Gin Distilleries in Vietnam
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While rice wine has long been a deeply ingrained part of Vietnamese culture, often brewed at home, recent years have seen brands modernising and commercialising traditional rice wine production, as well as seeing other spirts gaining popularity. Gin and rum have been leading the way and cocktail bars in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in particular have been developing strong reputations. Sông Cái Distillery in Hanoi was the first gin distillery to be established in Vietnam, founded in 2018 by Daniel Nguyen, and followed by the launch of Lady Trieu Gin and Saigon Baigur Gin, both launched in 2020 and with distilleries in Ho Chi Ming City.
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On This Page: Vietnamese Gin and Distillery directory, reviews and tasting notes, distillery tours in Vietnam, interviews with Vietnamese distillers.
Vietnamese Gins
Sông Cái Gin
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Sông Cài Distillery was established in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2018 by Vietnamese-American sustainable agriculture visionary Daniel Nguyen. Sông Cái sources botanicals from long-standing farming and foraging communities in northern Vietnam, including the H’mong, Red Dzao, and Kinh families. Sông Cái invests back into the communities through paying fair prices for botanicals, funding reforestation programs, aiding heirloom botanical preservation, community education assistance, and shared farming equipment and processing facilities. The name Sông Cái translates to “Mother River”, paying homage to the cradle of Vietnamese civilisation and the Vietnamese spiritual relationship with the nature.
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For more Vietnamese Gins, try:
- Lady Trieu Gin
- Launched in 2020 and based in Ho Chi Minh, Lady Trieu features botanicals including orange, jasmine, and oolong tea, and was established by Adam Westbrook, formerly of London's Portobello Road Gin.
- Saigon Baigur Gin
- Featuring botanicals including buddha’s hand and vapour infused lotus flower, Saigon Baigur Gin was launched in 2020 and is distilled in Ho Chi Minh City.
Meet the Makers
Get to know some of the finest gin creators and distillers from Vietnam in our 'Meet the Maker' interviews. Find out how they created and launched their gin, how it's made, what botanicals are used, how best to serve their gins and what they have planned for the future:
Industry Insights - With Brennan Davis of Sông Cái Gin
What has been the recent history of distilling spirits in Vietnam?
Recently, Vietnam has seen a wonderful surge in the creativity, passion and drive to create spirits, spearheaded by the influence of Daniel Nguyen at Sông Cái Distillery. Based in Hanoi and crafted 100% in Vietnam, Sông Cái Distillery is the first of its kind in Vietnam, and continues to be a pioneer in both Vietnamese spirits and the cultural connection between a product and its people. Daniel's passion for creating a terroir-driven spirit along with strengthening ethnic tribal connections in the Lao Cai province with the Red Dao and H'mong are what make this gin so special. Daniel has connected with key tribal leaders, and uses community knowledge of botanicals and medicinal herbs to distill an incredible spirit. Sông Cái Distillery began with 3 gins, and has strengthened its portfolio with an amaro bitters collaboration, beautifully bright and acidic traditionally fermented rice wine, and is preparing to launch a whisky. The passion and drive behind Sông Cái Distillery has inspired others to begin brands of their own Vietnamese spirits, most notably Baigur Gin and Lady Trieu.
What is the Vietnamese Gin industry like at the moment?
At the moment it is a competitive market, as with many other countries, though Sông Cái Distillery's unflinching dedication to its people, culture and heritage has allowed it to connect quite literally with the Vietnamese market, as well as expand into other world markets. The terroir-driven gins, and Vietnam's beloved gastronomic culture, simply put, are what make the spirits industry so special in Vietnam. It is impossible to disconnect food from drink while traveling around Vietnam, and this connection is felt and crafted throughout Sông Cái Distillery's products. Heirloom botanicals such as the Dien pomelo, Hoàng Lan (Ylang Ylang) and Mac Khén khô (Zanthoxylum) are incredibly important in producing the special flavours you taste in gins like Sông Cái, along with being essential ingredients in much of the Vietnamese cuisine.
What do you see in the future for Vietnamese Gins?
The future of Vietnamese spirits will certainly be a bright one, with creative producers such as Daniel at the helm of connecting spirits with Vietnamese culture and heritage. The range of flavours, indigenous botanicals available only in Vietnam, and extreme love of gastronomy will provide a great springboard for these products to expand into other markets. This, alongside bartenders and mixologists who are absolutely nailing the cocktail scene at places such as Hybrid Saigon and Stir will ensure the spirit industry to grow strongly over the upcoming years.
Recently, Vietnam has seen a wonderful surge in the creativity, passion and drive to create spirits, spearheaded by the influence of Daniel Nguyen at Sông Cái Distillery. Based in Hanoi and crafted 100% in Vietnam, Sông Cái Distillery is the first of its kind in Vietnam, and continues to be a pioneer in both Vietnamese spirits and the cultural connection between a product and its people. Daniel's passion for creating a terroir-driven spirit along with strengthening ethnic tribal connections in the Lao Cai province with the Red Dao and H'mong are what make this gin so special. Daniel has connected with key tribal leaders, and uses community knowledge of botanicals and medicinal herbs to distill an incredible spirit. Sông Cái Distillery began with 3 gins, and has strengthened its portfolio with an amaro bitters collaboration, beautifully bright and acidic traditionally fermented rice wine, and is preparing to launch a whisky. The passion and drive behind Sông Cái Distillery has inspired others to begin brands of their own Vietnamese spirits, most notably Baigur Gin and Lady Trieu.
What is the Vietnamese Gin industry like at the moment?
At the moment it is a competitive market, as with many other countries, though Sông Cái Distillery's unflinching dedication to its people, culture and heritage has allowed it to connect quite literally with the Vietnamese market, as well as expand into other world markets. The terroir-driven gins, and Vietnam's beloved gastronomic culture, simply put, are what make the spirits industry so special in Vietnam. It is impossible to disconnect food from drink while traveling around Vietnam, and this connection is felt and crafted throughout Sông Cái Distillery's products. Heirloom botanicals such as the Dien pomelo, Hoàng Lan (Ylang Ylang) and Mac Khén khô (Zanthoxylum) are incredibly important in producing the special flavours you taste in gins like Sông Cái, along with being essential ingredients in much of the Vietnamese cuisine.
What do you see in the future for Vietnamese Gins?
The future of Vietnamese spirits will certainly be a bright one, with creative producers such as Daniel at the helm of connecting spirits with Vietnamese culture and heritage. The range of flavours, indigenous botanicals available only in Vietnam, and extreme love of gastronomy will provide a great springboard for these products to expand into other markets. This, alongside bartenders and mixologists who are absolutely nailing the cocktail scene at places such as Hybrid Saigon and Stir will ensure the spirit industry to grow strongly over the upcoming years.
