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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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June 4, 2026 |
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The World Sessions,
Four or five whiskies from the Far East |
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Daiking Distillery. We have already published this image, but we find it
so lovely that we are publishing it again (Daiking). |
We're avoiding, this time, the star countries that have already been recognised for years, such as Japan, Taiwan or even India (we know that’s not the Far East) … So today, we should be heading to Tibet, Vietnam, China and Korea… |
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Tsingtao ‘Year of the Loong’ (40%, OB, China, single malt, bourbon & Mongolian oak, 2024) 
It appears, according to Tsingtao (also makers of that famous beer that we find in all Chinese restaurants) that the first bottle of whisky produced on Chinese soil was made in Qingdao/Tsingtao, Shandong in 1912! Colour: full gold. Nose: it’s slightly earthy, mentholy and resinous at first, no doubt the influence of the mizunara. Rather expressive for a whisky bottled at 40%, before things become a little woodier, on fresh oak, with a few chalky touches coming along to bolster the earthy side. Mouth: lovely presence, fairly chilli-ish and resinous and in that sense rather ‘Chinese’, then more peppery. We really get the impression that this goes beyond 40% vol. In the background, stewed fruits, damsons, and even a curious all’arrabbiata side when it comes to the spices. Finish: rather long, on black pepper and cooked fruits. Still these slightly Italian flavours, one cannot help thinking of Marco Polo. Right. Peppery aftertaste once again. Comments: I rather like this! I do wonder whether at Tsingtao they also make beer casks out of oak. Ideas, ideas…
SGP:571 – 80 points. |
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Sadhana 2006/2019 (43%, OB, Tibet, single malt)
Here we are at the Huzhujinquan distillery, more than 2,500 metres above sea level on the Tibetan plateau. The barley itself comes from Tibet, it’s the ‘Hordeum vulgare himalayense’ variety. Pot still distillation, but rather unusual maturation, nine years in porcelain amphorae before four years in bourbon and French sweet wine casks. Colour: very pale white wine. Nose: an immediate lactic side, fresh bread, vanilla yoghurt, a little wet plaster, fresh butter (from Tibetan yak, perhaps), while on the fruit front, we find green plums… Mouth: this is very unusual indeed, with that same lactic side, slightly spirity, clay indeed, then a whole array of little berries, whitebeam, rowan, elderberry… The green plums then take over, just as on the nose. I have never tasted a whisky quite like this one, although with a little reflection there is a faint baijiu or even shochu side. Finish: the buttery and clayish side dominates proceedings, while the plums bring everyone into agreement right at the end. Comments: I rather like this, it’s hugely different and probably not something to compare with the great malts from the usual whisky nations. One would have loved to try this malt before casking in wood, purely ex-porcelain. In short, we like it…
SGP:552 - 80 points. |
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Vê Dê Di ‘Distiller’s Choice’ (43%, OB, Viet Nam, single malt, sherry, bourbon & new American oak) 
From Hanoi, Viet Nam’s first single malt whisky, made by charming people whom I met at the Hong Kong Whisky Festival. Colour: gold. Nose: this is more classical than the previous ones, there’s a little side, let’s say Glenmorangie-esque at first, with vanilla, soft citrus fruits, fresh bread, barley, very ripe apples, a few meadow flowers, yellow ones preferably… Then little wafts of crushed slate. Mouth: this time it’s fruitier than the Scots, more on very ripe small pears, apricots, with a very slight rubbery touch, a hint of tar, quince paste and orange with a gentle pepperiness, and perhaps a drop of juniper spirit. Finish: medium in length, fresh, with apricots and apples leading the charge. A touch of slate as a signature, once again. Comments: there’s bags of charm in this singular baby, which is inevitably very young. We rather like it a lot.
