After each glass of the Mekhong, I want to drink something more enjoyable, so it is best to dilute this whiskey with cola or other soft drinks. Despite a long history (first released in 1941) and love for him Thais themselves, a brand, a former long time the most popular in the country, gradually lost their positions, and from 2010 this brand vooobsche not produced till 2011 (in this period production and brand was sold to the new owner). Personally, I did not like the Mekhong whiskey, bought more than once, and no such desire, because I like to drink in the pure form. But everyone has different tastes, so you can try, because this drink cheaper than SangSom. Hong Thong Whiskey

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.” Since this is my first review, I decided to ask someone whose ability to combine apt, well-formed descriptions impressed me upon our first whiskey tasting together. Jeff Harrison, aka @whiskyguykorea, shared some amazing places in South Korea to drink bourbon when we met, but he also knows area spirits. Having lived in Asia for the better part of 30 years, he is better acquainted with Sangsom than me. Consequently, his notes are also included in hopes of better equipping you, dear reader, with the most accurate perspective. 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. 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.”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. It’s not a typical rum, if I had been told it was something other than rum I would have believed it. It doesn’t taste instantly like a typical rum. Who: Malai, Kristall, Niikki and small-batch village products like Chiang Mai’s S-Berry (made from unripened strawberries). But the exclusivity of Bangkok Vodka is nothing to our next locally distilled vodka: Barrelhouse 53. Served only at the high-end Bamboo Bar, this initiative sees the Mandarin Oriental’s beverage director, Jamie Rhind, team up with local booze outfit Bootleggers Trading Co. to distill alongside Malai rum at the Lamai distillery in northern Thailand. Using sweet potato rather than sugar cane or rice as its main ingredient, the vodka rings with earthy notes and a long finish.

Produced alongside Malai rum in Surin, Grandma Jinn’s barely disguised name hints at the shaky legal territory that many of Thailand’s craft spirits work under. If you’re not producing on a big, commercial scale (see box) then you can only produce spirits under the One Tambon One Product [OTOP] program founded by Thaksin Shinawatra in 2001 to help promote village industries. Makers are banned from identifying their products as rum, vodka or gin, hence why Grandma “Jinn” (a reference to one of the founder’s mother-in-law) is not officially a gin, despite its juniper-led mixture of botanicals—many of them local. Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. 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).Hong Thong (translated as ‘golden phoenix’) is another very cheap and cheerful ‘whisky’ from the Thai Beverage Company that also has more ‘H’s than is necessary for the spelling. 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.” 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. 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. The availability of alcohol in Thailand, even for the locals and a large number of tourists has led to the fact that the Kingdom of Thailand is included in the global top five in alcohol consumption per capita. However, it is worth noting that the alcoholic beverages consumed in Thailand is not the same uniform. Thus, the share of the country’s southern provinces, where the population is predominantly Muslim, is not more than 8% on the amount of alcohol consumed annually. Conversely, in the north, where there are mostly Buddhists and is cold enough (by Thai standards) at night in the winter, the locals drink many times more. Of course, a huge amount of alcohol consumed in the popular resorts of Thailand, where the most favorable conditions are created for this. Even people who do not drink alcohol almost everyday life in Thailand often can not resist the temptation to try the local drink of varying degrees of fortress, in spite of the fact that to enjoy your vacation in this country and feel a sense of euphoria, you can be absolutely sober.

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. 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. 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. This rum is aged for around 3 years. It has a nice golden brown,rather than orange colour to it. Upon pouring and smelling the rum it smelt quite delicately spiced.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. I’d read a little about Sang Som rum and it had been quite popular up until the 1980’s, winning numerous medals but for one reason or another it all but disappeared outside of Thailand. And there are always innovative entrepreneurial types in Thailand, particularly in Bangkok, who are looking to create or add to current or existing trends. It is this spirit that is behind the growing range of craft beers that have been appearing on shelves and in bars in the last few years. 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.