Chivas Regal owner bets US$150 million on a whisky distillery in China’s Emei mountains, seeking to convert baijiu drinkers to malt

Pernod Ricard, the world’s second-largest wine and spirit maker, owns such whisky blends as Chivas Regal, Royal Salute and Ballantines, as well as single malts such as The Glenlivet, Longmorn and Aberlour

The bet in China follows the growing popularity of single malts by Japanese and Taiwan distilleries, which have topped global awards and won a loyal following by the world’s whisky aficionados

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Mount Emei in Sichuan province, where Pernod Richard is investing 1 billion yuan to set up the first whisky distillery in China. Photo: Alamy

Published: 5:30pm, 29 Aug 2019Updated: 7:09pm, 30 Aug 2019

Pernod Ricard, the world’s second-largest wine and spirits producer, will produce whisky in China, placing a 1 billion yuan (US$150 million) bet that rising affluence will lead the nation’s baijiu drinkers to switch from rice-based hard liquor to malt.

The Paris-based conglomerate, which has been growing cabernet sauvignon and merlot grapes in China for its Helan Mountain Xiaofeng wine since the 1980s, is setting up a distillery in the Emei mountains in Sichuan province.

“We want to go to the next level of development in mainland China by making a brand new iconic malt whisky in China,” said Pernod Ricard Asia’s chairman Philippe Guettat, in a telephone interview from Emeishan, where the company broke ground on a distillery that will open in 2021. “Mount Emei is the ideal location for its high quality of water and climate.”

The French company is increasing its bet on China – Pernod’s second-largest global sales market after the United States – as alcohol consumption is poised to increase in the world’s most populous country. Pernod’s portfolio of whiskies include such blends as Chivas Regal, Royal Salute and Ballantines, and single malts The Glenlivet, Longmorn and Aberlour.

An artist’s illustration of an aerial view of Pernod Ricard's Emeishan Malt Whisky Distillery. Photo: Handout

The bet in China follows the growing popularity of single malts by Japanese and Taiwan distilleries, which have topped global awards and won a loyal following by the world’s whisky aficionados.

“There has been an increasing popularity of Asian whiskies, [with] whiskies distilled in Japan, Taiwan and India gaining popularity in the international market,” Guettat said. “It is the right time to make a Chinese whisky and sell it to the world.”