It promised to be a good day. Left work slightly earlier to head over to Holland Village to meet friends for dinner and drinks. Took a train ride down to Bishan from where I worked, transferred to the Circle Lin, and a short 40 minutes later, I was late. By just a little bit. Headed over for dinner, walking along the swanky but not snazzy underpass, and had dinner at the food centre. However, before dinner, there was an exchange that needed to happen. I passed PY a small bottle of Kilchoman 2008 vintage. In exchange, he passed me a nightmare. Meet the Hong Thong.
To be fair, I asked for it, and PY had it first. He was in Thailand, and decided to try this. A small bottle, about 350ml, was going at SGD$6. And, the producers market this as a premium blended spirit. Wonder how cheap the non-premium options are. PY tried it. Was horrified when he tasted it neat, then conceded that it may be ok if mixed. With lots of mixers and ice. Ok. I was curious. So I asked for a bit of whatever was left. The usual bottle looks ok, but what I was passed...
...looks like a trip to the doctor's:
Yes. It looks like a very dehydrated someone took a pee test. I hope it wasn't PY. I frankly may not have been able to tell. He's been fairly dehydrated.
So Hong Thong is from Thailand. Strictly speaking not a whisky, but some kind of blended spirit made from molasses and rice. Why I'm reviewing it here is because some people call it a whiskey, maybe on account of it being brown. Should I try this after dinner, and let the taste be the last thing I remember? Probably not. I'm gonna have it before dinner, then eat, so that I forget the taste. Good decision. A much better one than the one that landed me this nefarious concoction. I wonder how nasty the non-premium options can be. Oh dear...
Hong Thong (35% abv)
Enough foreshadowing. On to the..."tasting notes"...
Colour - amber. But there's something about the viscosity that doesn't seem right.
Nose - Alcohol, some sweetness, I guess. Caramel.
Palate - Flat. Nothingness for a long time, then a wee bit of caramel. Alcohol burn and bitter. To be fair, a hint of eucalyptus. A very very very vague hint. I must be imagining it.
Finish - Oh dear Lord. Does this abomination never end? How long, oh Lord, How long!! This lingers and lingers. A nasty linger. Prickly, bitter, and some unsavoury yet vague sweetness, antiseptic. Is there pure alcohol added into this? Ugh.
Overall - the worst is not to have a bad dream. The worst is when the nightmare never ends. The lingering finish prolongs all the pain. The nose is inoffensive, as is the palate. Though they are bland, no one complains about normal smelling air. The finish though.
I'm not finishing this bottle. Probably not keeping it either. Some online forums are asking if it's true that drinking Hong Thong can cause blindness. I think you are already blind if you chose to drink Hong Thong willingly on your own free will, if other options are available.
On an unrelated note, I developed stomach flu in the middle of the night, after the Hong Thong. Not saying there's any causal relationship, but the correlation is currently at a solid statistical 1.
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