The History
1862
Dupré Barbancourt, a native of the Charente region in France, put the finishing touches to a recipe for rum that bears his name. Using a double distillation method usually reserved for the very finest cognacs, he discovered a rum of incomparable quality that has always received the highest international distinctions.
1907
Dupré Barbancourt died leaving no heir. The company passed to his wife Nathalie Gardère who managed it with the help of her nephew, Paul Gardère, who directed it after her death. At this time Rhum Barbancourt’s distillery was still located on le Chemin des Dalles in Port au Prince and only produced a limited quantity of rum; and the older aged rums were exclusively reserved for family and friends.
1946
Paul then died and his son Jean Gardère took up the baton, furthering the family tradition. An entrepreneur and a visionary, Jean Gardère was the instigator of Rhum Barbancourt’s modernization.
1949
Jean Gardere relocated the distillery at the heart of the sugar cane fields of the Domaine Barbancourt.
1952
The plant began to produce rum from the sugar cane grown on its own plantation: the Domaine Barbancourt. This allowed the company to go from a small cottage industry to a proud international exporter.
1960
By the middle of the decade, Rhum Barbancourt’s 15-year-old Reserve du Domaine, its finest product, was on public sale for the first time.
1990
When Jean passed, Thierry Gardère took over. This fourth-generation man of the Gardère family leads the company with his commitment to quality, fine natural ingredients, craftsmanship and the unique cognac-based production process. This has ensured la Societe du Rhum Barbancourt to become Haiti’s leading brand of rum.
2019
Today the Rhum Barbancourt Distillery continues to be run by the Gardere family.
2020
Delphine Nathalie Gardère took the helm of the distillery Barbancourt in 2020. Delphine, 36 years old, is the 5th generation in the Gardère family. Her father, Thierry Gardère, a staple in the spirit industry, managed the company for almost three decades until he passed away in March 2017. After succeeding him and managing the brand for the first year; Delphine has now come back at the helm of the company, representing the second female leader in the history of the distillery.