Located on the site of the Rivière du Mât distillery in Beaufonds, the Cave à Rhums is not only a very pretty shop, but the only point of sale on the island where you can find all of the brand’s rums.
Far from being secondary points of sale, factory and museum boutiques are full of original and often unpublished products, which cannot be found anywhere else on the island, with the addition of own brand ranges. To treat yourself or to offer, these are places not to be overlooked, generally well designed, pleasant to discover, real concept stores. If these shops constitute the end point of tourist visits, you should know that they are directly accessible, like any business. This is also the case for the Rivière du Rum Cellar. 
Mast, last of its kind to have seen the light of day, one of the most beautiful and attractive under its apparent simplicity. Giving new life to an old, dilapidated technical room, son inauguration, November 14, 2022, concluded, somehow, ten years of modernization work at the Benedictine distillery. It reopened its doors in February. The marriage of old exposed stones and metallic design, pleasing to the eye, also gives the sense of the place when we read above the entrance that the distillery, and therefore the walls of the shop, dates from 1886. Verena Maier, factory guide, also shows the adjoining historic ruin, preserved as is to better symbolize the link between tradition and modernity that the new store represents. " For us, the Rum Cellar is a welcoming place, departure and return point for distillery tours, as well as a showcase and a place of exchange to discover and buy all the products of the distillery”, she describes.
The modernity of rum on display
Inside, unlike the usual decorative bias of boutiques, the Rum Cellar has chosen functional sobriety. It looks more like a rum bar with its large L-shaped counter, behind which the different Rivière du Mât ranges are aligned. Its design gives it a strong identity. Very appreciated, it contributes to the success of the visits, where the Reunionese are not the least numerous. “In addition to passing tourists, there is a strong interest in the field of rum among the Reunionese. There are three distilleries left on the island. Many people are interested in the Rivière du Mât distillery, whose name they know without really knowing what it covers”, explains Verena Maier. Accessible without visiting from Tuesday to Saturday, the store's other audience is a clientele of connoisseurs, some find the product they are looking for here.
Rivière du Mât rums in full
Prestigious rum families, tasting and cocktail are brought together in full. The Rum Cellar is thus the only place where the entire range of Rivière du Mât arranged rums is available.. Rivière du Mât has built its reputation on old rums : they are all there. XO blended old rums, VSOP, Great Reserve. Single casks with numbered bottles, signed by the cellar master. The last bottles of the 1997 vintage which celebrate an exceptional vintage still remembered. Agricultural rums, including OPUS 5, blend of five old agricultural rums. The rum cellar distributes the two selection boxes, old rums and arranged rums, of the brand. Finally we find the rums for cocktails : blanc, Golden, agricole, and the more recent Black Spiced and Sweet Black Spiced.
Rum Cellar : 0262 52 15 11 — resa-boutique@rivieredu mat.fr
