We took a trip recently to Vietnam – I highly recommend this country as a place to travel to.  The people are extraordinarily gracious, the food is almost uniformly delicious everywhere you go, and the country is incredibly beautiful.

There’s another reason now – the limited edition line of Lady Trieu Gins crafted in Cu Chi, just north of Ho Chi Minh City.

I tried many new things during this trip including some (very hot) rice alcohol, and some ‘snake wine’.  Most of the beer I encountered was unremarkable, but the bartenders at our Hanoi hotel took good care of me with awesome cocktails.

Then there was the Martini I ordered in Hoi An – which ended up being literally that, a shot of Martini Vermouth. Vietnam’s coffee game is s t r o n g, which made me deliriously happy.  This was the only positive holdover from colonization that I could see, except maybe for the bread used for Ban Mi.

But this Gin was a huge winner and I was happy to be able to bring some back home to Canada.  The Lady Trieu Distillery has developed a series of Gins, each celebrating the distinct biodiversity and history of different regions of Vietnam.  I chose the Hoi An Spice Road because we had enjoyed touring the Old Town streets and pagodas at the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.

Hoi An was at one time a bona fide crossroads of the world – the most important port city of the transcontinental Spice Trade.  This history is reflected in the botanicals selected for distilling – in particular, the pomelo and lime peel, ginger root, cardamom, coriander and red peppercorns – give it a fabulous citrus and spice profile.

Drink it on its own or on an ice cube to bring out the aromas.  Although you can, I feel it’s too good to smother with a mixer.  You can purchase Lady Trieu  Gin in Cambodia, Lao, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.  Now that I know this, I’m planning my next trip.