New Chinese whisky distillery construction kicks off in Huizhou

A Chinese company has begun work on a 1.6 billion RMB whisky distiller in Longmen County in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China.

Set in Longtan Town, the construction is set to be a national 4A class attraction combining the elements of whisky production and tourism.

The natural ecology in Longmen has abundant natural resources and the necessary water quality suitable for whisky production.

Longmen has a long tradition of alcoholic drinks making. Currently, there are three baijiu producers and over 300 liquor workshops in the county.

The whisky distillery project is being funded by a whisky production company in Guangdong named ‘YunDing’, which literally means “top of the cloud” in Chinese, and which shares the same Chinese name of the Springbank distillery based in Campbeltown.

The distillery will cover an area of 800 acres, including eight whisky production lines, exhibition centres, a tasting centre, catering facilities and even a water park.

The distillery will be constructed in three phases, with the ultimate goal of having eight production lines with an annual output of about 20,000 tons of whisky.

The goal is to create a national 4A-level industrial tourist attraction, with annual revenue of about 4 billion RMB and annual visits of 1.5 million tourists.

Longmen is located nearby Guangzhou and Shenzhen, two of the major cities in southern China. Its geographical advantages grant broad development opportunities. In particular, Longmen has been closely following the goal of developing a “big mountain economy”.

In recent years, with Scotch and Japanese whisky becoming trendy in the country, ‘made in China’ whisky is on the rise as well. After Diageo’s new joint venture with Chinese baijiu producer Jiangsu Yanghe Distillery, Pernod Ricard also announced an one billion RMB whisky distillery project in Emeishan, Sichuan.