Three French and three Chinese malts


June 17, 2025

World Whiskies: three French
and three Chinese malts

The Chuan

At The Chuan Distillery in Sichuan, China. A saying goes like 'If you can
see Mount Emei, it will bring peace and good fortune.' In fact, the famous
mount is just off to the left of the photo, but we chose to show the still
house instead. Some things will never change at Whiskyfun. (May 2025)

So, this time, we're setting off from France, as usual, heading straight to China—Sichuan, to be precise—where the teas are splendid, the food delicious though rather spicy (cough, cough), the people absolutely lovely, the pandas truly in their element, and the local whiskies... well, you'll see for yourself!
But first, three French malts...

Bellevoye ‘Triple Malt Finition Grand Cru’ (43%, OB, blended malt, France, +/-2025)

This isn’t a distillery, rather they’ve blended malts from three French regions—Alsace, Lorraine and the Nord—before finishing the whole lot in Saint-Émilion Grand Cru casks – although there are 220 ‘Grands Crus’ in Saint-Émilion, not to be confused with the 85 ‘Grands Crus Classés’, including the famous 14 1er Grands Crus Classés. So then, what could possibly go wrong with this ‘pure malt’ that’s widely distributed across France? Well, thanks to modern whisky, we get to keep brushing up on our wines. Colour: gold, so nothing pinkish. Nose: very dry, dominated by sawdust, with no real presence of distinctive distillate character, clearly very young malts. Unexpected wafts of brine and anchovies... Mouth: again, marked woodiness, very dry liquorice, unsweetened black tea, and once more this odd saline edge. Finish: rather long, still strikingly saline. A right bank effect, perhaps? Comments: a tough one for me, the Saint-Émilion influence doesn’t seem to have brought it all together.
SGP:261 - 50 points.

Moon Harbour ‘Dock 3’ (45.8%, OB, France, single malt, 2023)

A cracking pedigree, as this youngster was distilled in Bordeaux from French barley smoked—not malted—with seaweed from the Arcachon basin, then matured in Sauternes casks before being finished in La Louvière casks from Pessac-Léognan. At any rate, it’s quite the lark! Colour: straw. Nose: what leaps out is warm rhubarb and apple compote, followed by a light yet rather intriguing smokiness, with notes of caraway, mead, and an odd touch of eucalyptus and vegetal tar that might well stem from... seaweed. Amusing stuff. Mouth: the smoke is far more assertive on the palate, leaning towards a salted lapsang souchong with a twist of lemon zest. Rather curious, not unpleasant at all—in fact, quite the opposite—but one does need to come to terms with the vegetal notes from the seaweed. Yes, peat is vegetal too, but the peat used in Scotland has aged over several millennia. Finish: long, still rather tarry and eucalyptus-led, then drifting towards myrtle and saltiness. Comments: fun and rather charming! Should the peat supplies ever run dry, we could always fall back on seaweed.
SGP:465 - 78 points.

Vilanova ‘Rivesaltes Finish’ (49%, OB, LMDW Foundations, cask #396, 2024)

Another smoky one, by Distillerie Castan in Albi in the Tarn, this time peated, matured for two years in Chardonnay and one year in sweet Rivesaltes, so once again this is rather a wine affair. I would be curious to know the proportion of French whisky that isn’t aged or finished in wine casks. Colour: gold. Nose: very light soapy and paraffin-like notes to begin with, but the sweet wine character soon takes over in intriguing fashion, mingling with the peat over cooked apricots, orgeat, ‘medicinal’ fig and camphorated orange. In fact, it works rather well on the nose. Mouth: this is really quite nice, highly unusual but surprisingly coherent this time, rather rich, with a blend of cough syrup and citrus marmalade that works remarkably well. Even more surprising, the peat is beautifully integrated, never feeling ‘tacked on’. Finish: long, increasingly tarry and resinous. A touch of coriander seed and juniper. Comments: it’s been quite a while since I last tasted it, but parts of it do remind me of Caol Ila Distillers Edition.
SGP:556 - 84 points.

Let’s head to China now—first to Hunan, then on to Sichuan…

Goalong ‘Single cask’ (46.5%, OB, China, bourbon whiskey cask, cask #51L306, 370 bottles)

I suppose the issue when presenting a whisky from a country as identity-rich as China—particularly if you aim to export—is finding a way to add something distinctive, something intrinsically Chinese, rather than offering something overly international. Just my humble opinion. We’re in Hunan here. Colour: pale gold. Nose: vanilla, sawdust, underripe bananas, cake batter, then apples and pears. In fact, it’s not bad at all. Mouth: very decent, rather aromatic, with banana and orange, vanilla, pear, acacia honey, then white pepper—it’s somewhat in the Glenmorangie style, though not quite as deep. A pity the American oak stands out rather plainly. Finish: good length, with a nice honeyed and malty profile, a faint earthy/resinous note appearing as a late signature. Comments: nothing to fault, really. A very good young malt which, in my view, I say it deserves better than some of the remarks seen here and there in Europe.
SGP:551 - 79 points.

Let’s move on to The Chuan, a Pernod Ricard venture we visited in mid-May. It’s worth noting that here at WF, we’re quite fond of China—our first trip there was back in 1987! But it was a completely different country back then, and people were more likely to be drinking Baijiu at $1 a litre... In fact, in 2025 Baijiu still accounts for 97% of all spirits consumed in China by volume.

The Chuan ‘Travel Retail’ (48.6%, OB, China, Pure Malt, 2025)

This is the traditional blend from The Chuan, combining ex-bourbon casks, ex-sherry casks, and Chinese oak casks (Danling oak, Quercus mongolica). This is still a ‘pure malt’ rather than a ‘single malt’, as the distillery is very young and only began distilling in 2021, so some of the spirit here comes from Pernod-Ricard’s thoroughbred stock in Scotland, using a blending system also employed in a number of recent high-profile Japanese ‘pure malts’. Naturally, The Chuan single malt will come later, and given the very high potential of their newmake (which we’ve tasted), that’s something to look forward to. Importantly, theirs is not one of those generic newmakes made simply to be bolstered later by active wood, far from it.

Colour: gold. Nose: starts out floral, with broom, dandelion, and perhaps some Chinese yellow flowers we, ahem, don’t quite know by name. Then the Danling oak steps in, never overtly ‘woody’, bringing caraway, sandalwood, spruce buds, and teak deck oil, with also obvious touches of this chen-pi we love so much (aged mandarin peel; we’re currently using some 20 yo at WF Towers – that’s right). Also wild carrot, and fennel lurking in the background. Lovely structure, with the spruce and sandalwood leading the rhythm—that Danling oak clearly in play. Mouth: finely wooded but not at all pushy, showing green banana and pine buds, wrapped in just a whisper of sweet wine, tangerine, honeys, and maple syrup. The woodiness gets gradually absorbed by these softer, rounder elements—it’s fun to follow on the palate, like a little film—just add Gong Li and bring it to Cannes next year. Elsewhere, the reverse often happens, with tannicity gradually dominating. Finish: good length, with more pine bud liqueur and verbena, a spoonful of citrus jam, this aged citrus peel we’ve already mentioned and a signature on sandalwood, caraway and liquorice.

In the finest of the experiential
rooms, with Dr YANG Tao, Master
Distiller The Chuan Malt Whisky
Distillery, Pernod Ricard.
(photo Tim Hartfield)

Comments: I really liked this one on site at the distillery, though I always take distillery tastings with a pinch of salt, especially when the place and people are rather exceptional. The retsina effect, you see. So, I made a point to revisit this at WF HQ in peaceful surroundings—and found it… even better, honestly. Well done The Chuan, well done Pernod Ricard, this is genuinely ‘distinctive’ despite the still (partly) Scottish provenance, the ratio of which we don’t actually know. Not that we didn’t ask, mind you. In short, this lands more or less in the same cluster as the new, personality-rich and pretty posh Japanese malts.
SGP:561 - 89 points.

