0 reviews
52 €
Add to cart

HSE Ragtime

HSE Ragtime HSE Ragtime

Soft, dry agricole with whisky vibes

0.0 /10 · 0 reviews
27 €
Add to cart

HSE Blanc

HSE Blanc HSE Blanc

Rustic, dry Ti’ Punch workhorse

0.0 /10 · 0 reviews
28 €
Add to cart

HSE Blanc

HSE Blanc HSE Blanc

Solid Ti’Punch-ready white agricole

0.0 /10 · 0 reviews
26 €
Add to cart

A1710 Prosper

A1710 Prosper A1710 Prosper

Characterful young agricole, pricey bottle

0.0 /10 · 0 reviews
185 €
Add to cart

No rums found matching your criteria

Try adjusting your search criteria or clearing some filters.

The RumX Guide to Distillerie du Simon

The distillery with no brand of its own

Le Simon is the only Martinique distillery not open to the public, and the only one that makes no rum under its own name. In distilling circles it is a ghostwriter: the stand-in parent and keeper of two cherished names, Clement and Habitation Saint-Etienne (HSE). When those brands' own distilleries closed, their stills were physically moved to Le Simon, completing what The Rum Tour calls a merger 130 years in the making.

From Bougenot's sugar to the Hayot empire

Le Simon was built in 1862 by Emile Bougenot, an engineer who ran nine sugar refineries and owned Le Galion, the island's last working sugar mill. For its first 70 years it was a sugar factory making molasses rum on the side, switching to agricole in the 1930s. In 1971 Yves Hayot bought it. He then moved Clement's distillation here in 1989 and HSE's in 1994, building Le Simon into one of the island's largest distilleries under the Holmex banner.

Four columns, four jobs

Le Simon runs four column stills, each with a job. One came from Habitation Clement and distils Clement; another is the original column from St Stephen and distils HSE; two more handle products for the local market. Rum comes off at around 74 percent. The distillery owns no plantation, sourcing cane from farms across the south, and ferments with Belgian baker's yeast over 24 to 36 hours. With no warehouses, every drop is shipped out to be aged elsewhere.

HSE, the brand built on cask experiments

HSE rum is distilled at Le Simon, then trucked north to the original Habitation Saint-Etienne at St Stephen, where it is brought to strength with water from the Lezarde river and bottled. The brand is known for an adventurous range of finishes: single malt casks including Islay, sherry and sauternes among them. Habitation Saint-Etienne was the island's top seller during the lean 1950s and even inspired a Patrick Chamoiseau story.

What the RumX community drinks

Le Simon is one of the most reviewed distilleries on RumX, almost entirely through HSE and old Clement. The HSE Hors d'Age 1960 tops the house at 9.2/10, and single casks like the HSE Single Cask 2003 draw big review counts. The cask-finish program gives the community a deep field of bottles to explore, all of it distilled at this one quiet plant by the sea.

How the crew scored it Distillerie du Simon

RumX's 0–10 scale is strict , 8.0 lands squarely in the "Very good" band. 80% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 1% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →

0–1
1–2
2–3
3–4
4–5
5–6
6–7
7–8
8–9
9–10

Flavour profile of Distillerie du Simon

Most frequently mentioned flavors

Aroma

Woody Sugarcane Vanilla Fruity

Taste

Woody Sugarcane Vanilla Fruity

Frequently Asked Questions about Distillerie du Simon

HSE (Habitation Saint-Etienne) and, until recently, Rhum Clement. It makes no rum under its own Le Simon name. The brands’ original stills were moved here when their distilleries closed.

Holmex, the Yves Hayot family company. Yves was the elder brother of Bernard Hayot, whose GBH owns Clement and J.M, which is why Clement was long distilled at Le Simon.

It is the only Martinique distillery that does not offer public tours. As a production-only ghostwriter for other brands, it keeps a low profile, unlike the visitor-focused estates like Clement or J.M.

Yes. HSE is distilled from fresh cane juice at Le Simon under the Martinique AOC, then aged and bottled at Habitation Saint-Etienne. It is well known for its cask-finish releases.

Look to HSE. The cask-finish range is the accessible way in, while old vintages like the HSE Hors d’Age 1960 and single casks sit at the top of the community ratings.

RumX offers the world’s largest selection of rum through our innovative shop-in-shop marketplace, similar to Amazon. For Distillerie du Simon rums, we currently have 317 offers starting from €21.32 across 27 partner shops including delicando, Total Wine, Rum & Co, Rum Paradise, Whiskysite.nl, Bondston. Our platform compares prices in real-time from specialized rum retailers worldwide, ensuring you always find the best deals.

The RumX database currently contains 356 different rums from Distillerie du Simon. This includes various expressions, limited editions, and bottlings across different age statements and proof levels. Our community has contributed over 4910 reviews for Distillerie du Simon rums, making it one of the most comprehensive resources for exploring this brand’s full range. New releases are added regularly as they become available.

According to the RumX community, HSE Hors d‘Age 1960 45% is currently the highest-rated Distillerie du Simon rum with an impressive rating of 9.2/10 based on 22 reviews. This expression has earned praise for its exceptional quality and represents the pinnacle of what Distillerie du Simon has to offer. However, taste is subjective, and we encourage you to explore the full range to find your personal favorite.
Price alerts · in the RumX app

Unlock the Full RumX Experience

Love rums from Distillerie du Simon? The journey doesn't stop here. Download the RumX app to explore an even more extensive selection of rums from Distillerie du Simon and around the world. With features like collection management, personalized recommendations, tasting notes, and a bustling community of rum enthusiasts, our free app offers the ultimate rum experience, right in your pocket.

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play
★ 4.8/5 on App Store & Play Store

Rating guide

RumX's 0–10 scale is strict. Here's what each band means.

9.0–10.0 Excellent Stash as many as you can afford. Tell no one.
8.0–8.9 Very good Bank a backup. Tell everyone you meet.
7.0–7.9 Good Buy one and recommend it to your friends.
6.0–6.9 Pleasant Solid, super glad I drank it.
5.0–5.9 Average Totally acceptable.
4.0–4.9 Drinkable Not vocally complaining.
3.0–3.9 Poor Wish I was drinking something else.
2.0–2.9 Very poor Nothing nice to say.
1.0–1.9 Unpleasant No, that's not for me.
0.1–0.9 Inedible Pour it out.