Samai Distillery

Samai Rum Distillery (Khmer: សិប្បកម្មកែច្នៃស្រារ៉ោមសម័យ) is a Cambodian premium rum manufacturer in Phnom Penh founded in 2014. The first rum distillery in the country.^[2] It was founded by Diego Wilkins, Daniel Pacheco and Antonio Lopez.^[3]

Samai Rum Distillery

Samai Gold Rum (left) and Samai Kampot Pepper Rum (right)
Industry	Distilled beverages
Founded	2014 (2014)
Founders	Diego Wilkins, Daniel Pacheco and Antonio Lopez
Headquarters	Phnom Penh , Cambodia
Key people	Moang Darachampich (master distiller)
Products	Rum
Production output	500 bottles/month (2018)[1]
Number of employees	16 (2018)[1]
Website	samaidistillery.com

Samai Distillery was selected as one of 10 startup distilleries for Diageo's distillery incubation programme. Since then its rums have won numerous awards from across the world such as San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the London International Spirits Challenge, the Singapore World Spirits Competition and the Miami International Rum Conference. Currently, the distillery exports around 30% of its production to Singapore, France and Spain, while the remaining 70% is sold domestically.^[4]

In 2020, after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Samai Distillery began producing hand sanitizer from the distillation fraction previously used for disinfecting equipment.^[5]

Production

Samai Distillery produces añejo rum^[6] using traditional handmade 500-litre copper pot stills.^[4] It sources its sugarcane from eastern regions of the Koh Kong Province to produce three kinds of rums – Samai Gold Rum flavoured with Mondulkiri wild honey, Samai PX Limited Edition Rum aged in Sherry American oak barrels and Kampot Pepper Rum spiced with Kampot pepper.^[6]

See also

• Cambodia portal
• Liquor portal

References

1. Chan Thul, Prak (21 August 2018). "Cambodia's first rum maker looks to expand overseas market". Reuters. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
2. Jackson, Will (11 December 2014). "Distillery rolls out Cambodia's first rum". Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
3. Shafik, Marina; Mom, Ou (5 February 2015). "Craft Distillery in High Spirits". Khmer Times. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
4. "Samai Distillery firmly placing Kingdom's rum on world map". Phnom Penh Post. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
5. Bopha, Phorn (2 April 2020). "Spirits against Corona: A Local Rum Distillery Starts Producing Hand Sanitizer". Voice of America. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
6. Li Cheng, Tiong (12 June 2017). "Cambodia's Kampot Pepper Rum". Salt. Retrieved 12 November 2021.

External links

• Official website
• Chandarith Doung (15 December 2018). Buckle up and get to know the marvelous story of first rum makers in Cambodia. Foodbuzz.site