Visiting the Rhumerie de Chamarel rum distillery
The Rhumerie de Chamarel’s guided visit and rum tasting costs Rs 800 per person and runs Monday to Saturday from 09:30 to 16:30 without booking, and the distillery is closed on Sundays (checked on 29 October 2026). The distillery opened in 2008 on the Domaine de l’Exil, a cane estate on the hill above Chamarel village, and makes its rum only from the juice of its own cane. The tour takes about 30 minutes and ends with the tasting, and lunch at L’Alchimiste, the estate restaurant, includes the visit.
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Rhumerie de Chamarel entrance fee and opening hours
The Rhumerie de Chamarel charges Rs 800 per person for its guided visit and rum tasting, which runs Monday to Saturday from 09:30 to 16:30 with no reservation, and the distillery is closed on Sundays (checked on 29 October 2026). Visitors aged 16 and 17 pay Rs 400, and the private visit costs Rs 1,500 per person on booking. The table below gives the full hours and prices.
The standard visit is first come, first served. Allow about 20 minutes at reception before a group sets off, then about 30 minutes for the tour, which ends with the tasting, so close to an hour in all. The tasting is part of the Rs 800 price, not an extra.
Sunday is the day to avoid. The Rhumerie de Chamarel and the lunch service at its restaurant, L’Alchimiste, both keep a Monday to Saturday week, while the Chamarel 7 Coloured Earth Geopark opens every day, so on a Sunday change the order of your plans rather than drive up for nothing.
| Days | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday to Saturday | 09:30 to 16:30 |
| Sunday | Closed |
Guided visit and tasting Monday to Saturday, closed on Sundays. No booking is needed for the standard visit; expect about 20 minutes’ wait at reception. Visitors aged 16 and 17 pay a lower rate for the visit. The L’Alchimiste restaurant serves lunch Monday to Saturday from 11:30 to 15:30.
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Visit and tasting, per person | Rs 800 |
| Visit only, age 16 to 17 | Rs 400 |
| Private visit, per person, booking required | Rs 1,500 |
Lunch at L’Alchimiste includes the standard visit and tasting.
Choosing between the standard and the private visit
The standard visit suits most people. It costs Rs 800, needs no booking and can be joined at any time during opening hours, from 09:30 to 16:30, Monday to Saturday (as published in October 2026).
The private visit costs Rs 1,500 per person, must be booked, runs Monday to Saturday from 09:30 to 15:30 and takes at most 15 people per slot (as published in October 2026). It is the right choice for a family or a group of friends who want the guide and the tasting to themselves, and for anyone who wants a fixed time rather than a turn at reception.
Book the private visit by phone on +230 483 4980, by mobile on +230 5 988 4199 or through the distillery’s online booking form.
The estate behind Chamarel rum
Chamarel rum comes from the Domaine de l’Exil, a cane estate in Chamarel that the Couacaud family bought in 1996. In 2008 the family built a distillery there to make rum only from the juice of the estate’s own cane.
The cane grows on 220 hectares in a valley about 300 m above the south-west coast, with a microclimate of its own. The company, L’Exil Ltée, is run by the two eldest brothers of the family’s next generation, and the building, by the Mauritian architect Maurice Giraud, is made of wood, natural stone and water. The 2026 harvest is the 18th since the distillery opened.
Visitor numbers have been high from the start, about 15,000 a month across the distillery and estate five years after opening, in a count last updated in 2013. The longer story of the hill, from the de Chazal family to sugar and coffee, is on the history page.
What you see in the factory, and when the harvest runs
The factory is at its busiest during the cane harvest, which generally runs from June to December, and access to the factory floor depends on that season.
In season, the cane is cut by hand and never burned, and it reaches the mill within about four hours. It is shredded and crushed for its juice, the vesou, which is fermented with yeast and filtered water before distillation.
The Rhumerie de Chamarel combines copper pot stills with distillation columns, rests the new spirit in stainless steel tanks and then ages it in oak casks. The guided route follows that sequence from the cane to the bottling room, past the copper stills and the cellars of oak barrels, and ends with the tasting beside the shop. Outside the harvest the visit still runs Monday to Saturday, so ask at reception what is in production that day.
Age rules for teenagers and children
The Rhumerie de Chamarel charges Rs 400 for visitors aged 16 and 17, half the adult price, and asks every visitor to confirm they are 18 or over (as published in October 2026).
No rate is published for children under 16, and the published terms do not say whether younger children may join the tour. With younger children, call the Rhumerie de Chamarel on +230 483 4980 before driving up. The easier stop with children on the hill is the Chamarel 7 Coloured Earth Geopark, with its giant tortoises.
Lunch at L’Alchimiste includes the visit
L’Alchimiste, the Rhumerie de Chamarel’s restaurant, serves lunch Monday to Saturday from 11:30 to 15:30, and the lunch price includes the standard visit and tasting, though not the private visit (as published in October 2026).
The restaurant seats 80 and cooks with the estate’s produce, grown by sustainable methods where possible, including heart of palm, venison and wild boar, with a list of wines from elsewhere to match. Lunch is à la carte on reservation, and dinner is served only by reservation.
