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Sangsom Thai Rum, 70 cl

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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Towards the end of my time there, I discovered the Double Helix Wine & Whiskey Lounge on a date in Town Square. This delightful place offered, and still does, dozens of amazing Scotches, ryes and bourbons, and it was there that a lightbulb went off: whisk(e)y was not just a grandpa’s drink. Anyone could enjoy its flavor nuances, just like wine. Equally as discreet in its labeling, Niikki Pure Spirit’s gin has a strong hit of juniper, courtesy of berries imported from Tuscany, Italy. Into the mix, this Chiang Mai-based company adds locally grown botanicals like oolong tea and coriander seeds. It’s very floral and a little sweet, perfect for a simple mix like gin and tonic, topped with a slice of lemon. Edelbrand markets its vodka under the Kristall brand, with a “V” to distinguish it from the gin and rum products. Made using sam pa tong rice, the flavor is mild and smooth. Like Grandma Jinn’s, Iron Balls treads lightly when it comes to the name, describing itself on the bottle simply as “engineered alcohol” (see the pun?). Make no mistake though: with its light chord of imported juniper berries, Iron Balls is easily identifiable as a gin—and a very Thai one at that, with a punch of lemongrass, coriander, coconut and ginger.

Fortress of Hong Thong – 35%, and this drink sold in flat small bottles and standard bottles of 0,7 liters with a label light beige color, on which is written the name in big red letters. Larger bottles are sold in gift boxes of red color. Unlike brand Mekhong, whiskey Hong Tong I occasionally buy and drink, pre-cooled in a refrigerator of hotel (this drink in a warm as it seems to me nasty). But for drink at home i still never take Hong Thong whiskey from Thailand and like souvenir too. Sang Thip Whiskey Only about 10 percent of the rums worldwide are made this way,” says Thibault Spithakis, the French distiller who founded Chalong Bay and now runs the distillery as an open bar and workshop where visitors can learn about the rum-making process. “While respecting the tradition of rum making we use a novel approach that involves innovative craftsmanship, sustainable production and local enterprise.” Produced from Thai sugar cane and has a strength of 40% proof (which is apparently a little questionable in terms of stability). The rum has reportedly been awarded various international medals along with being exported to 20-odd countries, although its export sales account for only one percent of total sales. Thai law prohibits making any spirits above 40 percent volume. “To really exist in the export market we must be able to export products whose alcohol contents is over 40-percent,” says Issan Rum’s David Giallorenzo. “This being prohibited by Thai law closes any possibility of a real development on the export market.” Like Chalong Bay, Koh Samui Rum is made from pure sugarcane grown in Thailand, which is distilled then refined for a minimum of one year in a stainless steel tank for a better taste. They are also both strictly white-spirit only, owing to Thai law, which has since 1998 outlawed barrel aging for all but the biggest of distilleries.So by now, you are probably getting the idea about how Thai ‘whisky’ has little to do with grain, taste, or even quality — and everything to do with price, alcohol content, and available natural resources (in this case being sugar cane and, to a lesser extent, rice). On the nose: molasses and burnt caramel, with a small hint of citrus and spice hiding in the shadows. According to a myriad of sources, the rum was crafted in 1977 and does contain additives and coloring that make it a less-than-pure spirit. As I saw in Koh Samui, it’s often listed under “whiskey” on a restaurant’s list of liquors, but it is made from molasses. Aged for approximately three years, it comes in at 40% ABV with a light golden hue that complements its taste and makes it perfect for a long nap by the pool. This is the drink that is almost on a par with Sangsom, and although it is again often given the ‘whisky’ moniker, it is also distilled largely from sugar cane and rice (on a 95/5 percent ratio) to a mere 35% proof. Traveling northeast, Surin province’s Malai Thai Rum has also achieved a presence in many of Bangkok’s top bars. Thai nationalKaustav Bagchi founded the distilling enterprise in 2012 under the name Lamai. Not only does heuse 100-percent sugarcane, but all of it is sourced from a farm in the province. Smooth and grassy, Malai’s unaged rum tastes perfect in a mojito, as the grassy notes blend really well with mint and any other drinks with herbs in them.

Most Thai drinkers believe this to be whisky but it is actually the most renowned Thai rum (for various reasons) on the market. It is actually a pretty popular local drink but is not necessarily for rum connoisseurs. This unlevel playing field has paved the way for a new, high-end label from one of the biggest names in local alcohol: Thaibev. In 2011, the company behind Chang Beer and Sangsom launched Phraya Rum, a brown spirit whose rich, intense (and barrel-aged) characteristics have found favor with award-winning bartenders from The Bamboo Bar to Vesper. Rural Thai communities and villages have distilled their own alcohol for decades, and the practice remains commercially legal thanks to the One Tambon One Product scheme set up in 2001 to support local industries.

SangSom Thai Rum – Jeff’s Review

SangSom (แสงโสม) is a rum from Thailand, distilled from sugarcane. It was introduced in November 1977 and has since become a dominant brand in the Thai spirits market. Over 70 million litres are sold in Thailand each year, achieving a market share of more than 70 percent in its category. Mekhong ‘whiskey’ was the first spirit to be produced domestically in Thailand (at least legally) on a mass scale in 1941, around the time that Thailand had reclaimed territory previously lost to the French colonialists.

