Home / Experience Mauritius / Distilleries & Winery / St Aubin
An 1819 sugar estate in the south, where a colonial house built from ship timber sits among vanilla houses, anthurium nurseries and an artisanal rum distillery — and lunch is served at the family table.
Saint Aubin was founded in 1819 and takes its name from its first owner. The house at its heart is one of the finest colonial residences on the island — shingled roof, deep verandas, period furniture — and was built largely from ship timber, a detail you notice once it is pointed out. It originally stood beside the factory and was moved in the 1970s so the family could sleep away from the noise. The estate no longer refines sugar, but the grounds around the house still work: vanilla, anthuriums, spices and cane.
A visit follows the estate’s produce rather than a single production line. It usually opens with a short film on cane processing, then the Vanilla House, where you see pods being cured and sorted and learn why the crop is so labour-intensive and so expensive. From there the route passes through the tropical gardens and the anthurium nursery to the Maison du Rhum, a small artisanal distillery producing agricultural rum from fresh cane juice — fangourin — aged in oak and bottled as Saint Aubin 1819, with a tasting at the end. The distillery is a working artisanal set-up rather than an industrial plant, so expect scale accordingly. What many visitors rate highest is lunch: the table d’hôte in the old house serves a set Mauritian menu built on estate produce — palm heart, tropical fruit, local spices — in a dining room that has barely changed in a century. Reserve for that.
Open daily, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Restaurant open for lunch — reservation advised
Guided visit times vary through the day
Little beyond a camera and an appetite. Book the table d’hôte ahead, and bring a designated driver if you plan to work through the tasting.
Gardens and ground floor are mostly level, with parking on site. Guided visit times vary through the day and the estate is quieter mid-morning; reserve for meals at the table d’hôte.
A couple of minutes away: a thousand Aldabra giant tortoises you can walk among, plus crocodiles and a shaded river valley.
The other half of the Route du Thé, up on the plateau — the island’s oldest tea estate, with a factory tour and hilltop tasting.
Fifteen minutes towards the coast: water dropping over square basalt columns into a pool you can swim in.
La Plantation de Saint Aubin,
Rivière des Anguilles,
Savanne District, Mauritius
Around 1 hour from Port Louis
Approximately 35–40 minutes from the airport
Around 15 minutes from Souillac
Signposted off the main road at Rivière des Anguilles, on the Route du Thé between Souillac and Bois Chéri, with parking at the estate entrance.
A sugar estate founded in 1819 near Rivière des Anguilles, built around a colonial house made largely of ship timber. The estate no longer refines sugar but still grows vanilla, anthuriums and spices, and runs an artisanal rum distillery.
A film on cane processing, the Vanilla House where pods are cured and sorted, the tropical gardens and anthurium nursery, and the Maison du Rhum distillery, ending with a tasting of the estate’s agricultural rums.
Yes, on a small artisanal scale, from fresh cane juice — fangourin — rather than molasses, and aged in oak as Saint Aubin 1819. It is a modest working set-up, not an industrial distillery, which is worth knowing before you arrive.
Yes, and it is one of the highlights. The table d’hôte in the old house serves a set Mauritian menu built on estate produce — palm heart, tropical fruit and local spices. Reserve in advance.
The estate is open daily from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Guided visit times vary through the day, and the restaurant serves lunch by reservation, so book if you plan to eat at the house.