Originally published in Nikkei Asia, 26 October 2021
For all the horrors of Southeast Asian colonialism, we've somehow romanticized the idea of the 5pm cocktail hour: safari-suited revelers trying to alleviate the humidity with a stiff gin-and-tonic in the former British and Dutch enclaves, or something rum-based in French Indochina.
While such traditions soon melted away in the wake of independence -- there are signs of its reemergence, in the best possible way.
And nowhere is that more so than in Vietnam, where boutique distilleries are cementing the region's status as a noteworthy hub for quality spirits, one where diverse local flavors sourced across the country's dense tropical rainforests are being married with international experience to create unique rums and gins.
"Vietnam's biodiversity is incredible, it's a paradise for distillers -- you get myriad different environmental microclimates all across," says Adam Westbrook of Lady Trieu gin. "It's temperate up north with wonderful flowers; you have the hillsides with different forests; you come down to the Delta with that wonderfully rich water fertilizing the soil -- the whole country lends itself to flavor profiles and different plants being grown."
Vietnam seems like an ideal choice for this spirit renaissance: while most Southeast Asian countries are notoriously restrictive when it comes to alcohol, Hanoi is decidedly liberal, perhaps stemming from a permissive centuries-old law that, to this day, allows locals to legally make spirits at home.
And while countless emigres over the decades have attempted to leverage those lax laws, most found themselves stymied by a lack of ingredients and dissimilar climates. It's only recently that a winning formula has been discovered: like their spirit-making forefathers of yore, these new distillers are making use of all that surrounds, utilizing the vast flora growing wild across Vietnam.
"Vietnam's biodiversity is incredible, it's a paradise for distillers, says Adam Westbrook, top, of Lady Trieu gin. "You get myriad different environmental microclimates all across."
For rum -- or "rhum," as the French call it -- that means sugar-cane sourced north-to-south, its subtle flavors varying depending on geographic location. For gin, thousands of botanicals are freely available, so almost anything goes. The resulting bottles still follow broad 'rum' and 'gin' definitions, but are bursting with exoticism -- flavors recalling the subtle spices of Asian cuisine that stand out in the tightly controlled spirits world.
"Vietnam has given us opportunities we never would've had anywhere else -- more opportunity than France ever gave me," says Roddy Battajon, the French-Caribbean founder of Rhum Belami. "In France, I'd never be able to make spirits; even if I could afford the setup costs, it's all politically controlled by families who have monopolized the market for decades."
Rhum Belami was arguably the first boutique spirit to make its mark on the Vietnamese market in 2017, when Battajon established the brand after becoming disillusioned with the bureaucracy back home in France. After moving to Ho Chi Minh City, he soon found his muse -- pure, sustainable sugar-cane that inspired him to blend homes past and present.
"I spent summers in the Caribbean where my grandmother home-distilled a 70% rum -- and I saw an opportunity here to take that rugged historic tradition and make it Vietnamese," Belami says. "We use Caribbean traditions -- but we're not a Caribbean brand or even a French brand; we're Vietnamese, because rhum is ultimately about the sugar-cane and the quality in this country is wonderful."
Belami quickly took off, its vibrant flavors budding naturally from the rich local sugar-cane and ironically was soon being exported to France. The brand's steadfast evolution, from homemade spirit to a commercial distillery on the city's outskirts, has inspired others to follow in their footsteps.
You can feel that pioneering ambition at Sampan Rhum, a distillery built next to a secluded beach in central Vietnam, about a half-hour drive from the UNESCO World Heritage city of Hoi An. Chosen for its proximity to the sugar-cane that best suits their needs, the distinct terroir coupled with an old repurposed Armagnac column still give the company's rums a unique flavor profile.
"What we're trying to do is hark back to old styles, where it's unadulterated with freshly cut sugar-cane -- there's no added sugar and no added caramel, it's as pure as possible," says co-founder Jan Christophe. "People at the moment, they want more transparency in what they are drinking, where it's from, how it's being made and what's inside."
Sampan Rhum's dedication to old-fashioned purity has paid off, with the company winning gold medals at prestigious spirits competitions in San Francisco, London and Paris. "People were shocked, but Vietnam has the history and the opportunities," says Christophe. "And more importantly, it has the terroir and the passion of the people. It won't be long before Vietnam is on the map for rhum"
Despite rum's evident hipster clout, gin is emerging as a serious contender, with no less than half a dozen brands established in the last three years. Gin production is more forgiving, and its flavor varies according to what botanicals are added, rather than on the base spirit.
As with rum though, the most interesting local distillers are those whose cultural story can be linked to the spirit's history.
At Saigon Baigur, its distillers were inspired by genever, the age-old but generally lesser-known Netherland's gin, where lower alcohol content is balanced by stronger flavors. Not only is genever an ideal compromise between the brand's Dutch and Vietnamese owners, it has become a favorite of local drinkers who prefer lighter, spice-heavy spirits.
"Coming from Holland, we wanted to make a gin with flavor -- most contemporary gins don't really have much, you have to admit -- so we use quite a lot juniper, but also Buddha's hand [fingered citron], cardamom, cinnamon and licorice," says Saigon Baigur founder Jochem Lisser. "It's more complex and there are layers to it -- and all of it is sourced across the country; Vietnam is wonderful for it, it's such a diverse place and the terrains so different."
"Coming from Holland, we wanted to make a gin with flavor," says Saigon Baigur founder Jochem Lisser. "Most contemporary gins don't really have much, you have to admit."
The sheer variety of the country's natural offerings is the backbone of Lady Trieu, the latest distillery to appear in the market, and a bellwether for where distillers might be headed. Owned by Vietnamese founders and proudly local, Trieu's trump card is master distiller Adam Westbrook, formerly of London's famed Portobello Road Gin distillery, but also a veteran of Southeast Asian markets.
"If you break gin down into its component parts, it's not British or Dutch -- it's actually from pretty much everywhere else in the world, and especially Asia, which is the world's largest gin consumer," says Westbrook. "So we wanted to show our passion for the incredible Vietnamese plants here -- not in a way that they sit in the background, but to let those quintessentially Vietnamese botanicals really sing their voice and speak their story."
Each of its three current limited-release gins specifically source botanicals from their eponymous locations -- Mekong Delta Dry, Hoi An Spice Road, Dalat Flowerbomb -- with a catchall Contemporary brand expected to launch soon.
"The craft spirits scene has emerged alongside the growth of the F&B scene here -- there's now three bars and two restaurants in Vietnam on Asia's Top 100," says Westbrook. "So we really see ourselves as part of a culinary collective, where all spirits brands are on the same team, trying to show what Vietnam can do and how much our incredible country can shine."