Just prior to tasting @maison_du_whisky_singapore’s 18th anniversary tasting, I had the privilege to have a chat with Amal de Silva Wijeyeratne, CEO and Managing Director of @rocklanddistilleries, as we spoke about his family, the founding of Rockland, and the family’s inextricable link a particular spirit we know today as @ceylonarrack - distilled from the sap of a flowering coconut palm.

Rockland themselves are a family-owned distillery, and have been in existence for a century now since 1924 in Ceylon, or what we know today as Sri Lanka. Since the beginning of time, Rockland has depended on its skilled Toddy Tappers, navigating through a myriad of coconut palms linked via a network of ropes, collecting the precious saps of the coconut flower which then undergo a natural wild fermentation, distilled, and finally aged in vats made from Halmilla wood, a particular wood native to Sri Lanka. In terms of its flavours, I found it to be a light and refreshing spirit, with many similarities to a Cuban rum perhaps, simple yet pleasant, and when served with a cube of ice makes for an excellent sipper in the tropical climates.

Not content with just Arrack, Rockland too ventured into the art of gin-making during the height of the Second World War. As a British colony then, Ceylon was prohibited from making “gin”, but Rockland so impressed the British excise officers then that the law on Ceylon Made Foreign Liquor (CMFL) was passed to allow Rockland to continue distilling what would eventually be known as @colombo7gin. In 2015, Amal decided to recreate this 70-year-old recipe from its archives, with the number seven representing the seven spices found within - juniper, liquorice, angelica, cinnamon, curry leaves, ginger root, and coriander leaves.

And over the years two new other gins have too been released, namely the Colombo 8 (with ginseng) and latest Colombo 9, a collaboration with its good friends @dilmahceylontea with the addition of earl grey tea leaves and bergamot. And while they were all rather good, the Colombo 9 stood out for me, having a rather unique profile accentuated by the wafts of earl grey tea itself.

Last but not least, something to really watch from Rockland is its range of Rockland bitters, extracts based on natural flora and fauna in Sri Lanka. I had a little sneak preview of one of them, derived from rambutan extracts, which was absolutely stunning, and a perfect addition to anyone seeking a tropical, fruity burst in their cocktails.

Image Courtesy of @weixiang_liu