Continuing our story of the whisky communities all over China that are the foundation to Nine Rivers Distillery, it’s time for us to pay a bit of an homage to Whisky Networking China Wuhan Chapter and its leader, Lucas “Cardigan” Driggers. Kicking off in the early part of 2018, Whisky Networking China Wuhan Chapter was […]
Read MoreContinuing our story of the whisky communities all over China that are the foundation to Nine Rivers Distillery, it’s time for us to pay a bit of an homage to Whisky Networking China Wuhan Chapter and its leader, Lucas “Cardigan” Driggers.
Kicking off in the early part of 2018, Whisky Networking China Wuhan Chapter was born out of some whisky-fuelled conversation between Lucas Driggers and his friends. (Sound familiar? It’s pretty much how Nine Rivers got started too!) Unfortunately, whisky just hadn’t taken off in Wuhan, and excluding a few of the “usual suspects” that bars are always obligated to stock, there was nothing that would interest or excite any whisky lover. Indeed, the bar was pretty low for the expat community.
The sad truth is simply this: bars are almost always cash flow intensive and locking money up in stock that won’t sell is bad business. Without a demand for whisky, bars simply don’t bother to stock anything more than “mixing whisky.” You know the type. ‘Nuff said. Without any real whisky knowledge within the city, demand never starts or grows. And thus, the hero of Wuhan Whisky emerged!
Lucas reached out to Oak and Barley to learn more about what was going on down south in Shenzhen and to understand how Whisky Networking China Shenzhen Chapter made things happen. We covered the Shenzhen events a couple of weeks ago, but in case you missed it, you can CLICK HERE and catch up.
“Wuhan was far too sophisticated for the off the cuff style of Shenzhen’s early whisky nights. I needed something more to attract a classy crowd. Educational, hosted whisky nights were the answer to the needs of Wuhan. Themed flights of whisky to explore styles, flavors, textures and to also understand that globally, whisky really is so much more than just Johnnie Walker and Jamesons.”
…seriously? Did he just call Shenzhen unsophisticated? Does he not know I, the editor, live in Shenzhen? It’s ok. I can let this go.
“With a combination of teaching newcomers how to nose (smell) and taste whisky, preparing printed sheets to help people explore aromas, flavors, and give their own reviews on whisky, and throwing in just enough facts and anecdotes about whiskies to keep it interesting, Wuhan was officially on the whisky map in China.”
Whisky Networking China Wuhan Chapter has had a few different homes over the years, rotating around a number of different bars around the city. For a while, everyone’s home was where the tasting events happened due to pandemic lockdowns. That’s right, the whisky tasting moved online. We’ll get back to that in a moment.
Its current home (with no likelihood of moving) is The Devil’s Brewery in Jianghan District, in Wuhan, where Taylor, May and the rest of the team at Devil’s have been a real asset to helping to grow a whisky community in Wuhan. Devils’ has been around for quite a few years and Taylor has a pretty strong reputation in the brewpub and craft beer community in China.
There were some challenges in Wuhan for a few months, as I’m sure we all know. But, that wasn’t going to stop the need for whisky nights in Wuhan. Lucas took a crash course in computer-me-bobs, and worked out how to do virtual tastings.
For those unaware, virtual whisky tastings have become more popular globally over the years during various times of lockdown across the world.
After distilleries and brand owners woke up to the fact that making hand sanitizer as a marketing and brand building “strategy” was an expensive and epic fail, some of them realised it might be a good chance to actually engage with customers in their homes by shipping sample sized bottles of product and hosting live tasting sessions. As it may or may not surprise you, people sometimes like drinking at home just as much as going out to a bar.
Lucas jumped on that bandwagon, swapped the cardigan out for an eye gouger of a shirt (sophisticated? ha!) and got all hi-tech.
Hand filling 25ml bottles and shipping them far and wide, all over Wuhan, Lucas showed just a sample of the level of dedication that he has put in over the last 4 years and more.
The efforts of Lucas didn’t go unnoticed in Wuhan. In fact, in 2019, Lucas won the Wuhan Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Whisky Networking China Wuhan Chapter. He was officially recognised for creating something new, interesting, and above all popular on the Wuhan social scene. Voted for by the people of Wuhan, it recognised the efforts that Lucas had made in building a whisky culture in Wuhan.
Through a number of whisky groups and a group specifically for those people taking up the challenge of building whisky culture in their cities, Lucas logically got involved at the very start of the Nine Rivers Distillery, bringing along some of the other whisky lovers in Wuhan. Simon, Mischa, Steve, Luke, Mark, Travis, and Aztlano all got involved as investors and ambassadors for the project.
Lucas continues to be a leading figure in the project with active involvement in some of our steering groups, with Simon being involved in a lot of our social media activity. We’re just waiting for Mischa to get over his Magic: The Gathering obsession (which he has been playing non-stop since 1993) so he can roll his sleeves up and get involved a bit more. [Editor’s note: I had a joke here but I’m all tapped out.]
If you’re in or near Wuhan and your interest is piqued, you are welcome to reach out to Lucas to sign up for the next Whisky Networking China Wuhan Chapter!
There is a fixed number of tickets available for each event so they normally sell out within a couple of days. The July meetup has yet to be announced, so feel free to use the QR code below to add Lucas on WeChat. He’ll add you to the group so you can know when events are taking place and how to get a ticket. See you there!
If you enjoyed reading this, 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.
If you have enjoyed reading this and want to learn more about Nine Rivers Distillery, then use the QR Code below to follow our WeChat Official Account.
Alternatively, if you prefer Linked In then you can CLICK HERE to follow us.
Facebook users, you can CLICK HERE.
Everyone involved in the Nine Rivers Distillery project is taking turns to introduce themselves to the world. Finally it’s my time to shine and tell you all a little about me and how I got involved in this project, and also to tell the world that simply, the days of artists and Absinthe are long […]
Read MoreEveryone involved in the Nine Rivers Distillery project is taking turns to introduce themselves to the world. Finally it’s my time to shine and tell you all a little about me and how I got involved in this project, and also to tell the world that simply, the days of artists and Absinthe are long gone – artists actually prefer whisky!
Why have we artists switched to whisky? Perhaps it’s the fact that whisky is such a broad and diverse category of drink. Perhaps it’s because we can relate to the creativity needed to craft what are essentially very basic things (grains, water and yeast) into something rich and meaningful. Then again, perhaps it’s simply because in the modern world, artists have generally agreed that we’re less likely to hack off our own ear if we avoid absinthe to fuel our creative passions. All I know is that whisky is something I really enjoy and I’m squeamish at the sight of blood!
I’m Yusan and I’m an artist. Not one of those fluffy types that finger paint blotches on canvas and then challenge people to “see the feelings I’m demonstrating with my art” and then cursing those that don’t have enough of a fluffy imagination to make up some nonsense to sound “artsy”. I actually do a mashup between technology and art, so I’m kind of a half nerd, and only half fluffy. Not even my dog is fluffy. More on her later.
I’ve always been intrigued by art. My interest started when my mom sent me to an art camp (that’s A-R-T and not F-A-T – I only got fat as I got older). She claimed she sent me because she wanted to me to have fun and learn new skills, but I suspect it’s because I was probably too loud and annoying. Regardless, or in spite of her, I had a great time and it laid the foundation for my career which ironically also kinda annoyed my parents (they wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer, or anything else that a traditional Chinese family can brag about). But hey, I’m not unsuccessful! I earn enough to pay my bills and buy whisky, so it’s all working out fine in my humble opinion.
I had a few jobs that were a bit artsy, mostly around video production and art installations, but it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. As it turns out, most of the production staff or technicians I worked with couldn’t bring my vision to life. Sometimes these disconnects were unspeakably frustrating!