The beverage is virtually unheard of outside Thailand. The manufacturers, SangSom Company, export to around 20 countries, but export sales account for barely one percent of total sales. SangSom Company is a member of Thai Beverage Public Company, which itself is a group company of International Beverage Holdings Limited. Lao Khao comes in dark brown bottles that look a little like beer bottles, and there are 2 different sizes with a volume of 0.33 litres and the larger 0.625 litres. According to regulations updated in 2017 from the Ministry of Industry, to distill whiskey, brandy and gin, you have to be making 30,000 liters per day. All other kinds of alcohol require 90,000 liters per day. Despite the fact that this is the Mekhong whiskey to taste it is closer to the classic rum than Sang Som, because it serves as a raw material for molasses from sugar cane (95%) and Thai rice (5%). The manufacturer claims that the composition is also added to a mixture of Thai herbs, spices and plant roots, the recipe of which is kept in the strictest confidence. Alcohol content in Mekhong whiskey – 35%. Compared with SangSom rum, taste of the Mekhong whiskey in my opinion worse, tighter. But this is my opinion and you may think differently, so try for yourself. He decided to change the laws regarding the authorized hours for the sale of alcohol. This led to the rather puzzling permitted hours of alcohol sales that are still in place today, from midnight until 11.00 am, with further restrictions in the afternoon between 14.00 and 17.00.

Abigail’s Conclusions

Hong Thong is another 35% proof Thai spirit, and is also sold in flat, small bottles and standard 70cl bottles. This year, I chose to hop around Asia. My first stint was in Koh Samui, Thailand, where I suffered/enjoyed a 90-minute Muay Thai workout most days. The others, I explored the unexpected number of Italian restaurants and bars, Thai food and night markets that cluster Lamai Beach, where I had the pleasure of staying. This Thai spirit is not mixed with ice and soda and is drunk neat. It is strictly for hard-core drinkers on a budget, and any foreigners making the mistake of trying to buy it from a store usually attract blank and genuinely puzzled stares. So the days of bars, restaurants, and even shops selling alcohol 24/7 are long in the past in Thailand, although there are seemingly still a fair few drinkers in the nation who don’t have a problem working around that. Either way, drinking forms an integral part of socializing in Thailand for a high proportion of the population.

I tired sipping a little of this rum and was surprised to find that it wasn’t too bad. I added my usual cola and found the rum to be a fruity lightly spiced rum. It’s quite distinctive. I’m not sure what goes into the blend but a number of spiced rum producers could certainly learn a thing or two from these guys. Such alcohol in Thailand, as the grape wine is not too popular with the locals, because the culture of wine was born in the country of just over 30 years ago, and in the sale of the first Thai wine appeared only in 1995 under the name Chateau de Loei. Therefore, in the most of the stores you can find not local, but imported wine from Chile, New Zealand, Australia, and from Europe. The minimum price for a bottle in the supermarket 200-300 THB. The cost of a good old wine from major world producers comes to 1000-1500 baht per bottle. Thai wine is also represented in the supermarkets of the country mainly from the company Siam Winery, which owns a large number of vineyards in the district of Hua-Hin. Further north in Nong Khai, Issan Rum began with a team of five people in 2011 and has since expanded to a team of 30, nearly all of whom are women. Here, they peel the sugarcane before pressing it to reduce the sour taste and bring out the herbal and floral flavors. The results earned Issan Rum a silver medal at the IWSC Hong Kong in 2014. A year later, they won bronze in Rum Fest Paris’s “Less than 50%” category and gold medal in the special jury prize. It initially came from a privately-owned company that was eventually taken over by the government, whose intention was to reduce the amount of revenue being spent on imported whisky (as well as stoke a bit of patriotism). Eventually, the rights were leased out by the government and these days it is owned by the massive Thai Beverage Inc.

CRAFTSMANSHIP

One of the newest Thai spirits on the market also takes on the vodka market. Finland natives Mika Tikka and Jouni Heinonen partnered with San Miguel to distill Bangkok Vodkain Kanchanaburi. “When we created Bangkok Vodka, we weren’t thinking of the tourists, but we wanted Thai people to be proud that Thailand now can also do premium spirits,” says Heinonen. “I really believe that Thai people love to drink Thai drinks. For example, Thai craft beer is really growing and why is that? Because people want something different.” The term ‘whisky’ is somewhat generic in Thailand, and is often applied to pretty much any kind of spirit other than wine or beer. Which can be a little confusing for visitors who are offered ‘whisky’ that actually turns out to be rum, rice vodka, or some other blend of spirits. I figured I would try this Thai rum as it wasn’t too expensive and being from Thailand it definitely wasn’t going to be a Caribbean rum. Find sources: "SangSom"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( August 2017) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Who: Malai, Kristall, Niikki and small-batch village products like Chiang Mai’s S-Berry (made from unripened strawberries).

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