For most whisky drinkers in Hong Kong, scotch dominates.
There's some interest in the Japanese variety, and Irish whiskey will always have a place but when it comes to bourbon, even specialist bars barely acknowledge the American version.
Bourbon rules are super strict. It has to be aged in a particular kind of wood
It's a similar story on the mainland, but according to Dario Gentile, bar manager of the new Jing An Shangri-La Hotel Shanghai's 1515 West Chophouse & Bar, bourbon is beginning to gain some traction in the city.
"Demand is growing," he says. "People want something different, and the something different is bourbon whiskey. It matches the taste profile of local customers, and more products are coming into China."
Gentile joined the hotel before it opened, with a brief to set up a serious bar, and decided to emphasise bourbon over scotch. He even commissioned a 10-year-old single-barrel variety from the Heaven Hill distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, as the house signature drink.
There has been talk in Hong Kong lately of a growing interest in aged rums and tequilas, so why not one of those rather than yet another whisky?