5 Questions With: Daniel Nguyen

Nguyen lives in Irvine, but the 35-year-old— whose background is in science—spends a lot of time in Vietnam, where he makes that country’s first gin. You can find the spirit, Sông Cái, at Hi-Time Wine Cellars and the Mixing Glass in Costa Mesa. And here’s how it all came to be.

HOW DID YOU GO FROM BIOENGINEERING TO AGRICULTURE?

I’d been doing malaria research when I moved to New Orleans to help with hurricane and oil spill recovery—that’s where I started in agriculture and on the long road to distilling. Government agencies in the U.S. and Vietnam tapped me for similar community development efforts in Vietnam’s northern highlands.

HOW DID THOSE EFFORTS LEAD TO DISTILLING?

In New Orleans, we had developed farmers cooperatives but realized that selling vegetables and grains is very low margin. The upside is in processing—not selling salad greens but making tofu. Making alcohol from the produce is another away to add value. I can quadruple the farmers’ pay.

WHAT SETS YOUR SÔNG CÁI DISTILLERY GIN APART?

We use native and heirloom ingredients of Vietnam—pomelo and mac mat instead of grapefruit and lime, ylang-ylang flowers. … We tone down gin’s pine notes. We employ mostly Vietnamese women—doubling household breadwinners and curbing human trafficking, an issue just across the border in China.

THE RESPONSE?

Esquire magazine named us one of its 12 best gins. We won gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the largest and oldest spirits competition.

ANY INTERESTS OTHER THAN GIN?

I’m training for the Ironman in Vietnam— that takes all of my free time!