Sipping Rhum Clément 10-year old Grande Reserve Tres Vieux, a special-edition rum aged in a combination of French and American barrels, may mentally transport you to the tropical idyll of Martinique, but the man behind import, sales, distribution, and marketing of his family’s Rhum Clément does does his business from a decidedly temperate place: Brunswick, Maine.
Benjamin Mélin Jones grew up in Maine, but his mother’s family has owned a rum distillery in Martinique since 1887. “After moving to New York in the late sixties, she answered an ad to teach French in Portland, without a clue as to where that was,” says Jones. “She’s been in Maine ever since.” Growing up, Jones frequently visited Martinique. He remembers being hoisted up by his uncle, George-Louis Clément, to sample the drip of pure white rum straight from the still. “Back in Maine, our family sipped the aged rum to escape the cold,” Jones says, “Maine and Martinique were the yin and yang of my childhood.”
After college, Jones worked in Paris and New York City in the world of finance, only to become disillusioned. While living abroad, he developed a passion for Hoegarden, a Belgian white beer. Returning to Maine for a period of soul searching, he latched on to a local brewery’s version, Allagash White. So fervent was his enthusiasm that he offered to work on the bottling line in return for free beer, all the while maintaining steady bartending gigs in the evenings. The two experiences led him to the craft beverage business, and after a short stint working with a wine importer, Jones’ thoughts returned to the Martinique rum that he had grown up with…
