67: The Stories of Providence Rum and Clairin, the Spirit of Haiti with Herbert Barbancourt-Linge Jr.
In this episode we sat down with Herbert Barbancourt-Linge Jr. of Providence Rum / Distillerie de Port-au-Prince and The Spirit of Haiti. Herbert took us deep into the making of one of Haiti's newest distilleries, which has already put out interesting releases like Providence First Drops and Providence Dunder & Syrup. We also talked all things clairin, which Herbert has helped rum enthusiasts across the globe discover through his involvement in The Spirit of Haiti with La Maison & Velier. Topics discussed included:
The process of building a new distillery from scratch in Haiti
Defining Providence's style of Haitian rum (and how it's different from clairin)
How they ended up partnering on Providence with La Maison & Velier
How The Spirit of Haiti was formed
The early days of searching out Haiti's best clairin producers
Clairin culture around the island
How clairin's export success has been received in Haiti
What to expect from Providence's aging program
Cane juice vs. cane syrup
The Barbancourt family backstory
Misconceptions about Haiti
And more
You can learn more about Providence Rum at their website: https://www.providence-rum.com/
This episode is sponsored by Down Island Spirits, a brand new independent rum bottler that has just launched the first releases in its Single Cask Rum Series in the U.S. Click here to check out and order their initial 4 releases.
P.S. Did you know you can support The Rumcast on Patreon now and get bonus episodes, happy hours, and more? You can! Head to patreon.com/therumcast to check it out.
