10 minute read
CHINA RISING
The Chinese whisky industry is still in its infancy, but with exports of Scotch on the rise, demand for the amber nectar has never been higher
Written by Blair Bowman
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Top: Looking into the stills at Chuan Emeishan Distillery. Above: Bottles of baijiu (Heng Lim / Shutterstock.com). ou may be aware of baijiu, China’s national sorghum or rice-based clear spirit that has Ya 5,000-year history, which is in fact the spirit with the highest volume of consumption globally. If you’ve ever visited China for work or leisure you will no doubt have been treated to various rounds of baijiu ‘gambei-ing’ (‘cheersing’) which may have left an indelible mark on your consciousness. Some 17 billion litres of baijiu are produced every year, yet only 20,000 litres are exported outside of China.
However, over the last several decades China has grown to develop a huge desire and interest for Scotch whisky. A decade ago direct exports to China were worth £66m. Now that fi gure is closer to £200m and makes China the fi fth highest market in terms of value of Scotch whisky.
More recently it seems that whisky made in China is about to take off. 2021 appears to have been a signifi cant landmark year for this, with several major projects in the single malt distilling space announced or in production.
According to one source, there are currently 165 companies registered as ‘whisky production’ enterprises in China. Since 2019, this has resulted in investments in domestic whisky production in the region of 6-10 billion RMB (£720m - £1.2bn) although this fi gure varies depending on the source of the information.
In August 2019, Pernod Ricard broke ground on The Chuan Malt Whisky Distillery with a 1 billion RMB investment (£120m) and are now distilling a Chinese-made single malt. The architecturally driven design of the distillery shows how the future of malt whisky making might look.
Not to be outdone by this move, in November 2021 Diageo announced their own plans for a 500m RMB (£60m) China-made single malt whisky, The Diageo Eryuan Malt Whisky Distillery. Again this clearly has ambitions to be a distillery of the future with innovative architecture and consideration for the visitor experience at the heart of the plans.
Both of these large-scale investments from Pernod Ricard and Diageo show their commitment to the long term prospects of
Clockwise from top left: A room full of mash tuns at Chuan Emeishan Distillery; aerial impression of Diageo’s Eryuan Distillery; an artist’s impression of the view towards the still house at Eryuan Distillery; Eryuan in bloom; the exterior of Chuan Emeishan Distillery.
whisky in China and will no doubt be focused on wooing the younger generation of affl uent Chinese whisky drinkers.
Interestingly, the current Chinese industry standards for whisky are pretty loose and have a few gaping holes that will hopefully be tidied up and refi ned in the years to come. One main example is that the current regulations state that a whisky should be matured for a minimum of two years, which is pretty much contrary to the rest of the world, which sees that a whisky becomes a whisky at three years. Pernod’s Chuan Distillery have already said they will wait for a minimum of three years and I suspect others will follow suit with this.
Speaking of others it can be quite tricky to fi nd all that much information about the other malt-producing distilleries in China at the moment as many of them are still in the early stages of production and maturation.
Opposite: Renders of what the Nine Rivers Distillery will look like.
A few others of note are the fi rst distillery in Inner Mongolia from Mengtai Group and Forfar-based Valentine International. The distillery has been designed by Forsyth’s, of Rothes, makers by Forsyth’s, of Rothes, makers of arguably the best copper pot of arguably the best copper pot stills in the world. The entire distillery was stills in the world. The entire distillery was designed in such a way that it could all fi t in designed in such a way that it could all fi t in shipping containers, including all the stills, shipping containers, including all the stills, fl ooring and pipework. Some 35 tonnes in fl ooring and pipework. Some 35 tonnes in total were shipped to Ordos and distilling is total were shipped to Ordos and distilling is expected to start this year.
