Habitation Lajus

Habitation Lajus is a former distillery operation in Martinique and the historic home of the J. Bally brand of rhum agricole. The Lajus estate dates back to 1670 and is named after the 18th century French politician and diplomat, Baron Jean Baptiste de Lajus. It was bought by Jacques Bally in 1917 who built its distillery in 1920 on the remains of one of its old sugar mills. An engineer who trained at Ecole Centrale de Paris, he built his own Créole column still and steam engine, later supplementing them with equipment from Habitation Dariste in 1925.

The distillery began laying down its rum in oak casks in 1924 and was the first to sell it by the bottle, starting in the 1930s. Jacques died in 1963 and the distillery inherited by his son Jean Bally. He was then elected general councillor of Martinique the following year, passing the distillery to his nephew (and Jacques' grandson) Gérard Assier de Pompignan who eventually closed it in 1976. Its column still was then transferred to Saint James along with production of the J. Bally brand, although some ageing facilities were retained at Lajus.