What is Arrack?

Arrack is a distilled alcoholic beverage found in India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (Indonesia and Philippines in particular). Depending on which country you get it from, it can be made from the fermented sap of coconut flowers, sugarcane, rice or fruit. As one of the oldest spirits in the world, reported as a rice beverage by Strabo in his Geographica (between 7 BC-23 AD), it predates all modern spirits like rum and whisky.

Styles of Arrack

Indonesian Batavia Arrack - Clear in colour but with flavours similar to a dark rum, it has an additional distinctive, funky character imparted from fermented red rice. It is distilled from sugarcane in a pot still, and as such known as the rum of Indonesia.

Sri Lankan Ceylon - More refined and subtle in character, with a cognac-like profile and floral notes. The fermentation and distillation process is based around the sap of unopened coconut palm flowers.

Filipino Alak - Derived from palm sap, sugarcane or rice, the general term is alak rather than arrack. Traditional arrack made here is Lambanóg (a distilled palm liquor) and Laksoy (a distilled nipa palm liquor).