Can whisky conquer Chinese palates?

SICHUAN IS THE land of . The south-western Chinese province produces more of the throat-scorching grog than any other. Pernod Ricard wants to make it the land of whisky. In December the first batch of The Chuan Pure Malt, made at the French firm’s five-year-old distillery in rural Sichuan, went on sale. The company hopes to make its tipple as indispensable as at Chinese banquets.China has certainly taken to whisky of late. It imported about $585m-worth in 2023, three times as much as in 2018. Whisky bars are now common in big cities. A recent report from Baiping, an online spirits marketplace, found that more than half of Chinese imbibers were born after 1990. Many are splashing out on pricier bottles; whereas the volume of imports rose by 6.4% in 2023, their value soared by 23%. These affluent young are the target market for Pernod Ricard, says Alexandre Ricard, its chief executive. His rivals are eyeing the same drinkers. Diageo, a British firm, will launch its own locally produced whisky at a distillery it built in neighbouring Yunnan province. Angus Dundee, a Scottish distiller, has similar plans.