Takamaka Rum Distillery — Attraction in Mahé

We have been there on 19.06.2024 around 2.40 pm.. Purchased the tasting different kind of rums. I would like to start the tasting immediately but staff insisted to do it after facility visit which is done 3pm..

It started 15 min late and finished around 3.50 pm with very short tour including explanation a lot which was so so.. instructor said hundreds time OKAY which was annoying and repeating same description many many times like ‘ 3 brothers ‘

Anyway after the briefing lady said that we can test 6 standard rums or 3 premium one..

Myself and 1 german visitor we choosed the premium one.. then interesting point is starting now.. she served everyone for standard ones and we waited 20 min for nothing. Just wasting of time. After that i requested can you also serve the premium ones for only for 2 of us. We was unpolitely replied me to wait.. anyway we have waited !

Then she serves to EVERYONE for the premium even including the standard one choosers..

If you serve to everyone for all rums the why we waited such a long time just for 1 ml of rums?

Just wasting my time more than 1,5 hours totally while insisting to be waited !

The place closes at 4.30 pm and just before closing 5 minutes we ordered beef sandwich and mentinoned 3 times in order to cook it well done due to pregnancy of my wife.. dish was served medium !

As a result you dont need to waste your time for the tour where you can get the details from chatgpt ! Also do not waste your 150 rupee for premium tasting..

Last Not but least internationally rum + coke coctail in well know cuba libre ! You can choose the rum whatever you want ! So even if i request it the responsible lady should not be get angry and has to behave...

Simply, visit this place. What a discovery this rum is... My wife really likes the dark spiced version and she doesn't even enjoy rum usually. The tour is free and runs at 11am, 1:30pm and 3:00pm from memory, but check the times with the staff when you arrive - they ring a bell to let guests know that the tour is due to begin. The sampling after the tour is good fun, for 150 rupees, with a choice of either the stronger (40%+ abv) rums or the cocktail types, with a lower alcohol content, around 25 abv I believe. We went for the premium choice and ended up taking a bottle of the Distiller's version as I loved it from the tasting (and you can't get it anywhere else other than upstairs at the Takamaka shop at the airport). The tour guide, Laurence, was informative, humourous, and as laid back as most of the local people seem to be. It was really enjoyable. There is a garden behind the main building (which has a small museum) with descriptions of each herb, bush and tree, and invariably their medicinal qualities - we took pictures of each in case we could find the herbs on return home). Also, a couple of giant tortoises, named Taka and Maka are in residence in the same garden. They're pretty tame (and very slow-moving), but watch out for their bite as they potentially can bite through skin and bone... Overall, it's a great visit, with merchandise to be had. Take a number 5 bus from Victoria, and use your phone for your location - the stops are frequent, so you won't have a walk...

The visit is indeed free, there are complimentary guided tours at 11am,1pm and 3pm and they include a tasting as well. But when asked if you want to take the tasting that costs 125 SCR, say NO and when you walk in, DON'T take the bracelet . The guided tour includes the same tasting but if you have the bracelet they make you pay for it as if you took the extra rum tasting besides the complimentary one. It's not a matter of the price as 125 SCR is not much but I didn't at all appreciate the way they make us feel when they charged us just because we had a bracelet and didn't charge other tourists who also had the same tasting - just because they didn't have a bracelet. It's simply not fair, they are poorly organized, unprofessional and besides the owner and is arrogant and the cashier speaks to you as if that's the last place on earth where she wants to be. Takamaka is a cheap rum with a very strong marketing campaign (rum made from melasa and from a press machine is by default cheap) but hey, you're only visiting the distillery once right? Btw, Takamaka at the duty free in the airport in the 1L bottle has the same price as the 0,7l bottle you find at the distillery or at the...