ThaiBev produces brown and white spirits, including
rum. ThaiBev's most famous, but not best selling, spirit is
Mekhong, which originated in 1941 at the Bangyikhan Distillery west of
Bangkok. Originally a
state-owned distillery, it dates back over 200 years to the beginning of the current
Chakri dynasty. The launch of
Mekhong (a rum with added rice) was aimed at producing a high-quality Thai spirit to stem the increase in the import of foreign liquor and to eventually replace imported brands.
SangSom (rum), however, has been the country's most popular spirit brand for over 29 years, until 2006 holding almost 50% share of the entire brown spirits market in Thailand. The company also produces Mungkorn Thong and Hong Thong and brands based on
whisky, such as Blend 285, Crown 99 and Blue, Meridian a brand of
V.S.O.P. brandy, as well as
Scotch whisky brands such as
Hankey Banister and Pinwinnie Royal Scotch Whisky. White spirits are made from molasses without any mixture or colour, and produced in four alcohol contents: 28, 30, 35 and 40%. The company's largest-selling white spirits is
Ruang Khao. The labels are colour-coded to reflect the alcoholic strength but do not have the brand name printed on them. Other brands in this category are Niyomthai and White Tiger.
Production Molasses are the main raw material used for the production of ThaiBev's spirits, so that most of the products fall under the category of
rum. As is the case with all distilled spirits, the distillate is crystal clear when first distilled. Amber and dark brown spirits obtain their colour from the extracts from the oak barrel during aging and from caramel, a natural coloring agent. ThaiBev's
yeast cultures, used for fermentation, are grown in its own laboratory and propagated in a yeast propagation tank. The yeast, molasses diluted by water, steamed rice that has been sprayed with mould (to create sugar) and incubated for four days, and water are added into a fermenter and the mixture is allowed to ferment for approximately 72 hours. The liquid that is left at the end of the fermentation process is known as
fermented mash. Distillation takes place in a distilling column and a
pot still, which is a large copper or stainless steel kettle. Distilling involves boiling the "fermented mash" and condensing its vapour. The spent sludge remaining in the pot still is removed to be processed. The company's white spirits are then diluted with demineralized water to the desired alcohol content in a white spirits blending tank and sent to be packaged and bottled after filtering. Brown spirits are diluted with demineralized water and then aged in oak barrels for three to eight years depending on the brand. The aged alcohol is then further diluted with demineralized water before bottling. Liquor concentrate alcohol and
caramel colour are added. The brown spirits are passed through filters and then bottled and packaged. ThaiBev also makes
Chinese herb spirits, branded as Chiang-Chun and Sua Dum. These are produced by blending alcohol, white spirits, sugar, caramel and Chinese herbs, and then further diluting the mixture with demineralized water. == Corporate affairs ==