Sangsom Thai Rum, 70 cl

Product Information

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.

Find sources: "SangSom"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( August 2017) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) 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. 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.

BRAND BELIEF

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. 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. 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. 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. 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.”

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. 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. 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. 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.Officially described as a Thai distilled spirit, ‘Lao Khao’ — which translates as rice whisky – is the strongest, the cheapest, and absolutely the most popular spirit in Thailand for the lower end of the low-income classes. It’s 40% proof and distilled from main rice, with a taste and smell guaranteed to strip paint from 10 paces away. 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. On the nose: molasses and burnt caramel, with a small hint of citrus and spice hiding in the shadows. 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. 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.

Like the other ‘whiskies’ Sangsom and Mekhong, Hong Tong is also made largely from molasses, which is no surprise really considering how easily sugar cane grows in Thailand. 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. 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.Lao Khao is the closest thing to moonshine that is legally available in Thailand and is particularly popular among the populations of the North and Northeast. You are unlikely to find it in any restaurants or bars, but every 7-Eleven and side street local store shifts tons of the stuff on a daily basis. Also, the sale of alcohol is completely banned in some important national holidays, such as the birthday of the King or Queen, etc. A ban on alcohol sales in Thailand are often announced and during the elections to various state authorities. What to do if you want to drink alcohol, but its stores do not sell even beer ? Firstly, many bars at your disposal. Second, a minimum set of alcohol in Thailand is usually contained in the mini-bar hotel. Third, you should remember the main holidays in Thailand (at the same time learn the culture of the country). By law, alcohol is not sold in stores near schools, churches, especially mosques, shops and gas stations. Also, be aware that the sale of alcohol in Thailand is only allowed to persons with the age after 20 years. However, such a restriction on tourists especially are not covered, so that even high school graduates and first-year students can be assured that they will not go without alcohol, and to drink or not to drink – it’s up to them. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.This list wouldn’t be complete without at least a nod towards one of the growing number of Thai brandies on the market.