The distillery, initially called Carrère, was founded in 1930. After a very rapid progression, the activity slowed down little by little from the Second World War until 1968, when it almost disappeared. It was in that year that Jean Marsolle and his son Alain, from a family that had been established in Guadeloupe for several generations, bought it.
In 1975, the distillery was modernized and production was relaunched. It changed its name to Montebello and became the third largest producer in Guadeloupe. Since January 2012, Grégory Marsolle, Alain’s son, has taken over the reins of the family distillery. Production has been further improved.
To produce its rum, the Montebello distillery has the particularity of using only cane harvested by hand from the volcanic regions of Petit-Bourg, Goyave, Basse-Terre, Lamentin and Sainte-Rose. It is also one of the last distilleries in the Caribbean using steam engines. All the waste is now reused: the bagasse from the pressed cane is used as fuel.
Unlike most distilleries, Montebello ferments the cane juice for 48 to 52 hours (instead of 18 to 36 hours as a general rule) after extraction (also called vesou). This additional fermentation time allows the cane juice to reveal its full expression
The second production characteristic that distinguishes Montebello rums from others takes place during maturation. The oak barrels containing the rum are placed in large metal containers where the temperature is higher. The purpose of this operation is to allow faster extraction of the alcohol.