Clément is the Martinique rhum most Americans meet first, and the estate behind it, Habitation Clément, is the one they visit: a museum, a sculpture garden, and the cellars where the rhum ages, on the plantation where the founder started making cane-juice rhum in 1887. The range runs from a $27 blanc built for Ti' Punch to a hors d'âge blend of the estate's oldest barrels, plus three liqueurs bartenders swear by. This guide covers how Clément is made, every bottle we have in stock, and which to buy.
Shop all Clément rhum in stock
About Clément
Homère Clément was a doctor and the mayor of Le François when he bought the Domaine de l'Acajou in 1887. He had studied brandy-making in France, and he applied the Cognac idea to sugarcane: distill fresh-pressed cane juice rather than molasses, and age it in oak. His son Charles built the distillery in 1917. Today the rhum is distilled at the Simon distillery in Le François on a copper Creole column still, then aged, blended, and bottled at Habitation Clément. Everything is AOC Martinique rhum agricole, with nothing added. The house signature is a polished, orange-peel-and-spice style, less grassy than Neisson and less fruit-driven than J.M, which is why it's the agricole that converts rum drinkers raised on molasses.
Clément in Stock at Chips Liquor
Clément Blanc ($26.99)
The everyday agricole: multi-variety cane juice, rested in stainless steel, bottled at 40%. Grassy and herbaceous with white pepper, citrus zest, and fresh cane, with a dry, clean finish. The approachable proof makes it the cocktail-friendly one, and the cheapest proper Ti' Punch rhum on the shelf. Also the base for an agricole Daiquiri that tastes like nothing else.
Clément Canne Bleue ($38.99)
A single-varietal blanc from blue cane, a rare strain named for the purple-blue color of its shoots, grown at Habitation Clément since 1977, rested six to eight months and bottled at 50%. Quince, green mango, pine, mint, a blackberry fruitiness, and a long peppery finish, bone dry. Agricole purists consider it one of the finest expressions of Martinique terroir anywhere. The definitive Ti' Punch base: lime coin, cane syrup, no ice.
Clément XO ($64.99)
The long-aged rhum: a minimum of six years, the AOC's XO threshold, with the house blend drawing on barrels up to ten years, in a mix of virgin and re-charred oak, slowly hydrated to around 42%. Dried fig, prune, toasted oak, cocoa, tobacco, and the orange-peel-and-spice signature, with the cane now a whisper underneath. A gentle-proof sipper in the refined French-island style, not a cask-strength bomb. The cigar rhum.
Clément Cuvée Homère ($119.99)
Named for the founder and the top of the standing range: a hors d'âge blend of the estate's oldest rhums, aged in virgin and re-charred oak in the Habitation Clément cellars, around 44%. Dried fig, walnut, leather, tobacco, rancio, caramel, cocoa, and a very long dry finish. A decade of tropical oak on cane is where agricole becomes something Cognac drinkers recognize. A collector's bottle, and the gift for someone who already has the XO.
The Liqueurs
Clément makes three liqueurs on a real agricole base, and bartenders at serious cocktail bars keep all three. Créole Shrubb ($41.99) is Martinique's orange liqueur: aged and unaged rhum married with Créole spices and sun-bleached bitter orange peels, less sweet than triple sec with a grassy, mandarin character. Use it in a Mai Tai, Margarita, or Sidecar where Cointreau would go. Mahina Coco ($41.99) is three ingredients, young coconut, unaged rhum, and cane syrup, at 18%, and the coconut liqueur that makes a Piña Colada taste like coconut instead of candy. Bana Canne ($41.99) is a banana liqueur made from semi-ripe estate bananas upcycled with the Martinican company Kadalys, at 25%; it tastes like fresh banana rather than candy, and works anywhere a crème de banane would, from a Rum Old Fashioned to a Jungle Bird riff.
Which Clément to Buy
- First agricole, or cocktails: Blanc.
- Ti' Punch: Canne Bleue.
- Sipping: XO.
- Collector or gift: Cuvée Homère.
- The bar upgrade: Créole Shrubb in place of triple sec.
Clément's VSOP, the Cask Collection, and the 15 Year Vieux are currently sold out; check the Clément collection for current availability.
Shipping Clément From Chips Liquor
Every bottle above is in stock at our Pacific Beach shop in San Diego and ships fast to most states. For the rest of Martinique, read our guides to Rhum J.M and Neisson, or our complete guide to rhum agricole, and see the full rhum agricole collection.