Compagnie des Indes

Compagnie des Indes (French West India Company) is a French Independent Bottler and the brain child of Florent Beuchet. The French West India Company started out as an exporter that wanted to sell some of their products such as gin and weapons to the French colonies but they quickly realised that basically no-one was interested in buying these goods. Instead, people at home were asking about spices, fabrics, gold and so on and thus the Compagnie des Indes became an importing company instead. Similarily to how the French West India Company then sold good from all over the world, Florent’s idea was to source and bottle rum from many different countries.
Even though the majority of Compagnie des Indes’ bottlings are single cask rums, Florent is very open to experimenting with different casks and finishes. For instance, he has finished rums with used Islay-, Lapsang Souchong- (a very smoky tea) or beer barrels. So far, the quality of his selections has been rather mixed. Compagnie des Indes’ bottlings are quite hit and miss and I always recommend getting a sample before buying a whole bottle. One of the reasons is probably that not all rums have a high tolerance to dilution with water. While they also offer rums closer to or at cask strength, these are exceptions and not sold in all the countries (many are exclusive to Denmark for example). Exploring their range is definitely worth it as you can find a few gems among them. They also have a few rums with special finishes or from countries that you cannot find with other bottlers. Anyways, Florent is probably one of the most sympathetic figures in the business and I wish him all the success in the world!

Florent also gave me the opportunity to ask him a couple of questions. You can find his answers here.

Compagnie des Indes rums I got to try:

Australia

Barbados

Belize

Cuba

  • Compagnie des Indes Sancti Spiritus 16YO (1998-2014), 45%
  • Compagnie des Indes (Sancti Spiritus) 9YO (2009-2019), 58,7%
  • Compagnie des Indes Cuba (Sancti Spiritus) -Rum&Co- 10YO (2009-2019), 58%
  • Compagnie des Indes Cuba (Sancti Spiritus) 10YO (2009-2020), 42%
  • Compagnie des Indes Cuba (Sancti Spiritus) 12YO (2009-2022), 48%

Domincan Republic

  • Compagnie des Indes A.F.D. 8YO (2010-2019), 43%
  • Compagnie des Indes A.F.D. 8YO (2010-2019), 62,1%
  • Compagnie des Indes A.F.D. 11YO (2011-2022), 45%

El Salvador

  • Compagnie des Indes Licorera Cihutan 9YO (2007-2018), 43%

Fiji

Guadeloupe

  • Compagnie des Indes Bellevue Distillery 16YO (1998-2014), 43%

Guyana

Haiti

Indonesia

Jamaica

Martinique

Mauritius

  • Compagnie des Indes Saint Aubin 11YO (2010-2021), 43%
  • Compagnie des Indes Saint Aubin 9YO (2013-2022), 55%
  • Compagnie des Indes Grays “Armagnac Finish – for Perola” 13YO (2009-2022), 53,1%
  • Compagnie des Indes Grays “for Perola” 11YO (2010-2021), 57,8%

Panama

La Réunion

St. Lucia

Trinidad

U.S.A.

Venezuela

Other/ Blends

  • Compagnie des Indes Barbagaya 14YO (Foursquare & Diamond Distillery, 2007-2021), 43%
  • Compagnie des Indes Boulet de Canon 1 (Talisker Whisky Finish), 46%
  • Compagnie des Indes Boulet de Canon 2 (Islay Whisky Finish), 46%
  • Compagnie des Indes Boulet de Canon 3 (Lapsang Souchong Finish), 46%
  • Compagnie des Indes Boulet de Canon 10 (Black Forest ham fat wash), 46%
  • Compagnie des Indes Boulet de Canon 11 (Spirit Drink – smoked Paprika infusion; Panama & Nicaragua), 46%
  • Compagnie des Indes Caraibes “Port Finish”, 40%
  • Compagnie des Indes Caraibes “Meusault”, 40%
  • Compagnie des Indes Kaiman (Guadeloupe, Jamaica & Guyana – 1973 & 1993), 46%
  • Compagnie des Indes Leviathan (Guadeloupe & Panama – 1973 & 1996), 46%