NEWS
APTLY NAMED “DURIAN WHISKY” CAUSED CONTROVERSY IN SINGAPORE
By Staff Reporter
30-7-2019
A new product called Durian Whisky has caused a lot of controversy in Singapore. The product is obviously not whisky, but the apt name managed to catch a lot of attention resulting in the product being sold out soon after launch.
The new product was launched at the Yummy Food Expo in Singapore on 27 June. According to a post by Singaporean whisky blog Democracy, the product was actually made in Malaysia by a company called Tropical Wine Sdn Bhd.
The product is said to be “brewed from 100% pure, delicious flesh of the Musang King durian”. Musang King is a high quality variety and is the most expensive of all durian varieties.
The producer claimed that they applied a “patented fermentation technology” to bring durian and alcohol together.
Apart from 100% durian flesh, the product has added ethanol and sugar with an embarrassingly low ABV level of 18% for a spirit.
It costs SGD98 (USD71) for a 250ml bottle and SGD198 (USD144) for a 750ml bottle, the latter is already sold out.
Under Singapore’s law, a whisky should contain an ABV level of no less than 37% at 20 degrees Celsius.
As a matter of fact, for a product to be called whisky, it has to be distilled from grains including barley, malt, corn, rye or wheat, and has to be aged in oak barrels for some time.
Neither does the Durian Whisky have grain in its ingredients nor has it undergone any distillation process.
The addition of ethanol and sugar makes it a “liqueur” product like Baileys and Tia Maria instead of whisky.
Interestingly, Tropical Wine Sdn Bhd has listed a durian liqueur called Dorian-Inside on its online store.
The description of Dorian-Inside is almost identical to Durian Whisky. It is also made from 100% Musang King flesh, has added ethanol and sugar, and is also 18% ABV.
It was apparently the company’s gimmicky strategy to launch the product as Durian Whisky in Singapore to take advantage of whisky’s popularity.
The strategy seems to have paid off for now given the attention it managed to attract, problem is when the Singaporean authorities will intervene.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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