A French couple’s desire to keep themselves busy in their retirement has resulted in  Samui’s very own spirit.

Eliza Gabrel and husband Michel used to regularly spend their holidays in Thailand before. When they both retired from their jobs in Paris, they decided to spend the rest of their lives here.

After moving to Samui in October 2002, they needed something to do to keep them occupied. And that’s how Magic Alambic Rum Distillery was born.

Eliza says they have been in the rum-distillation business for six years now.

But why rum?

“Because I’m from Martinique,” she says matter of factly.

Initially, they used fruits  to make the rum. Finding ripe fruits on the island, however, isn’t that easy. So they decided to shift to sugarcane instead.

The sugarcane they use comes from southern Thailand – Songkhla, Pattani, Phattalung. To preserve freshness, their supplier makes it sure that the freshly cut canes arrives on Samui on the same day.

The French businesswoman, who runs the company’s operations, says there are two types of rum – white rum and agricultural rum.

White rum is made from sugar molasses, a byproduct  in the production of refined sugar. Agricultural rum, on the other hand, “is real rum distilled from 100 percent pure cane,” according to Eliza.

In the past, canes were cut then delivered to a mashing plant later in the day. Today, cutting and mashing are done almost simultaneously.

Magic Alambi has its own distilling machine, imported from France, to ensure  high quality in the process.

“After being left to ferment for five days, the juice is distilled in a still made in France and specially designed to obtain high-quality alcohol,” she explains.

After distillation, the rum is kept in stainless steel tanks for at least four months.

“This allows it to settle and mature,” she says, adding that “it is then diluted to 40 percent of its original as required under Thai laws.”

The product is then filtered and bottled.

They admit they didn’t have any rum-making experience   before coming to Thailand. In France, he used to work in a stone factory while she was an accountant. They got help from the owner of the distilling machine on how to make rum.

Although theirs is a small operation, they assure customers that their rum is “very smooth, of high quality and causes no hangover.”

Alambic Rum comes in natural, lime, orange, pineapple and coconut flavors.  The most popular of their products is the natural rum. Russians and Americans love it, she says that they get orders from abroad by e-mail.

Alambic processes about 6-10 tons of sugarcane per week and uses half ton of sugarcane just to get 25 liters of spirit.

Although Samui-made Alambic rum has become very popular, Eliza says they have no plan to increase production as they prefer quality over quantity.

Magic Alambic is located at 44/5 Moo 3, Namuang. Call 077-419-023, e-mail agm-rhum@cathinet.com or visit www.rhumdistillerie.com to know more about its products.