SAMPAN Rhum 2020/2025 - 5 y.o. - Cognac-Grand Cru Cask - Cellar Series (Vietnam)

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 45% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

This Cellar Series release combines maturation in former Cognac casks with a finish in casks previously used for Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé wines. Distilled in April 2020 from local sugarcane juice, the rum spent four and a half years in Cognac casks before a further six months in the wine casks. All five years of maturation took place in Vietnam’s tropical climate under the responsibility of Antoine Poircuitte.

Bottled in 2025, Cellar Series No. 001 comprises 600 bottles. The rum is bottled at 45%, without colouring or chill filtration. The 0.7-litre bottle comes in gift packaging, with bamboo illustrations and a boat motif reflecting the brand’s origins.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: On the nose, sweet vanilla and dark berries mingle with pronounced dried-fruit notes.
• Palate: The palate offers lush fruitiness with woodland berries. Delicate nutmeg spice and a subtle woody structure complement the flavours.
• Finish: The long finish leaves cedarwood, dry spice and gently lingering red-wine tannins.

Distillery/Bottler:

Distillerie d’Indochine was founded by three friends in 2018 and lies around 15 kilometres south of Hoi An on Vietnam’s central coast. Antoine Poircuitte is responsible for distillation and maturation. The brand name Sampan refers to a traditional Southeast Asian coastal boat, which also appears on the bottles.

For its sugarcane-juice rums, the distillery uses a sugarcane variety native to Vietnam and southern China. The hand-cut stalks are pressed within 24 hours of harvesting. In 2023, the distillery used a single pressing without adding water, followed by fermentation lasting an average of five days in open, temperature-controlled vessels. The yeasts used were developed from sugarcane molasses, while the rum’s raw material remained pressed sugarcane juice.

Distillation takes place in Odette, an all-copper column still previously used for Armagnac. It has eleven extraction plates and two concentration plates. This equipment brings together local sugarcane processing and French distillation technology.

Facts: