I’m actually writing this on Sunday 14th May, the day after the Nine Rivers Distillery Open Day where some of us made a pilgrimage to the new home of whisky in China.. I was one of the attendees (I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!) and after what can only be described as an amazing experience, I felt it was about time for me to step forward and write my contribution to the story of Nine Rivers Distillery.
I guess I should start with introducing myself, so here goes.
I’m Jan Lægaard Broni, and I come from the beautiful Kingdom of Denmark. Fun fact, the UK isn’t the only country in Europe to have a monarchy and despite what people might think, the Kingdom of Denmark is the oldest Kingdom in Europe, dating back more than 1200 years!
I’m from a small town called Grenaa, famous for fishing, white sand beaches, a ferry connection to Sweden (in Denmark we need to make sure we always have a way to send the Swedish back home!) and the home of “de Danske Sprit fabrikker” – a type of traditional distilled alcohol.
I have a mechanical engineering degree which I then furthered with a business management degree. My career spans a few different industries before I ended in in the medical and physical rehabilitation industry, where I’ve been for more than 25 years.
How China became my home
I first came to China for a short trip in 2003. I then had the opportunity to come back in 2007 as the GM for AluRehab, a leading manufacturer of high end wheelchairs. A few mergers and acquisitions later, and we are now part of a much larger group called Meyra. I continue to be the GM for the original AluRehab factory, but I’m also the EVP for Global Supply Chain for Merya Group.
It was here in China that I met my wife, who is originally from Yichun in Heilongjiang. We got married and we have a daughter. The rest as we say is history.
I’m blessed to live in Xiamen, which I personally consider to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It has everything for anyone that wants a peaceful life in beautiful surroundings but also enjoys the convenience of living in a large, modern and developed city. There really is no where I would rather be in the world.
The Danish Chamber of Commerce
As a Dane doing business in China, and having a place in my heart for both Denmark and China, it was important to me both personally and professionally, to involve myself in developing bridges between both countries, through business and commerce. So I got involved in the Danish Chamber of Commerce here in China.
In 2009 I was elected to the Danish Chamber of Commerce in South China. In 2014 I was elected to Chairman for the Danish Chamber of Commerce in South China. In March 2023, I was elected to Chairman for the Danish Chamber of Commerce for all of China.
My connection to whisky
As with all people from Denmark, we would traditionally drink either beer (Carlsberg of course is Danish) or Snaps (that’s not a typing error, this is how we spell it in Danish – in other parts of the world it’s spelled “schnapps“). Which I did too in my early years.
However, during the late 1990’s I was travelling a lot within the UK and mostly in Scotland. There were almost never any of the big brand international hotel groups in the remote places I was visiting, so I would always end up staying in local inns. Local hospitality was always underpinned with a dram or two from the innkeeper.
After a few of these experiences, I stayed at an inn very close to the ferry that took people to Islay. It was here that I was introduced to a heavily peated whisky that blew my tastebuds into another world. My interest in whisky turned into a fanatical obsession from that point. It was the first time any drink from any country in the world really make me say “wow”.
I joined a whisky club on my return to Denmark (a shout out here to everyone at the Braband Whisky Club, where my brother is the Chairman!) and even now, being in China for so long, I still attend one of their events each year, typically in January when I am on my annual holidays across Christmas and the New Year.
How I Got Involved in Nine Rivers Distillery
Ironically through wine – although no doubt a lot of the other people involved in Nine Rivers Distillery will scorn me for even mentioning anything other than whisky!
I started off in one of the many wine groups that are led by Jay and his team. I then found out about the whisky groups, and of course jumped straight in as I really do love whisky. I then noticed frequent references to Nine Rivers Distillery, searched the internet, found the website, filled out a form to learn more…….and then nothing.
After a few weeks I gave Jay a nudge and explained I’d heard nothing. A few hours later, my original message was dug out of a spam bin and then Jay and I talked over the next few evenings so I could understand more about the project.
Like many people, we’ve all heard about startup distilleries. There’s a new one every other day on LinkedIn. Whether it’s gin, rum, whisky or any combination of them all together. They are often little more than slide decks and wishful thinking. Being the naturally cautious person that I am, I put Jay through the mangle in terms of drilling down into the real details, to make sure that this project wasn’t just another one of those pipe dreams.
