Page 36 - Thirst Magazine Issue 2 June 2017

THE DISTILLERY SITE handpicked to select the best of the batch for
production and only the first pressed sugar
The land that Chalong Bay occupies includes cane juice is used, with the rest being sold
all stages of production - the fermentation, to the sugar factory. Once the juice goes
distillery, stock storage, packaging, plus a new into production, Marine and the team stays
bar, and crops of sugar cane (not for distilling) with the tanks 24/7 to monitor the progress
and bananas. It also houses a cat and a from fermentation to distilling, making
dog that have made the place their home. adjustments, including temperature and flow
When the distillery first opened 6 years ago, rates, manually every step of the way.
visitors were welcome to take as many photos
as they liked but once Marine found out that LATEST DEVELOPMENT
people attempted to copy the design of the They have recently added a vapor infusion
stills, signs were put up around the stills to component to the still, called Carterhead, a
stop people from taking photos. technique that’s been exclusively used in gin
Thailand doesn’t exactly have a high and even so, there are only 5 worldwide. This
reputation when it comes to distilling spirits allows the infusion to take place using the
but the work at Chalong Bay has slowly freshest ingredients without adding artificial
changed the perception of the locals as well as flavours to the spirits. The vapour from the
the Thai authority. still passes through the ingredients, extracting
There are many restrictions in Thailand flavours along the way before falling back into
on alcohol production but they are mostly the pipe in the cooling tank. An additional 3
in favour of the big producers. On the other flavours have been developed the past year:
hand, the regulations for production quality lemongrass, cinnamon and sweet basil. For
in general, are loose. Competition is fierce the basil infused rum, this meant Marine and
among the smaller producers but the Thais the team handpicked the leaves off the stalks
have very little regard for locally produced to make sure only the juicy, flavourful part of
spirits that are cheap and harsh to drink. the leaves and not bitterness from the stalk get
Upholding the company’s strict self-created into the final product. As for the lemongrass
policy to never compromise on quality and – they hand cut over 14,000 lemongrass sticks
retain transparency has, however, brought the into small pieces in order to extract the oils!
brand a long way to now being recognised After distillation and the cooling tank, the
as the trusted brand from Thailand and spirit at 70% ABV is transferred to several
something the locals are proud of. tanks for maturation over a minimum of 8
The distillery works with local suppliers months before bottling. Very little distilled
to support sustainable trade and promises to water is added, depending on the volume of
use the best ingredients. There are over 200 rum and the percent of alcohol, and dilution
species of sugar cane in Thailand. The country takes place slowly over the year.
is the 4th biggest sugar cane producing
country at over 100,000,000 metric tons per BOTTLING
year, after Brazil, India and China. Chalong Distilleries in Thailand are allowed to use
Bay Rum uses only one species and, as the any bottle for their products, but the only
supply is seasonal, they can only produce 3 bottles available in Thailand are the recycled
months a year. In 2016, 35,000 bottles were ones from the main commercial distillery
produced with every single part of the process – Thai Bev. Chances of getting flawless
manually done by hand. The sugar canes were recycled bottles is so low, it’s almost unlikely.

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