By officially inaugurating the Bérive agricultural distillery on September 17 on the historic family estate, the Isautier house has unveiled its first production of rum from proprietary canes. Agricultural white rum of exceptional quality, Bérive takes rank, straight away, among the best rums in the world.
Nestled at an altitude of 600 meters in a lush environment, at a place called Bérive, the old house eaten away by the years which was the cradle of the Isautier family contrasts with the brand new distillery set up a few steps away in the old agricultural buildings of the estate, restored and completed. As a symbol of its new brand, « Bérive », the Isautier house was inspired by the starry pattern of the tiles of the now dilapidated building. It is on this area straddling the communes of Tampon and Saint-Pierre, what are the 8 cultivated,5 hectares of organic cane which will give birth, year after year, to an excellent range of white agricultural rums, brown and old 100% Isautier. The Isautier house is realizing its project of producing agricultural rum exclusively from proprietary canes., that is to say belonging to him. The result is impressive. The white rum unveiled on September 17 marks a milestone by being the first, but above all because it ensures, without fail, the brand a place in the world pantheon of rum – a small place certainly, the maximum production capacity of the distillery not exceeding 40,000 bottles per year. Mainly intended for aging, this original production from canes harvested in 2025 only benefits from limited distribution in a selective circuit : 1,000 bottles (70 cl) white agricultural rum ; half sold in Reunion in November, the other in mainland France from March 2027.
A drink work of art
Passed into the background during the 20th century with the industrial development of molasses rums, the ancestral know-how of agricultural rum is being rediscovered in Reunion. Bérive makes him take a leap. The exceptionality of the product is firstly in the fact that estate rums “from the field to the bottle” are rare in the world of rum.. It is then in the unique personality of rhum agricole Bérive. This is the expression of the great art of fermentation, of the distillation and blending of Marie Ferrand, cellar master and now rum development director, at the origin of several of the major innovations that have made the reputation of the Isautier house. Marie Ferrand worked with the distillery team, Jeremy Savin, operations manager, and Thomas Alanvert, operator. The choice of yeast required two years of experimentation in collaboration with the IUT of Saint-Pierre (University of Reunion). At the end of the analysis of 2,500 samples from the fruit flora of the estate, the choice fell on the banana tree and the sapote. To put all the chances on your side, Isautier opted for distillation by still by purchasing two superb Müller hybrid copper stills of 230 liters and 1000 liters. The whole (works, research, equipment) represents an investment of 4,2 M€, supported by the Réunion Region, the State and the European Union.
A spirit tourism project
The distillery will open to public tours in 2027. This will be the starting point for the second phase of the project.. The Isautier group will create a charming 46-room hotel on family land. Also present in agriculture and real estate development, the group will add a fourth string to its bow with the hotel industry. “With this new brand of agricultural rum and the hotel project which will revive the park, we want to create a universe telling what we are. And we want to embody contemporary Reunionese excellence with modernized traditional local products”, explains Cyril Isautier, group general manager. As for the house, it will be rebuilt identically. It will be the architectural jewel of the establishment and its now emblematic tiling will be its signature..
