On May 8, 1902, Mount Pelée erupted and wiped the town of Saint-Pierre off the map in minutes, killing some 30,000 people — including every member of the Depaz family. Victor Depaz survived only because he was studying in Bordeaux at the time. Orphaned and bankrupt, he set out for Canada, but a stopover in Martinique brought him back to the Périnelle estate where he was born, and he understood his life was there. Exactly fifteen years later, on May 8, 1917, he opened a new distillery on the flanks of the volcano that had taken everything, fed by 521 hectares of cane growing in the fertile volcanic soil. He rebuilt a replica of his childhood home — now Château Depaz — and lived there with his wife and eleven children. The estate itself dates to 1651, and today the distillery spans 80 hectares between the sea and the mountain. Depaz is prized for its use of blue sugarcane, the most expensive and difficult variety to cultivate, grown in mineral-rich volcanic soil and watered by mountain springs, all certified AOC Rhum Agricole Martinique — fresh cane juice, never molasses. Expect balanced sweetness with woody, floral, and fruity character across the range, from Blanc and Ambré through the seven-year VSOP Réserve Spéciale and older XO releases.

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