To have an image in your mind of exactly what you want and then the “professionals” not being able to deliver it annoyed me so much that I decided to learn all the nerdy bits myself by going back to university to earn a masters degree that combined technology with art. Now, I’m able to make my own creations become exactly as they should – I’m officially a #Techno-Fluffy (let’s see if we can start a new hashtag trend with that).
I have two types of whisky in my life. No, not the type with an “e” and the type without an “e”. I mean Whisky, and my ickle bitsy cutie pie Whisky.
The fact that I’ve got a growler named after a type of alcohol should go some way towards demonstrating that I genuinely LOVE whisky. Dog lovers will of course know that this little cutie isn’t the deformed, big eared runt from a litter of Dalmatians, it is of course a French Pug.
She was minutes away from being named after my favourite Islay whisky (that begins with the letter A) but I didn’t want to reinforce that old Western cliché that we Chinese have no respect for copyright or trademarks. So, she became just plain ol’ Whisky.
My first encounter with whisky as a drink was way back in about 2017 when I got dragged along (much to my disinterest at the time) to a Whisky Networking event in Shenzhen. I had seen the address (Maker Hotel) and assumed it would just be full of those yobs who had flown over to Shenzhen, with a wallet full of crowdfunding money to source some new gimmick on the cheap, to sell to gullible punters in the West for 20 times the cost of buying it from a Guangdong factory.
I was more than pleasantly surprised to see that it really wasn’t that type of crowd. In fact, not only was it full of interesting people, but they all had the patience to welcome me as “one of their own” and give me a crash course in whisky. I did a flight of the 5 Scotch regions (yes, I know, there are only actually 4 regions, blah blah blah, but the Speyside lovers will bang their tambourines if I don’t count it as a 5th region….) and ended up leaving the night a little bit tipsy, content in the knowledge that I had fallen in love with heavily peated Islay whiskies (when I got home, I threw the Absinthe in the bin, because I really knew now that artists prefer whisky!). Not at all lady-like (my friends roll their eyes when I order straight-up whisky on girls-night out) but conventional thinking is boring and I’d bet most ladies would actually enjoy a good Islay whisky if they tried it (except my friends).
These whisky networking nights were the only reason I actually went to Shenzhen (I live in Guangzhou) although I didn’t have the time for them once I went back to University. But (because artists prefer whisky), I stayed in touch with most of the people I had met there because I’m a part of some of the whisky groups on WeChat, so I was never far away from it at all.
The idea of the distillery was something discussed at the end of pretty much every whisky night, so when the talking became a something, I was on it like a dog on a bone (or an artist on a bottle of good whisky!). I became one of the founder investors, threw in my money and got my name on the website, proud to be a part of something that is a real passion project for me. Yes, of course it’s an investment, but for me, the investment aspect came second to what I really wanted to do – get involved in creating amazing whiskies with a huge team of people that feel the same as I do.
Currently I have been involved in managing the Nine Rivers Distillery WeChat official account, publishing the content, replying to the people that contact us through our WeChat official account, and I help out on translating content to Chinese. My future plans are to be more involved on the fluffier side, so watch out for my whisky fuelled creative input on some of the art and technology mashups that we have planned. I’m probably not supposed to leak this, but think immersive, augmented reality experiences for visitors…..and then some. There’s a real benefit to a distillery project when artists prefer whisky.
If you enjoyed reading this, 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.
If you have enjoyed reading this and want to learn more about Nine Rivers Distillery, then use the QR Code below to follow our WeChat Official Account.
Alternatively, if you prefer Linked In then you can CLICK HERE to follow us.
Facebook users, you can CLICK HERE.
Whisky Networking events are the foundation to the Nine Rivers Distillery project. As we have mentioned before, the original idea was born out of these events. Most of the investors funding our project (both micro-investors and even some of the main investors) are pretty much part of the furniture at these events. When you think […]
Read MoreWhisky Networking events are the foundation to the Nine Rivers Distillery project. As we have mentioned before, the original idea was born out of these events. Most of the investors funding our project (both micro-investors and even some of the main investors) are pretty much part of the furniture at these events.
When you think of a whisky tasting night, maybe you picture a scene like the one above: an eclectic group of people who clink glasses, swap amusing anecdotes, and sometimes network and talk shop. We had all of that, and more.
Whisky Networking events also give us all a fantastic opportunity to interact with other whisky lovers and gain valuable feedback on ideas and concepts that we have been considering. We want Nine Rivers Distillery to be modern, original, creative and appealing to whisky lovers, without sacrificing anything that a real whisky lover would expect from a world class distillery.
The first events in Shenzhen go back to late 2016. Through various whisky themed groups on WeChat, where whisky lovers shared reviews and opinions, the idea of a regular meet up was voiced enough time for us to want to make it happen.
We brokered a deal with the newly-opened Maker Hotel (pictured above) in Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei sub-district of Futian. We secured competitive fixed prices on whiskies for one night each month – ¥50 for 50ml – across 100 different whiskies including premium single malts and bourbons. At a time when most bars would charge at least double that for house pour blends, it was a magnet for whisky lovers all over Shenzhen.
All was well for about 3 years before Tino moved on to a new location. We followed him to a place not too dissmilar to Narnia; it was a location hidden behind a door at the back of a convenience store. As it turned out, hiding a bar didn’t work out too well, and after a few months that location closed. Tino accepted a new job in a new city in a new industry, and Shenzhen Whisky Night seemed officially over.
In our greatest hour of need, two heroes emerged. Danny and Pinki, two regular event members, not only found a new venue but also elevated it to what it is today.
Danny and Pinki made a list of all the things that they thought would improve on what was usually a last-minute and bare-bones event. The important parts all stayed: a wide selections of top-shelf whiskies, a welcoming environment for both local and international whisky veterans and novices, and an encouragement to network, mingle, and discuss whatever fascinating topics the diverse group brought. One of the most welcome additions was food; a meal encouraged people to arrive earlier and have more time to socialise. Finally, Danny and Pinki made the event not-for-profit, thus ensuring the whisky on offer ascended into the ultra-premium category.
“Pinki and I attended our first whisky night in Shenzhen back in 2017 after some friends recommended it to us. A 10 minute walk down a few back alleys and we found our way to a group of people lurking around the door of what looked like a bar, with more people inside. Everyone, of course, with whisky glasses in hand and conversations going on in all directions.
A scruffy looking scoundrel introduced himself, welcomed us both to the event, explained how the event worked and asked us if we needed any guidance in choosing our first whisky. “Sweet, dry, or smokey?” was the three word question that started our adventure into this new, pocket friendly, world of whisky, and the rest as we say, is history.
The scruff was of course Jay Robertson, who wasted no time in introducing Pinki and I to some of the regulars. That was the first of many whisky nights that Pinki and I attended and it became a regular monthly event for us both to attend.
Shenzhen Whisky Networking nights were exactly the thing that Pinki and I loved. Meeting people from all walks of life, involved in diverse careers, from all corners of the globe. While some other social events can become a bit clicky (making it difficult for new comers to “fit in”), the whisky nights were the complete opposite. A really interesting crowd of regulars who welcomed all newcomers and made everyone feel as if they has always been a part of the event.
When the Whisky Networking events ended, it was enough of a loss to us personally, that Pinki and I decided we were going to do whatever it takes to bring this event back to Shenzhen. We approached one of our oldest friends in Shenzhen, Mr Singh, (who also happens to own an amazing Indian restaurant called Dawat) and worked out a deal where we pay him for an Indian buffet and he lets us host our whisky night at his restaurant. It’s a win-win as they say.”
Whisky Networking Shenzhen is typically the first or second Friday of the month (the last one was Friday 3rd June 2022) at Dawat Indian Restaurant in Huaqiangbei, in Futian district. It’s within a few hundred meters of 4 different metro stations so it’s really easy to get to.