What really stood out to me, aside from the fact that every single base was covered, was the involvement of so many other investors. Sure, there are people that have invested because they want to earn a good return. I understand that. But the fact that there is an open door for every investor to get more involved with the limits only being how much spare time they have and their own imagination, is what really grabbed my attention. An opportunity for me to use some of my spare time to add value to the project pulled me in.
My role within Nine Rivers Distillery
Most of my contributions to the project haven’t been that visible. I’m not a graphic designer, a branding guru, a social media expert or any of those skill areas that are immediately visible to the outside world. Where I’ve contributed the most in around the more strategic areas. The business side of things. The commercials. The framework of management that isn’t typically considered with most startups (let’s be fair, most startups just don’t have the resources available to consider mapping out an organisation for the next year – let alone the next decade or two). Policies, procedures, HR governance – everything we will need once we start producing and of course selling product. We’re anticipating a speed of growth that if we don’t plan and organise in advance, we’ll get buried in our own momentum.
Concurrently, I help organise regular whisky networking events in Xiamen with three other members of the Nine Rivers Distillery family, Jamal, Jeremy and Marc. Jamal is a long time friend, and also mentioned in one of our previous articles. If you missed it, you can find it if you CLICK HERE – a really fun read if you missed it the first time around. Marc was also featured in a previous article which you can find if you CLICK HERE.
My contributions resulted in an appointment as a board advisor and that eventually became a position on the board of directors. A role I still hold today.
The Open Day
Living in Xiamen, about 90 minutes away from the site, it’s close enough for me to visit regularly, and I have done. I was there on site in February with my wife and daughter with some of the other board directors where we stood in the pit that was excavated for what is now Building 3. At that point there was more than 8000 cubic meters excavated and it really was something beyond imagination.
I was there on site again, for the May 13th Open Day with lots of other investors. That very same pit now had the sub-basement water storage tanks for 1.8 million litres of water, the basement for the plant equipment, the first floor and the mezzanine floor all built. There’s a really good video of the day on our WeChat video channel. Just 3 months from a pit to almost a third of the steel and concrete being in place. There’s really only one place in the world that can build at this speed and that’s China. The term “China Speed” is one of the many unique things that make China the most exciting country to be in.
The Future
At the risk of sounding biased, there really are some exciting times ahead for all of us. We have the next big event in July (the last weekend of July – book it out in your diary now!) where we will all start laying the first bricks. These will be the bricks of The Plenum Wall, where hundreds of us (both investors and non-investors, who want to support our project and be a part of our story) will have our names on steel plates, cemented into the wall on the staircase of Building 3).
Then it’s full steam ahead to get the construction finished before the end of this year. Then install our stills and equipment, so we can start producing spirit early next year.
If you’re in Xiamen
Feel free to get in touch with me. Everyone is welcome to our Xiamen Whisky Networking events and we have a WeChat group for organising it. I’m always there and happy to talk to anyone about our project.
Just remember. If you want to share a whisky with me, we’ll have none of that Slàinte Mhath nonsense toasting. Aside from the fact, it’s actually Irish Gaelic in origin (albeit spelt Slàinte Mhaith by the Irish) and only highjacked by Scotch drinkers in modern times, it doesn’t have the same history as a traditional Danish toast. Over in Denmark, we’ve been using “Skål” (pronounced like “Skoal” – rhymes with “coal”) for 5000 years. A good 4200 years longer than Irish Gaelic reached the lowlands of Scotland and about 4900 years longer than it became a hipster thing.
Would You Like To Read More?
If you enjoyed reading about how we currently don’t see any alternatives to Dramfunded, and you would like to catch up with some of our past articles, then please CLICK HERE and go to our News Section, where most of our other content is published.
Would You like To Know More About Helping Nine Rivers Distillery?
One of the easiest ways to help our project succeed is to take an interest in anything we have for sale. You can find out what we have if you CLICK HERE and go to our shop. We’ll make a few percentage points (after sales tax) and this goes directly to our project.
You could help us by simply buying your very own Brick for Life – a brick with a steel name plate wrapped around it, which will be cemented into The Plenum (our feature wall) in July 2023. Every brick owner is entitled to a free dram for life every time they visit us in Longyan, Fujian.
Or, you could learn more about being involved and help us grow to our target of 1000 stakeholders. You can read more about how we are Dramfunded if you CLICK HERE. Remember, we currently have no alternatives to Damfunded!
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