The distillerie d’Indochine

There are names predestined… Antoine Poircuitte carries the legacy of a grandfather who was a distiller, and from whom the ancestral knowledge of distillation was intimately shared, nurturing a culture and passion for spirits that knows no bounds.

At first glance, the creation of a Vietnamese rum may seem incongruous unless you consider the exacting standards that govern its production chain. Founded in 2018 near Hoi An, La Distillerie d’Indochine is a valiant enterprise created by a trio of friends with a fondness for Asia, who hold high the rum-making techniques inherited from the French West Indies and are committed to sustainable development. Whether it’s the quality of the endemic sugar cane, the techniques of pressing, fermentation and natural distillation, or the nobility of the equipment (copper stills from the Gers, maturation barrels from Cognac), the production of Sampan rum in Vietnam is a mark of quality. In addition to the insatiable quest for balance and flavor, the short production circuit and the use of local resources are the major assets of this latest addition to the very select club of rum-producing countries.

Although far from the 3 million hectolitres produced annually by some of Guadeloupe’s estates, Antoine’s low yield is the result of integrated farming: the sugar canes are harvested at the end of the day, exclusively by hand to concentrate the juice. The décor of Antoine’s laboratory is reminiscent of a 19th-century curiosity cabinet or the good old-fashioned chemistry lab of our schools, depending on the visitor… Colored flasks and carboys pile up on the benches, alongside bottling and labeling machines, in the intimate lair of a craftsman inventor, letting the mind wander in the mystery of formulas and tests…