Events are announced in a WeChat group run by Danny a couple of weeks before the date. Tickets are sold to include an Indian buffet and either 5 whiskies (5 x 35ml measures) or 10 whiskies (for those that can handle the equivalent of half a bottle of whisky!). As a bonus, those buying a ticket for 10 whiskies also get to choose one of the bottles that will be available. [Editor’s note: as an attendee myself, nominating a bottle and watching people enjoy it is a rather great feeling.]
Upon arrival, Danny gives each ticket holder a number of tokens (5 or 10) which can be redeemed for measures of whisky. Ticket holders measure and pour their own whisky, keeping the honor system alive and well.
Because the event is run nonprofit, any remaining whisky from the previous event is offered as a free first and last drink; therefore, guests usually are allowed up to 7 or 12 whiskies. If someone didn’t get through all of their tokens, they are allowed to “bid” them on an unfinished bottle to take home. It’s a well-thought out system that fosters trust and community, leading to every event being memorable.
If you’re in or near Shenzhen and your interest is piqued, you are welcome to reach out to Danny to sign up for the next one!
There is a fixed number of tickets available for each event so they normally sell out within a couple of days. The July meetup has yet to be announced, so feel free to use the QR code below to add Danny on WeChat. He’ll add you to the group so you can know when events are taking place and how to get a ticket. See you there!
If you enjoyed reading this, 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.
If you have enjoyed reading this and want to learn more about Nine Rivers Distillery, then use the QR Code below to follow our WeChat Official Account.
Alternatively, if you prefer Linked In then you can CLICK HERE to follow us.
Facebook users, you can CLICK HERE.
Everyone has their own story of how they got involved in the Nine Rivers Distillery project, so now it’s my turn to tell my story of how I travelled from France to Futian and became involved in the Nine Rivers Distillery Project. Le Mans, France I’m originally from Le Mans, a city in northwestern France, […]
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Everyone has their own story of how they got involved in the Nine Rivers Distillery project, so now it’s my turn to tell my story of how I travelled from France to Futian and became involved in the Nine Rivers Distillery Project.
I’m originally from Le Mans, a city in northwestern France, known all over the world as the host location of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 Heures du Mans in French). Racing fans will know that it’s actually the weekend of the Le Mans race tomorrow and Sunday (11th and 12th June).
Le Mans is also home to some of the most interesting history in Europe. It has an amazing historical cathedral (Cathédrale St-Julien du Mans) which dates back to the 6th century.
The ruins of a 3rd century Roman amphitheatre are still available to see. Other interesting places include the Musée de Tessé (a fine arts museum), Arboretum de la Grand Prée (a botanical garden), a medieval church, a neogothic church, and an ancient Roman wall. After the first four, that last one doesn’t sound all that impressive, but it’s still worth a look.
I graduated in 2014, with a masters degree in product design specializing in luxury brands. I had already decided that China was my destination because I could see what a market leader China was becoming. The European markets were stagnate; staying there meant a boring future. I succumbed to my wanderlust and bought a one-way ticket to the city whose profile excited me the most and offered me the best opportunities to flex my creativity.
That was Shenzhen. All throughout the 2000’s, Shenzhen’s name appeared in everything new, exciting, and cutting edge in technology. Western media seemed to mention it at every publication. We’ve all heard of a “New York Minute,” but Shenzhen puts it to shame; a new product that would take months or years in other cities could be done in weeks here. I say that with total pride as a “shenzhen ren” (a Shenzhener, if you will).
My initial interest in whisky was actually created through the Shenzhen Whisky Networking Events. I was originally invited to one by my friend Lee Beaudoin (a whisky lover from Canada who’s also involved in Nine Rivers Distillery… hi Lee!). I guess it’s only appropriate that Shenzhen cultivated my affection for whisky, the drink officially responsible for my divorce with my previous love, rum. I’ll come back to that later.
