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AGRIBUSINESS
RHUM
DEAL
A new entrant on the Lao beverage scene is truly top shelf. TEXT BY MELODY KEMP PHOTOGRAPHS BY PHOONSAB THEVONGSA avove: Wooden casks give flavor to the rhum 1. Crushed sugarcane stalks are used to power other parts of the factory 2. Sugarcane growing near the factory 3. The range of LAODI products 4. Distilling equipment at LAODI
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group of cows came trotting up the road towards us. They all looked remarkably sober, so I surmised we were still short of our target: the LAODI distillery, makers of rhum. I was right. We had another half hour’s travel ahead. We arrived just before our host, Ms. Anna Sichanthavong, an engaging woman who took obvious delight in showing us how their elixir is made. A Filipino family had accompanied her. They revealed they were collectors, and the patriarch was realizing his long-held ambition of having a set of LAODI bottles, I assume along with their contents.
“I have over 4000 bottles,” he announced. “So who dusts them?” I asked. “Me, I don’t trust anyone else,” he replied. Is rhum the same as rum? It’s a special variety. Normal rum is made from fermenting molasses, while rhum is produced from sugar cane juice, yielding a lighter flavor. The distillery itself is quite diminutive for a place that churns out so much really excellent rhum, and in this age of environmental awareness, they are proud of the fact that the whole process is eco-friendly. No agricultural chemicals are used and the bagasse, or residue of the crushing, is dried and used to fire the machinery, reducing the need for fossil fuels. Water from the nearby Mekong River ensures that the sugar crop is not contaminated with salt. Enter Ikozu Inoue, with his wonderfully wizened laughter and exacting enthusiasm for the products of the distillery. In 2016 after being inspired by the local Lao hooch, Inoue saw the possibilities of using