SGP:551 - 83 points. |
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The Chuan ‘Small Batch NO. D15’ (46.8%, OB, Pure Malt, China, finished in PX, 2025) 
Pernod Ricard at the helm, and one of the most beautiful distilleries in the world. Ever since we visited it last year (and simultaneously overdosed on Sichuan pepper), we’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of the first fully ex-mizunara single malt casks. In the meantime… Colour: full reddish gold. Nose: very PX, but in all the good ways PX can be, with cooked and candied fruits, prunes, raisins, dried figs, dates, all wrapped up in pumpernickel and very damp pipe tobacco. Clearly more international, more global than the previous ones, although in these times that is not necessarily a flaw. Light liquorice. Mouth (neat): entirely in keeping with the nose, winey in the good sense of the word, with an amusing A’bunadh side, even if that one is ex-oloroso. Which reminds me that we haven’t tasted A’bunadh since batch #80. Figs, dates, raisins, white pepper, speculoos, pipe tobacco and so on. Finish: fairly long, on similar notes plus Jaffa cakes. And of course, plenty of raisins. Comments: I preferred last year’s tremendous ‘Travel Retail’ version (bourbon, sherry, Chinese oak – WF 89) but let’s admit that for PX, the usual crutch of so many malts these past few years, this is frightfully well done.
SGP:651 - 86 points. |
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Kimchangsoo 2021 (52.7%, OB, Korea, peated, 1st fill amontillado, 498 bottles, +/-2026) 
Perhaps we shan’t insist too much on the fact that we adore little Kimchangsoo, at least the few expressions we’ve already had the chance to taste. They would not look out of place amongst the top new Japanese malts. Colour: full gold. Nose: psst, we almost feel as though we’re in California actually, amongst the better ‘new malts’. The alliance of peat and amontillado is disconcerting for about fifteen seconds – alright, three – but then everything clicks into place, burnt rubber and old walnuts, leather and tobacco, exhaust fumes (from an old Jag) and crushed pepper, dried seaweed and fresh ashes… This is goldsmith’s work, I’m telling you. With water: magnificent nutmeg, dried flowers, precious leathers (inevitably precious) and still those exhaust fumes. Ninety-nine percent of the planet hates them, but I adore these aromas, is that serious, doctor? At least their transposition into a whisky nose, not necessarily the original version, eh. Mouth (neat): direct impact, compact and coherent, it’s always perfect when that happens. High-ester Jamaican rum, tobacco, all-grain bread, drops of seawater, smoked meats, and above all peppers of every conceivable kind. With water: masterstroke, this is excellent, with that unexpected rye-like side mingling with modelling clay. Finish: long, fresher than expected, with the late but very noticeable arrival of little lemons. Comments: only flaw, absolutely no actual surprises here.
SGP:465 - 90 points. |
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Daiking ‘Cask Strength’ (54.2%, OB, China, Black Ink wine cask, +/-2026)
We’re back in Fujian, at nearly 1,600 metres above sea level. We’ve already tasted some very fine Daikings, such as the 2024 Double Cask (WF 87). Others, however, were a little less straightforward. Colour: deep reddish gold. Nose: blast, this works. The wine does not show as such, quite the opposite in fact, as we get a tropical side that rather recalls Amrut or Omar. Very ripe mangoes, papaya, vanilla fudge, buttercream, ripe bananas, pink pepper… With water: much the same, with jasmine and hibiscus joining in. Mouth (neat): too funny! Mango juice with honey and, above all, plenty of fir resin. Plus coriander seeds. This is by no means an ‘international’ malt in style and between us, all the better for that. With water: magnificent, and I do mean it. Pepper, blackcurrant, violet liqueur, parfait amour... You may well tell me that such things have no business in our whisky, but oddly enough, here it works. Finish: long, focused on pepper and coriander seeds, then blackcurrant liqueur. Comments: it must be said that Black Ink is a Californian ‘lifestyle’ wine with a rather dubious reputation. I find that, if it is indeed that one, Daiking has drawn the very best from it, and by quite some distance.
SGP:561 - 85 points. |
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