I was very impressed to learn about I was very impressed to learn about Dong-Wei Distillery, a relatively small malt Dong-Wei Distillery, a relatively small malt whisky distillery that started production in summer 2020. The impressive thing about this distillery are the two beautiful looking copper pot stills as these were made by hand by the owner Weidong Wei himself. It took him two years to design and build the stills with his own hands. He recently shared a beautiful behind-the-scenes short video on Youtube of the process of making the stills. He already the process of making the stills. He already operated a micro whisky distillery since 2014 operated a micro whisky distillery since 2014 but stopped producing there in but stopped producing there in 2019, having fi lled some 2019, having fi lled some 120 casks, to focus on 120 casks, to focus on the new and larger the new and larger distillery. Weidon distillery. Weidon Wei also says Wei also says he will take the he will take the Chinese maturation rules Chinese maturation rules a step further to ensure a step further to ensure quality by only releasing his quality by only releasing his whiskies after six years of whiskies after six years of maturation. maturation. Another project that I will Another project that I will be watching with close interest be watching with close interest is the Nine Rivers Distillery is the Nine Rivers Distillery which had a special which had a special ground-breaking ground-breaking ceremony ceremony in February 2022. The interesting thing about this particular project is that it appears to be almost akin to a crowd-funded distillery, with many expats living in China on-board as founding members. In their own words the distillery is described as ‘a project born out of a shared passion for crafting world class whisky between more than 100 whisky lovers from 23 different countries all united through life and experiences in China.’
This seems like a very nice collaborative group concept. I just wonder how it works in terms of strategic decision making and who gets the fi nal say on production decisions. I guess time will tell.
It’s really interesting and exciting to see the level of malt whisky making activity in China right now. It is still
very early days for most of these projects and only time will tell if Chinese consumers are willing to switch from baijiu to Chinese-made single malt.
I guess a good precursor to this is the trend of Chinese-made wine. In terms of hectares of vineyards, China comes in third behind France and Spain. Previously Chinese-made wine had a reputation of being of low quality and generally pretty cheap. Having had a few bottles of this during my time in China
a decade ago I can confi rm that this was the case. However, this has changed in recent years due to a combination of improved production quality and successful marketing. So hopefully the image of Chinese-made whisky will be seen to be of high quality and prestige, rather than cheap and low quality. I’m sure Scotch whisky will still have a place on the shelf in Chinese whisky bars though.
Scotch whisky from cask to glass
Cask 88: small, independent, family owned and lovers of Scotch whisky. Its aim is to take consumers on a journey from cask to glass by uniting them with the most prized of rare treasures: their own cask of Scotch whisky. Until recently, casks were almost exclusively traded within the whisky industry itself, and private cask ownership was barely seen at all. But it turns out that there are many lovers of whisky who want to become more intimately involved with the life of their favourite spirit - and that is something that Cask 88 can help with. Over the last decade Cask 88 has built up relationships within the Scotch Whisky industry that give them access to exquisite casks of maturing whisky at all ages, from all over Scotland. It was thus one of the first companies in the world to sell single casks of whisky in their entirety to private buyers on a broader scale. As Scotch Whisky matures, it must remain under bond in an HMRC accredited warehouse - something the great majority of people don’t have access to. Cask 88 has agreements with many bonded warehouses, as well as exclusive use of a beautiful and spacious dunnage warehouse space in Speyside, enabling it to act as a custodian of casks on behalf of its customers. Under our care, each cask is properly tracked, insured, stored and maintained, freeing its owner to focus on the existential questions of what they want their whisky to become, and to decide when it has matured enough. When you become the owner of a cask of whisky, you can guide its maturation, and choose its final form when you decide that it is time to bottle. Maturing casks can be re-racked; transferring the whisky into another cask to grant it new flavours; and samples can be drawn to taste how the maturation is progressing. Settle in, because some maturations can stretch on for decades - waiting for the right moment. You might even make a trip to visit a cask while it matures.
Every cask is unique, an individual snowflake, and single cask bottlings crystallise a moment in time. Some people bottle their cask to create a uniquely-branded whisky to celebrate a wedding, or stock a personal bar. Meaningful anniversaries, company milestones, the birth of a child - all are occasions worthy of a unique whisky!
The style and form this bottle takes is entirely up to personal choice - Cask 88 has a team of designers and artisanal friends in the right places to ensure that the bottles look just right. Sometimes they can’t resist the temptation and bottle up one of their favourite whiskies ourselves. Independent bottling breathes life into whisky, and they want to create whiskies that mean something personally to their team and their clients.
Cask 88: whisky enthusiasts who went the whole hogshead; building up the experience and connections that are needed to be able to oversee the safe journey from cask to glass. This is an open invitation to take the journey.
If you’d like to start a conversation with a member of the team, then please don’t hesitate to be in touch. You can find out more about cask ownership, and Cask 88’s range of independent bottlings, at
