The roots of the Claeyssens family were in Bruges where they were citizens and traders in the 16th century. During the Brabant Revolution (1789-1790) they flew to just across the border in France. They bought the Wambrechies mill to produce linseed oil.
About 1810 Joseph Claeyssens met the Rhinelander Henri Lenssen, a specialist in distilling. In 1815, both men converted the mill into a distillery, which went into production in 1817. At the end of the 19th century, when the ‘genièvre’ (jenever) consumption in the industrial areas of Northern France rose spectacularly, the distillery saw a large expansion.
During the First World War, although the goods of the family were confiscated by the occupier, the production plant wasn’t touched. After the Armistice, one thus could immediately start distilling again. The 1920s and 1930s meant a peak in production, sales and profits. During the Second World War a number of buildings were damaged and the German army confiscated the complete stock. Only since 1947 one could again start distilling. But in the mean time the taste had changed and the number of traditional customers, miners and textile workers, decreased rapidly.
In 1998, the company was almost bankrupt, but was taken over by Belgian ‘Grandes Distilleries de Charleroi’. In 1999, the production plant was protected as a monument by the French Ministry of Culture, in 2000 also the buildings.
It now is a unique site, a real time capsule, where two-century-old technique and a traditional product are honored