It’s not often I’m summoned by scroll. Yet, when the invitation arrived for the official UK debut of PRAKAAN at Berry Bros in Pall Mall, I was intrigued to try Thailand’s first foray into the world of single malt whisky.
Thailand, in most people’s minds, stirs images of dazzling beaches, delicious curries, or jungle temples—rarely does it conjure visions of whisky barrels and copper stills. PRAKAAN is distilled in Kamphaeng Phet in northern Thailand at a modern site with two underground warehouses designed to hold 30,000–50,000 casks, tempering heat and humidity so the spirit remains fruit led rather than over extracted by oak. The distillery’s wider setting includes the Western Forest Complex, with the Thungyai–Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries recognised by UNESCO—an unusual whisky provenance that makes sense when framed by mineral rich water, biodiversity and a warm climate that accelerates flavour development.
The Tribura Series launches as three 70cl bottlings at 43% ABV: Select Cask matured in American oak ex bourbon, Double Cask combining ex bourbon with Spanish oak sherry, and Peated Malt built on Highland peated barley for a lighter smoke register. The house style is set out as ripe tropical fruit, vanilla and gentle spice, with sherry breadth or measured peat adding dimension rather than dominance, and UK retail sits around £65 for Select Cask, £70 for Peated Malt and £75–£80 for Double Cask at specialist stores. Crucially, the project draws on Scottish expertise: the whisky creation team trained in traditional Scotch methods, International Beverage brings deep Scotch credentials through distilleries such as Old Pulteney, Balblair, Speyburn, Balmenach and Knockdhu, and the peat for the Peated Malt is sourced from the Scottish Highlands to align process with provenance.
On an overcast autumnal London evening, invitation scroll in hand, I descended into Berry Bros Napoleon cellar, the scene was quietly electric. The menu, concise and deliberate, offered four courses conceived to test and reveal the whisky’s true nature. Take the opening Miang Kham of Orkney scallop—sharp, clean, a little saline. With PRAKAAN Select Cask, notes of pineapple and clear vanilla cut across the plate; if there was any hesitancy in the room about the spirit’s origins, it evaporated at first sip.
Veal sweetbread glazed with palm sugar and paired with PRAKAAN Double Cask did not try to out-muscle the whisky, but instead rode on its twin cask maturation: honeyed runs of sherry, a touch of char, but always enough brightness from tropical fruit to circle back to the Thai climate. The match felt careful, not forced, and seemed to mirror the methodical way PRAKAAN’s distillers meld Scottish technique with local resourcefulness. Later, a loin of venison—wrapped in pancetta, scented with coffee and Massaman—demanded something richer. The Peated Malt, with its dark fruit and measured smoke, was absolutely fantastic and my personal favourite.
By dessert, the hats and jackets were off and conversation flowed as freely as the numerous top ups of my dram. Caramel-poached pineapple, lime leaf custard and coconut leaned again on the Peated Malt, bringing out its gentler, fruit-soaked complexities instead of the expected brawn. If guests arrived with reservations, they departed, sloshed, but agreeing that something rather special has transpired. In a world not short on single malts, turns out there’s room for one more—especially from a corner of the world no one expects.