Tea, crêpes and pastries are served on the terrace. No prices are published for the restaurant, so ask when you book on +230 483 4980. The visit and tasting come with lunch as a matter of course, so there is no need to pay for them separately.
Chamarel rum, the range as published
Chamarel rum, as published by the Rhumerie de Chamarel in October 2026, runs from white rums at 40% to 50% alcohol and liqueurs at 35% to aged rums of up to eight years, all built on rum distilled from the estate’s own cane.
The house also releases limited and new editions, among them Chamarel 52, made from cane cut at the end of the season, a passion fruit liqueur and single-estate rums of 8, 9 and 10 years, including twin 9-year rums aged in new American oak and in new French oak. The tasting after the visit covers white rums, wood-aged rums, old rums, rhums arrangés and liqueurs.
The Rhumerie de Chamarel publishes no bottle prices (checked on 29 October 2026), so the price of a bottle is what the shop charges on the day.
| Style | Rums | Strength | Ageing |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | Classic 40, Classic 50, Double Distilled small batch | 40%, 50% and 44% | Not stated |
| Gold and spiced | Gold, Spiced, Exotic Spices, Spiced Dark | Not stated | 18 months in oak for the Gold and the Spiced Dark |
| Liqueurs | Vanilla, Coffee, Coconut, Mandarin, Pineapple | 35% | At least 3 months of maceration |
| Aged | VS, VSOP, XO | 40%, 41% and 43% | 3 to 4, 4 to 6 and 6 to 8 years |
| Cask finishes | Bourbon, Pedro Ximénez, Sauternes | 45% | 8 years, 6 in French oak and 2 in the finishing cask |
| Extra Old | Limited pot-still edition | Not stated | From barrels dated 2012 and 2014 |
Driving after the tasting
If you are driving, keep the tasting to a sip or two. Driving with alcohol above the prescribed limit is an offence under section 123F of the Road Traffic Act of Mauritius.
The published figures for the Mauritian limit do not agree, so no figure is given here. The white rums on the list run up to 50% alcohol, and the safe plan is a driver who does not drink, a taxi or a car with a driver for the day.
The Rhumerie de Chamarel stands about 0.6 km south-east of Chamarel church, and every way off the hill is a winding mountain road, whether you go down the hairpins to Case Noyale or up across the Plaine Champagne plateau.
Questions people ask
Is the Rhumerie de Chamarel open on Sundays?
No. The Rhumerie de Chamarel is closed on Sundays. Guided visits with tasting run Monday to Saturday from 09:30 to 16:30, private visits from 09:30 to 15:30, and lunch at L’Alchimiste from 11:30 to 15:30 on the same days (as published in October 2026). On a Sunday, the Chamarel 7 Coloured Earth Geopark, which opens every day, is the better plan.
How much is the Rhumerie de Chamarel entrance fee?
The Rhumerie de Chamarel charges Rs 800 per person for the guided visit with tasting, Rs 400 for visitors aged 16 and 17, and Rs 1,500 per person for the private visit, which must be booked (checked on 29 October 2026). Lunch at L’Alchimiste, the distillery’s restaurant, includes the standard visit and tasting in its price.
Do I need to book the Rhumerie de Chamarel tour?
No booking is needed for the standard Rhumerie de Chamarel visit and tasting, which runs Monday to Saturday from 09:30 to 16:30, though allow about 20 minutes at reception before a group sets off. The private visit, at Rs 1,500 per person, must be booked and takes up to 15 people per slot (as published in October 2026). Call +230 483 4980 to book.
Can children visit the Rhumerie de Chamarel?
The Rhumerie de Chamarel publishes a Rs 400 rate for visitors aged 16 and 17 and no rate for younger children, and asks every visitor to confirm they are 18 or over (as published in October 2026). With children under 16, phone +230 483 4980 before going, because the published terms do not say whether younger children can join the tour.
What is the price of Chamarel rum?
The Rhumerie de Chamarel publishes no bottle prices (checked on 29 October 2026), so the price of Chamarel rum is what the shop charges on the day of your visit. The range runs from white rums at 40% to 50% alcohol and liqueurs at 35% to aged VS, VSOP and XO rums and eight-year cask finishes at 45%.
Which Chamarel rum should I taste first?
No official ranking of Chamarel rums exists, so taste across the range. The tasting at the end of the Rhumerie de Chamarel visit covers white rums, wood-aged rums, old rums, rhums arrangés and liqueurs. On the published list, the XO is aged 6 to 8 years at 43% and the cask finishes 8 years at 45%, against 40% to 50% for the white rums.
When is the cane harvest at the Rhumerie de Chamarel?
The cane harvest at the Rhumerie de Chamarel generally runs from June to December, the months when access to the factory floor is most likely. The distillery has announced the start of its 2026 harvest, the 18th since it opened in 2008. Outside those months the guided visit still runs Monday to Saturday, so ask at reception what is in production that day.
Fit the distillery into the day
The day plans show how the Rhumerie de Chamarel, the coloured earth and the waterfall fit into one day on the hill.