REBRANDING DESIGN AND BRAND GUIDELINE (STUDY) - 2023
Founded in 2018 in Hà Nội, Sông Cái Distillery is Việt Nam’s first gin distillery. Our inaugural release, Sông Cái Việt Nam Dry Gin, is the first gin ever distilled in Vietnam, using 16 wild hand-foraged botanicals, fruits, flowers, and wood unique to Việt Nam’s Highlands.
The Vietnamese understanding of nature deals not only with water, land, and sky — but also culture and spirituality. Rooted in this all-encompassing philosophy, Sông Cái Distillery produces terroir-driven spirits that capture the flavors and provenance of Việt Nam’s vast, biodiverse landscape of highlands and deltas. Our name, Sông Cái, comes from the Vietnamese term for “Mother River.” In the Vietnamese tradition, rivers are metaphorically representative of the notion of totality and origin: all forces of nature, life, and spirituality stem and flow from a holistic “Mother River.” In a similar manner, Sông Cái speaks to multiple elements of Việt Nam, from its agricultural roots to thriving cosmopolitan hubs.
In 2018, following six years of researching the biodiversity and ethnobotany of rural Việt Nam, California-born, Vietnamese-American distiller and founder Daniel Nguyen partnered with multi-generational foragers and farmers in Northern Việt Nam to source botanicals for what would become the first gin ever distilled in the country. Now, working with over 70 families, Sông Cái Distillery offers rural communities an incentive to preserve and plants botanicals and even heirloom grains native to the region. Through our gins and spirits, we endeavor to protect centuries-old traditions for future generations.
Today, Sông Cái Distillery is a premier Việt Nam distillery creating world class spirits whose product and branding tells a multi-faceted story of Việt Nam. The company champions inclusive economic growth — ensuring financial growth while strengthening rural community ties and preserving and developing Vietnam’s cultural heritage and identity. Our myriad of community initiatives range from literary programs to seed database and re-propagation projects that will contribute to long-term development.
