Sangsom Thai Rum, 70 cl

Product Information

With its stately frosted bottle and crisp blue logo, Bangkok Vodka looks every bit the Millennial product. The taste is equally clean and elegant, with a 40-percent ABV rating and touch of sweetness that means you can enjoy it even at room temperature.

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. 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.

BRAND BELIEF

This list wouldn’t be complete without at least a nod towards one of the growing number of Thai brandies on the market.

This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services. 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). 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. 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.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. 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 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.

I’m Thai and I saw that we have all the best agricultural products to use in the manufacture of spirits,” says Kaustav Bagchi, one of the spirit’s founders, whose team creates Grandma’s base spirit using Thai sugarcane juice. With that, they infuse juniper, ginger root, angelica root and safflower. 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. 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 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.

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.” 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. It is named after one of the largest rivers in the country, if not in SE Asia, and sold in small, flat-looking half bottles as well as the larger 70cl ones.