Spirits history

Western-style spirits have a long history in China thanks to brandy. Changyu began distilling it in Yantai soon after its founding in 1892, and in 1915 its Koya brandy won a Grand Prize at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. For most of the 20th century brandy remained the only Western spirit made at scale in China, alongside a rich tradition of fruit and flower liqueurs such as green plum wine and osmanthus wine. The real story is recent. From 2019 international groups and Chinese investors began building whisky distilleries: Pernod Ricard's The Chuan at Emeishan in Sichuan, Diageo's distillery in Yunnan, and Chinese-owned projects from Fujian to Shandong. 2021 is often called 'Year One' of Chinese whisky, and the first Chinese single malts reached the market from 2023. At the same time a craft gin scene grew up in Shanghai and other cities, built on Chinese botanicals: Sichuan pepper, tea, osmanthus, goji and citrus peel. Chinese brandy, too, is being reinvented, with new age grades in the 2023 national standard and producers in Ningxia, Shandong and Xinjiang making premium, oak-aged spirits. China's new spirits are young, and most of the stock is still ageing. But with huge demand at home, varied climates for maturation and the know-how of a country that has distilled for centuries, they are one of the most interesting things happening in the world of drinks.