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.

  • HSE single casks age remarkably
  • Cask-strength Sélections deliver complexity
  • Port Cask Finish widely recommended

RumX market intelligence

As of July 2026

Community score
8.0/10
ratings
5,004
bottles catalogued
356
available to buy now
97

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RumX Guide

The distillery with no brand of its own

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15,772 bottles from Distillerie du Simon bought by the community.

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Community reviews: Distillerie du Simon

La Confrérie du Rhum HSE XO (Cuvée No. 22) 2016

Review by LukaŽiga

LukaŽiga
LukaŽiga
Mar 2026770 reviewsGermany
8.5/10

8,5:On the nose, there's a lot of greediness, the rum is well balanced, sugar cane is juicy, waxy, mineral and slightly smoky. There are strong peaches and some tea.As is often the case with HSE, the influence of the cask is evident in the form of wood, a bit roasted, dry, which …

34 found this helpful
HSE Small Cask 2016

Review by Stijn Zino

Stijn Zino
Stijn Zino
Mar 2025229 reviewsBelgium
8.0/10

Brussels Rhum Festival 15/03/2025 Earthy agricole notes, but i'm not a big fan of too much candy notes in a agricole rum. This was too much candy for me. Not bad not great.

Clément Single batch (Chauffe extrême)

Review by LukaŽiga

LukaŽiga
LukaŽiga
Mar 2025770 reviewsSlovenia
8.5/10

8,8:On the nose there is vanilla, wood, caramel, hazelnut ice cream, nougat, spices, fruit, lime peel, grilled pineapple, pears, peaches from bourbon ageing. The rum is very agricole, as sugar cane is juicy, mineral, smoky, roasted, dry, there are some red fruits, as raspberries. …

HSE Grande Reserve XO

Review by Galli33

Galli33
Galli33
Feb 2025487 reviewsItaly
8.5/10

This is a super delicious Agricole from the start to the finish! The Alcohol and wood is integrated very well. This is a good rum to pair with a cigar! I use this always as a agricole starter in a tasting for beginners and advanced drinkers.

50 found this helpful
Clément XO

Review by Timo Groeger

Timo Groeger
Timo Groeger
Jan 20251,811 reviewsGermany
7.5/10

This Clement is quite ok, but somehow not my cup of tea. It's mainly woody on the nose. Some vanilla is also recognizable. The palate is also predominantly woody and oaky, but also some vanilla again.

Auto-translated 26 found this helpful
HSE Brut de fût 2015 Forêt de Montpensier

Review by Frank

Frank
Frank
Jan 2025682 reviews
8.5/10

First rum of the New Year (1.1.25), an Agricole that caught my eye very positively at the last GRF. Nose: intense and multi-layered, fruity, spicy and woody. The special barrel from the wood of the Montpensier forest - I'm guessing a virgin barrel - has contributed interesting …

Auto-translated 25 found this helpful
HSE Rhum Agricole Extra Vieux - Les Forêts - Chantilly 2015

Review by Volkmar Weber

Volkmar Weber
Volkmar Weber
Sep 202460 reviewsGermany
9.0/10

A real treat for the palate. HSE has never completely won me over. This one is different. Spicy and creamy, with buttery, creamy salty notes. Umami without end. Anyone who likes Nive Leaves knows it. It's not particularly extreme, the wood is subtle, for an Agricole it's …

Auto-translated
Clément VO

Review by Stefan Persson

Stefan Persson
Stefan Persson
Aug 2024676 reviewsSweden
6.7/10

Got this 5cl sample from the Rum Ratings Tasting Club. Clément VO 3yo is a blend of rums aged in new oak barrels and former bourbon barrels. The finish is medium long with tastes of cane and lime besides the tastes from the palate. Overall a typical young AOC rum.

52 found this helpful

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 sits in the “Very good” band. 80% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 1% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →

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 344 offers starting from €21.32 across 28 partner shops including delicando, Rhum Attitude, Rum & Co, Rum Paradise, Total Wine, Whiskysite.nl. 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 5004 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.
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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.