HARVESTED BY HAND
Cane from Thạch Thành is cut by hand, whole-stalk. Hand harvesting keeps the stalk intact and free of the field debris that mechanical cutting introduces — which directly protects the clarity and sweetness of the juice.
Process
Our Craft
Eight steps, from hand-cut cane to bottling at HaLong Distillery.
FRESHLY PRESSED
100% Fresh Sugarcane Juice
Wash → press → filter → UV treatment. No molasses, no concentrate, no reconstitution. The juice goes to fermentation the same day it is pressed.
14-DAY SLOW FERMENTATION
While industrial distilleries ferment in 24–48 hours, we wait fourteen days. The long, temperature-controlled ferment builds carboxylic acids and complex fruit esters that a fast ferment simply cannot produce. This is why we wait.
DOUBLE DISTILLATION
Copper pot still and column still, each with a different job. The pot still carries weight, texture and the fruit of the ferment; the column brings precision and clarity. Together they give a spirit that is both expressive and clean.
THE HEART
Heads — Hearts — Tails. The Master Distiller makes the cut by nose and palate, not by clock. Only the heart is kept. Everything before and after is set aside.
VIETNAMESE CLAY JAR RESTING
A signature of HaLong Rum. The spirit rests in traditional Vietnamese clay jars, fired without glaze. Each expression follows its own resting protocol.
MATURATION & INFUSION
From here the expressions separate — no single maturation story covers all of them.
- Rum: wood maturation or continued resting, by expression.
- Spiced Rum: natural botanical infusion.
- Liqueur: coffee and pandan infusion / maceration.
BOTTLED AT HALONG DISTILLERY
Every bottle is filled and finished where it was made. Nothing leaves Ha Long in bulk to be bottled elsewhere.
Signature Process
Clay Jar Resting
Vietnamese ceramic tradition reaches back centuries. The jars we use are not decorative vessels — they are working tools made by potters who have been producing storage jars for generations.
We work directly with kilns in Đông Triều (Quảng Ninh) and Ninh Bình. Each jar is thrown by hand and fired without glaze.
Why Clay?
Unglazed clay is slightly porous. It allows a very slow, controlled exchange with the air — softening the spirit and rounding its edges without adding the colour and tannin that wood would. Resting is not ageing: it is settling.
Different Jars, Different Purposes
The two sources are not interchangeable, and not every expression passes through both.
- Đông Triều — Quảng Ninh, local to the distillery.
- Ninh Bình — a different clay body and firing.
The exact protocol for each expression is on its product page — they are not the same.
The result
Taste what eight steps make
Four expressions from one process: a clear white rum, a rested golden, a spiced infusion and a coffee liqueur — each carrying the same cane, the same clay jars.