It was through the Shenzhen events that I got to know most of the original founders of the project. Over the years they have all become good friends – even the farfelu d’anglais – the crazy English man we all know as Jay.
Everyone brings something to the table in the Nine Rivers Distillery project, and as a patriotic Frenchman, I wanted to bring fine food and rich cheeses. But I’m a useless cook, and I don’t like sharing my cheese. So I contribute design and branding to the project.
I work alongside Darryl and we have been responsible for pretty much everything you see – online and offline – and also a few products. The bespoke glass and packaging for The Founders’ Casks was something we both really got into. Additionally, we designed the packaging for both last year’s Whisky Advent Calendars and the whisky stones.
This year we’ve been busy with distillery layouts and on some future product launches, including a couple of different ranges of whisky glasses (keep watching out for those because they are going to be something really special!)
Apart from the expected branding and packaging on future bottlings and products on the development docket, something that I’m really looking forward to is the integration between design and technology to create the truly immersive visitors experience at Nine Rivers Distillery. I really want to talk about it, but I’m sworn to complete secrecy until the time is right.
What I’m allowed to say is as follows: The whisky world will be decades behind what we have planned – it will blow people’s minds! But, if you keep reading our updates, you’ll be guaranteed to not miss it!
Fabien Dupont
This is the third (and final) update for this series and we are overjoyed to finally reveal our first bottles to the world. You will also have a chance to put down a deposit on the first of the 6 planned releases! If you’re the impatient “shut up and take my money” type, and want […]
Read MoreThis is the third (and final) update for this series and we are overjoyed to finally reveal our first bottles to the world. You will also have a chance to put down a deposit on the first of the 6 planned releases!
If you’re the impatient “shut up and take my money” type, and want to skip all the interesting elements to this story, then you can CLICK HERE.
Thanks for continuing to read! If you’ve missed the previous two articles, where we told you about our journey to this point and what it actually took for us to be able to release our first bottles, then you can catch up with the following links:
CLICK HERE to read part one.
CLICK HERE to read part two.
Much was revealed over the last two episodes. We shared our intention to have a bold, embossed brand name on the glass with our logo on the base of the bottle. We also shared some images of 3D-printed samples, glass samples and one of the molds that we used to prototype with.
Here’s the finished glass.
One of the important decisions we made very early on was to make these bottlings much more inclusive than simply being the Jay and Jeff sideshow. When we named our first bottles to be “The Founders’ Casks” it logically followed that we wanted to showcase everyone that was involved in our project, up to that point, on the packaging.
Internally, the packaging introduces each of the expressions, giving the name, the style, an explanation of how the whisky was matured and finished, and ending with tasting notes. The bottom displays an artist’s impression of what our distillery will eventually look like.
One benefit of using recycled materials for our packaging is that we were able to go slightly larger in size than a typical box. The box opens up to become a presentation stand to show the bottle off for everyone to “oooh” and “ahhh” over.
There are six expressions in the Founders’ Cask line, all released at cask strength and each showcasing an important element of our approach to whisky maturation and cask finishes.
The Founders’ Casks Expression 1 Madeira – bottled at 53.40%
The Founders’ Casks Expression 2 Baixo Corgo – bottled at 55.30%
The Founders’ Casks Expression 3 Kentucky – bottled at 56.70%
The Founders’ Casks Expression 4 Jerez – bottled at 55.80%
The Founders’ Casks Expression 5 Virginia – bottled at 52.10%
The Founders’ Casks Expression 6 Cima Corgo – bottled at 58.10%
Expression 1 is initially matured in virgin American oak, first-fill ex-bourbon casks from the USA. After its initial ageing of almost 5 years, the whisky is then finished in carefully hand-picked Madeira wine casks.
Thus concludes part 3. If you’ve read this far and want to get your hands on one of our first bottles, then CLICK HERE and put down your deposit today.