Sourcing and Agriculture

SONKLIN is made from 100% Khao Niew Sanpatong rice, grown on the estate. Sanpatong is a named variety with specific starch characteristics and fermentation behaviour. It is not a generic raw material. The rice is fermented and saccharified at the same time, over 336 hours, then distilled through a 6 plate reflux column still and filtered through coconut carbon.

Each single estate is crushed, fermented and distilled separately. Choeng Doi Blanc blends sugarcane spirit from several farms; Edition No. 2 draws on Rai Jamnian, Rai Nong Khong and, as a new farm, Rai Phrao.

Rai Nong Khong is farmed by novice monks from the school beside Wat Nong Khong, to raise money for their continuing education. The 2024 vintage is the only release from this estate for the foreseeable future, while the land rests under rotational planting.

Thailand’s sugarcane crop has grown more and more monolithic over the years as sugar companies have developed new varieties that produce more sugar in a shorter time. We encourage partners to plant heirloom varieties suited to their land, because sugar content isn’t the only consideration. The varieties differ. Suphanburi 50, released in 1966, is prized for sugar content and ease of farming. Khon Kaen 3, released in 2011, is prized for hardiness and juice yield. Sri Samrong 1 produces more juice and less sugar than Suphanburi 50.

We work directly with land owners, many of whom have farmed their land for generations. Sourcing this way costs more than buying on the open market. The practices are visible in the fields. At Rai Jamnian, the southern plot can sustain harvests of the same cane up to six seasons in a row, against an average of two before replanting. At Rai Phrao the 2025 harvest was the second from the current cane.

Harvest timing changes the ferment. Starting pH drifts downward through a season, and any delay between cutting and pressing adds to it, so the point of maximum sugar in a field does not always match the best moment to ferment. Our harvest windows for rice and sugarcane run through the cool season, October to March. As of the 2025 to 2026 season, all of our single estates are fermented with wild yeast isolated from their own farms.