Single Grain Whisky

• Grain whisky produced by Sông Cái Distillery in Hanoi, Vietnam
• Distilled from 100% glutinous purple rice (nếp cẩm) inoculated with bánh men, a traditional Vietnamese starter
• Fermented over 7 months including a two-week multiple parallel fermentation using bánh men, a one-month liquid fermentation, and a six-month solid-state fermentation of the residual grain
• Liquid rice wine is double distilled grain-on using a direct-fired copper pot still; residual grains are solid-state distilled in a wooden alquitar still (2-part still composed of a pot and condenser)
• Distillates are aged separately for 3–4 years in American oak casks seasoned with sweet purple rice wine (71%) and American oak casks seasoned with yellow rice wine (29%) before blending
• Aromas of red bean mochi, toffee, coconut, raisin, honey, milk chocolate, and a hint of shiitake mushroom precede a silky, almost juicy palate brimming with umami and baking spice, anchored by graham cracker, nutmeg, tonka bean, cocoa powder, custard apple, prune, caramel, and faint soy sauce with a dry finish
• Non-chill filtered; 45% ABV

Sông Cái’s debut whisky is made using a glutinous purple sticky rice called nếp cẩm grown in the highlands of Điện Biên by H’Mông farmers practicing dry-farmed swidden (slash-and-burn) agriculture without irrigation, instead relying on seasonal rainfall, altitude, and fallow cycles. The unpolished rice is inoculated and fermented using bánh men—a traditional Vietnamese starter similar to koji, nuruk, or qu—made using yeast, fungi, and bacteria that are isolated and captured from different parts of Vietnam and cultivated on rice starch. After fermentation, the rice wine is double distilled in a copper pot still while the filtered grain undergoes an additional anaerobic fermentation before being solid-state distilled in a wooden alquitar—a traditional Moorish pot still that, unlike the more ubiquitous alembic still, is designed with its condenser fitted directly above the pot (instead of to the side via lyne arm). The two distillates are aged separately before blending, in casks seasoned with Vietnamese rice wines produced in-house. Rather than simply emulating traditional Western styles of whisk(e)y, Sông Cái has broadened the category by developing an entirely unique and distinctly Vietnamese style that is at once familiar and adventurous.