Angus Dundee Distillers has started the ball rolling on adding to its distilling presence, this time in China.
The company, which owns the Glencadam and Tomintoul distilleries in Scotland, is investing in a new facility and visitor centre in the country’s Zhejiang province, 350km from Shanghai. The 20-acre site is located near Thousand Island Lake, about 130km west of the city of Hangzhou.
Details about the level of investment and production capacity were not disclosed. When contacted by Global Drinks Intel, a spokesperson said the distillery and visitor centre “are expected to open in 2025”.
Once up and running, the maturation of the whisky will occur in a cave “within a mountain close to the distillery”, the company said. Water will be sourced from the nearby Nongfu Spring.
China has attracted a raft of international distilling entrants in recent years. While the Diageo Eryuan Malt Whisky Distillery in Yunnan province started taking shape at the beginning of last year, Pernod Ricard’s The Chuan Malt Whisky Distillery near Emeishan mountain in Sichuan came online in mid-2021. The first finished product from the latter, The Chuan Pure Malt Whisky, was released domestically last week, although as revealed exclusively by Global Drinks Intel, the expression also contains whisky sourced from Scotland.
Also joining the gold rush this month was Camus Holdings, with the French cognac specialist constructing a facility in Anhui province.
How international whisky/whiskey is offering excitement and innovation – Category Intel
