4 Asian distilleries to tour and even DIY your own spirit

Create your own flavoursome spirit at Singapore’s first gin school. While the professionals are busy manufacturing the company’s Brass Lion line on the ground floor of this heritage shophouse, you can concoct an original flavour in the school upstairs. Surrounded by apothecary-style cabinets, you can imagine yourself a master distiller as you pour your spirit and water into a mini copper still, then add your infusion of juniper berries and botanicals. Add a personalised label to your bottle and leave with the perfect souvenir from the Lion City. S$198 per person.

While 90% of rum makers use molasses as their base, this French-owned distillery in Phuket uses sugarcane juice from locally grown crops, resulting in a punchy rhum agricole. Sample the award-winning rum with a distillery tour and learn to make cocktails using local ingredients such as lemongrass and Thai sweet basil. THB1,700 per person.

Set by a beach south of Hoi An, this distillery creates its own label of rum made with sugarcane juice and aged in cognac barrels. Join a behind-the-scenes tour before putting your new-found knowledge to good use by creating your own bespoke rum with ingredients such as white pepper, ginger, chilli and almond. VND1,500,000 per person.

This single-malt whisky manufacturer is now inviting visitors to its tropical distillery in Goa to find out more about the award-winning Paul John Whisky. Not only will you get to see the copper stills and take a walk through an underground oak barrel-filled cellar, you will get to sample five of their whiskies – two of which are only sold locally. US$14 per person.

To book a flight, visit singaporeairlines.com

SEE ALSO: 11 whisky distilleries around the world that are worth a visit

This article was originally published in the December 2019 issue of Silkwinds magazine