Right then, have you ever noticed how tasting notes always seem longer when you've just visited the distillery? Could we call that an experiential bias? Go on then, a second The Chuan—we’ll save the rest for another session, like a squirrel stashing its nuts…

The Chuan ‘Distillery Only’ (61.3%, OB, China, cask #003, hand-filled May 2025)

In the heat of the moment, we didn’t ask about the pedigree of this cask. Incidentally, we were able to taste a 2021 ‘single malt’ drawn straight from its Chinese Danling oak cask in one of the warehouses, and it was an absolute beast! But it seems they’re guarding that one like a treasure and aren’t planning to bottle it just yet, which is a pity… Colour: gold. Nose: lemony, with the same spruce and sandalwood note as in the previous dram, a hint of chartreuse, quite a bit of dill, and naturally, a good dose of power. Faint notes of banana foam and vanilla. With water: the signature I discovered in that now-fabled 2021 cask comes back through clearly—this is unmistakably ‘The Chuan’, with no ‘blending’ effect whatsoever. In fact, it’s packed with bergamot, tangerine, and honey, with a small touch of celery lending some structure. And always those little hints of Christmas tree. Mouth (neat): very creamy, very good, honeyed but not cloying, balanced by the liveliness of the lemon and that coniferous side. With water: if there’s a Scotch malt this vaguely calls to mind—not that it’s similar—it would be Aberlour A’bunadh Alba. At this stage, the malty side comes through: dough, muesli, vanilla, ripe banana, and Sichuan meadow honey, I’d wager… Finish: long, fresh, lemony, textured without going over the top. The chen-pi is back, loud and clear, in the aftertaste. Comments: almost worth trekking to the foot of Mount Emei just to fill your own bottle of this ‘distillery only’ edition.
SGP:661 - 88 points.

To wrap up, here’s a quick personal summary about The Chuan:

Located in Emeishan, not far from Chengdu, in a truly stunning landscape—a UNESCO World Heritage site
A 13-hectare estate deeply integrated into its surroundings: Mount Emei, forests, and local wildlife and flora are strongly highlighted
Strong cultural and artistic identity: contemporary architecture, artworks including a fractal piece by Zhan Wang scattered across the site; a sophisticated atmosphere rich in Chinese, particularly Sichuanese, symbolism
On-site Michelin-level restaurant and top-tier customer experiences with an ‘immersive’ approach
Entirely Chinese staff, some of whom trained in Scotland—highly skilled
Distillery Manager: the renowned Yang Tao
First distillation: November 2021
Pair of traditional Forsyth pot stills
Capacity capped at 1.5 million LPA (compare with Glenlivet’s 21 million LPA)
Uses both traditional international distilling barley and Chinese barley with higher protein content and lower yield
Maturation in a mix of bourbon, sherry, and Chinese Danling oak (Quercus mongolica) casks
Storage capacity for ten years of production
Currently producing pure/vatted malt, transitioning towards single malts
The new make and young single malt still maturing in cask already show a strong personality, with similarities to cutting-edge Japanese distilleries (Shizuoka, Chichibu, Wakatsuru…)
Genuinely Chinese in character, it’s Chinese malt, not an international-style malt made in China
First export outside China is imminent, but limited to travel retail (APEC countries only)
At WF, we’ll be keeping a very close eye on the release of The Chuan’s first single malts!

The Chuan at night (WF)

A final little smile: before stepping into the distillery, you’ll spot signs warning you to watch out for… snakes.

And one last anecdote: on the evening of our visit, we went out with the very charming Pernod Ricard China team to a trendy bar in Chengdu, whose owner—by complete coincidence—had been inducted into the Keepers of the Quaich on the very same night as I was, a few years ago. Quite the coincidence indeed! We then tasted a few of Pernod Ricard’s Scottish jewels (Aberlour, Longmorn, Glenlivet—all 18 years old, if memory serves), which, far from outshining The Chuan, actually made the distillery’s early success stand out even more by contrast. Very clever—and so diplomatically done! (deep smile)

Here it is , Mount Emei, also known as Emei Shan, in all its glory
and serenity, as seen from the Distillery. (WF)

Final Bonus: I've always dreamt of a tasting glass made of terracotta or porcelain — but not too thick, unlike the ones you often see here and there. Especially one for blind tastings, something a little less grim than those black or blue ISO glasses that have been de rigueur for so long. So I'd like to warmly thank the awesome Amber, The Spirit Hunter, for this genuine little Chinese gem!
Naturally, I’ll also be trying it with tea, which it will no doubt showcase far better than those traditional tiny little ‘gung-fu’ style cups, all while avoiding the rather too delicate Riedels or Spiegelaus. So thanks again, Amber!

Check the index of all world whiskies we've tasted so far