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South East Asia Series - Thailand - Gin Distilleries
Thailand has a long history of small scale homemade white spirits, especially in the rural areas where the sweet alcoholic brew sato has been made for decades, but it was only on 2003 that the Thailand Liquor Act allowed small producers and households the right to legally produce fermented or distilled alcohol. This is commonly known as a village distillery license. However, this only applies to clear spirits and they are not permitted to specify the type of spirit. So they cannot label it vodka, gin or rum and may only state it's a white spirit, so even dark rum is still illegal. This has obviously led to a little creativity with regards labelling for some brands.
Ashley Sutton, a bar and nightclub owner established the Iron Balls Distillery
in 2015 - the first distillery to have a licence granted in Thailand in 31 years. They had a bit of a nightmare getting to market though, trying to convince authorities what they were doing was safe and even their bottle and percentage of alcohol were initially rejected locally. They are not yet shipping directly to the UK (you can buy via Europe), but they tell me it won't be long!
Chalong Bay Distillery
and Bar in Phuket produce Chalong Bay Cane Spirit (a rum) and in March 2021 released a gin onto the market called Saneha
(meaning passion) distilled using a sugarcane base. The bottle is Art Deco inspired and they market it as Thai Jungle Essence!
You'll also find brands like Grandma Jinn's, Kristall, Niikki Cristal G, Spirit of Kata Rocks
(from the Kata Rocks resort in Phuket and using Peruvian juniper) - none of which state gin anywhere on the labels, but are marketed as gin, due to the addition of juniper in the botanical lineup. So fear not if you are in Thailand and want to try a local gin and can't see one on a bar shelf - they definitely do produce gin, just can't label it as such!
Where did our Christmas traditions start? This blogpost explores some of our favourite Christmas traditions, discovering where they came from, when they started and why we enjoy them year after year.
For the past few years I've set myself a 12 Days of Christmas challenge with a gin-twist! The theme is loosely based on the song "Twelve Days of Christmas" and it's a gin-terpretation (yes, a made up word!) of the song! I have posted brands and cocktails which relate to each of the 12 gifts and last year chose to use gins that had numbers in their branding. Whilst this is a personal challenge, it's open to everyone, so if you want to join in for a few or all of the days, then please do feel free - just tag me and I'll reshare!
Full Disclosure: All expenses paid press trip to Seville with Puerto de Indias and Hatch PR - October 2022
It's a bit early for clover but I did manage to find a few leaves poking out the ground and they were perfect to use for a post for St Patrick's Day. Other foliage or flowers work and even citrus peel, so if you aren't trying to theme your cocktails, then you can just pretty them up with something else. Sometimes condensation is enough to hold light objects onto the glass, but it wasn't working this time, so I had a trick up my sleeve!
Compiling a list of my top 10 gins is almost impossible, as what I feel like drinking will change daily depending on my mood. I enjoy gins that are different, but they may not be for everyone, so if you are looking to get into drinking gin or want to try something new, then this is a list of classic gins, which are excellent value for money and won't disappoint. All of these brands have a good range, including some flavoured gins, so there should be something for everyone in this list! Are there other brands on my shelf which are worthy of inclusion in a top 10 list? Yes of course and I may be a little biased as I've visited most of these distilleries and they all have something different to offer and make excellent spirits. However, they are all good starting points for those new to drinking gin and wanting to learn a little bit more about the history and how gin is made. Click on the links or photos to be taken to the brand websites or my reviews on Instagram .
Given this week is National Storytelling Week, I thought I would expand on my Top 10 favourite Gin Stories and share them again with you all in more detail. They are not in any particular order and although they are all good gins, it's impossible to make a list of my 10 favourite gins, as I have too many! If you want to read more of my gin stories, they are part of my Virtual Gin Tours which are either on my Instagram account or filed here on my website too for easy reading. Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed researching and writing them all. Allison As seen in The Daily Mail