27 aug Capucine Kuperminc: New Custodiam of Rhum J.M.’s terroir and sustainability journey
When Capucine Kuperminc talks about rum, she speaks not just of a spirit but of a landscape and its people. Her journey into distillation began long before she set foot in Rhum J.M.’s storied cellars. After graduating from a French engineering school with a major in food science, she spent eight years working across the food industry, developing organisational skills, rigor and an eye for detail. Her fascination with spirits was seeded by an uncle who worked for Bacardi and would regale her with stories about vodka distilleries in Siberia and tequila production in Mexico. “There is a deep connection between a spirit and the land they come from,” she explains. Rum in particular struck her as an art: “making something very complex out of something very simple: sugarcane.” Exploring the myriad types of cane, climates, fermentation methods and ageing techniques convinced her “each bottle tells its own story.”
From Engineering to Rum: Capucine’s Journey
Kuperminc’s story intertwined with Rhum J.M. in 2022, though she had admired the brand since moving to Martinique a decade earlier. Nestled in Macouba at the base of the volcanic Mount Pelée, Rhum J.M. is one of the island’s oldest distilleries. Established in 1845, it is credited among the first to produce rhum agricole—a style distilled from fresh sugarcane juice rather than molasses. The estate grows its own cane and delivers it from field to fermentation tank in less than an hour, a practice that preserves the cane’s aromatic freshness. “The distillery is breath‑takingly beautiful and I feel like I have never worked in a place quite like this before,” Kuperminc says. “There is a strong sense of tradition and it’s a place full of history. Our focus is on the quality of the product, traditional know‑how and the unique character of the terroir.”
The Fonds-Préville distillery of Rhum J.M. in Macouba
Inside Rhum J.M.: History, Terroir and Tradition
Rhum J.M. is one of Martinique’s oldest rum houses, established in 1845 and credited as one of the first distilleries to produce rhum agricole. Situated in the village of Macouba at the foot of Mt. Pelée, the estate grows its own sugarcane and brings it from field to fermentation in under an hour.
This attention to terroir and freshness distinguishes Rhum J.M. from many other producers. The volcanic soil, mineral-rich spring water and tropical climate give the rum a unique character that has been nurtured by generations of distillers. Kuperminc emphasises that preserving this heritage is essential: “Our know-how remains unchanged, passed down through generations of passionate men and women who have worked at the distillery.”
Responsibilities of a Cellar Master: Quality, Aging and Teamwork
As maître de chai—cellar master—she is responsible for the quality of both white and aged rums. During the production season she tastes fresh distillates daily to ensure they meet AOC standards and the house’s own benchmarks. She collaborates closely with colleagues in production on fermentation and distillation, exploring ways to improve quality or develop new aromatic profiles. Once the rum is distilled, her work shifts to careful storage, blending and gradual reduction of the spirit, “a slow and delicate process that requires great care to avoid shocking the rum.” The ageing phase is equally hands‑on: filling barrels, topping them up, emptying them and blending according to recipes developed by her predecessors. Kuperminc emphasises that these decisions are never made in isolation: “It is really a team effort. We decide together on the best strategy for each batch. This group dynamic is really important because it is the people, all together, that make the rum great.”
Balancing Tradition and Innovation in Rum Production
The identity of Rhum J.M. rests on its terroir—cane grown on Mount Pelée’s slopes, spring water filtered through volcanic soil and generations of know‑how. “While we may experiment with new cask finishes or blends, we’re not about to lose sight of our identity,” she notes. Yet Kuperminc is keen to experiment within that framework. She is excited about the range of French coopers the distillery works with and the research underway on toast levels, cask sizes and wood origins. “There are so many things to test with our rum, and we like to keep a few small barrels in our cellars as trials,” she says. For her, the charm of the job lies in this constant discovery: “I love the fact that it’s never over—there’s always something new to try or discover!”
Women in Distilling: Challenges and Inspirations
Being a woman in a traditionally male‑dominated field has presented both challenges and opportunities. She recalls the difficulty of continuing to work while pregnant in 2024: “I could no longer taste the rum for a few months, so I had to adapt—and that experience taught me to rely more on my other senses and my intuition, which I still do today.” Her message to other women considering careers in distillation is one of determination: “When you have the passion and the determination to make it work, anything can happen. That’s what I want all women to know.”
Sustainability as excellence: the EDDEN project
Kuperminc’s tenure coincides with Rhum J.M.’s deepening commitment to sustainability through the EDDEN project—short for Engagés pour le Développement Durable de nos Écosystèmes et de notre Nature. The initiative expresses the distillery’s belief that excellence in rum goes hand‑in‑hand with environmental stewardship. Launched by parent company Spiribam, EDDEN is built around three pillars: cultivating and protecting the nourishing land, producing within a circular economy to minimize impact and engaging both women and men to transmit excellence. The program reflects a broader push within the company to preserve ecosystems and nature for future generations.
Sustainable Practices: Soil Health, Circular Economy and Certifications
For Kuperminc, these pillars are more than slogans. She notes that crop rotation between sugarcane and bananas, leaving land fallow and planting vegetables help the soil “to breathe, to have a better structure” and indirectly improve fermentation by boosting sugarcane quality. The distillery’s circular‑economy practices—repurposing bagasse as boiler fuel and fertilizer, treating effluent for banana plantation irrigation and recovering plant fibres and residual liquid—are crucial for reducing environmental impact yet, she points out, have “no sensory impact on the finished product.” The cellars themselves consume little energy, as the buildings are neither heated nor air‑conditioned. The company communicates these values to staff and suppliers through welcome booklets and internal materials, emphasising that “it’s as a team that we move forward together.”
External certifications help chart the distillery’s path. Rhum J.M. joined the U.N. Global Compact, committed to planting 120 trees annually via the Péyi Vert project, and in 2023 became the first distillery in the French West Indies to earn Bonsucro certification—a global standard for sustainable sugarcane production. These achievements, Kuperminc says, “allow us to better communicate about what we’ve been doing for years” and provide a clear direction for long‑term strategies. Visitors to the distillery can learn about EDDEN through explanatory panels and special “EDDEN tours” that include exclusive access to the cane fields and harvest.
The Future of Rhum J.M.: Innovation, Organic Rum and Global Influence
The project also drives product innovation. In 2022 Rhum J.M. released its first organic white rum, produced according to circular‑economy principles. The bottle’s label is made from sugarcane fibre, exemplifying how sustainability can influence packaging as well as production. Looking ahead, Kuperminc hopes Rhum J.M.’s philosophy will inspire the wider spirits industry. “It’s only by working together and sharing this sense of responsibility that we’ll be able to make a real difference,” she says. While she anticipates economic and environmental challenges in the next decade, she has confidence that the distillery will adapt without compromising its commitment to excellence—both in the quality of its rums and in its environmental and social responsibilities.
Continuity and legacy
Asked about the legacy she hopes to leave, Kuperminc is characteristically humble. “I am simply the latest link in a long chain of passionate men and women who, over time, have shaped the spirit and taste of J.M. with great care and dedication,” she reflects. Her goal is to honour that tradition while contributing to the excellence of both white and aged rums alongside her team. In doing so, she embodies the ethos that has defined Rhum J.M. since its founding: a deep connection between spirit and land, and a commitment to making rum that tells the story of Martinique’s terroir.
Rhum J.M. is being distributed in The Netherlands by Craft Spirits Nederland and can be found at The Art of Drinks 2025.
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