China was obliged to bring in special regulations to end the flourishing trade in counterfeit Moutai back in 1999. In the interim, the allure of this potent take on rice wine has only been added to by the mystery that surrounds its true origins.

What is undisputed, is that the spirit takes its name from Moutai a village in southwest China’s landlocked Guizhou province, which sits in a distinctly mountainous region some 400m above sea level. The spirit itself is distilled from sorghum and wheat, with the latter used as a fermentation catalyst. Its rarefied production process takes five years to complete, including nine separate distillations and a protracted clay pot aging process.

Recently valued at $43 billion by an international brand assessor, Kweichow Moutai, a particularly renowned Chinese baijiu brand, has been named the most valuable spirits brand in the world. Tellingly, coming in second place, was Wuliangye, another distinguished mainland-based baijiu marque, which was valued at $28.7 billion. Taking these two into consideration. Premium Chinese spirits now account for 68.4 percent of the total value of liquor brands worldwide, a significant increase from the 60.7 percent recorded in times pre-pandemic.

Mass Appeal and Luxury Marking

Focusing back on the very top end, Moutai is a soy sauce-flavoured baijiu variant, one that is particularly prized for its high alcohol content (think 52–54% abv). Although there are many different versions, most have a sweet and sour nose with notes of soy sauce and a prominent acetone and ethanol aroma, a moist, herbaceous, and earthy tongue, and a long aftertaste, complete with distinct umami flavours and trails.

Its dominance in its particular marketplace has only been further bolstered by its conspicuous appearance at many state dinners and its frequent deployment as a gift for visiting overseas emissaries. Such lofty regard saw the highest price ever paid for a single lot of Moutai outside of China at auction recorded as $1.4 million, with the fortunate buyer securing some 24 bottles of Moutai Sun Flower (1974) for more likely, as a canny investment.

This year, the brand also took an unexpected swerve into (very) alcoholic ice cream, a move it made in partnership with Mengniu Dairy, the mainland dairy giant, as it sought to diversify its
appeal to a younger demographic.

It is recommended that you sample it neatly at room temperature. Or, with just a splash of water. It also works well as an aperitif and seems to actually stimulate the appetite. In terms of perfect food pairings, it’s recommended that you try it with – of course – traditional Chinese cuisine, as well as antipasti, sushi or sashimi.

Dolce China
For those looking to go truly premium, Moutai is also available in an 80 Years Old Vintage incarnation, with this much sought-after spirit sold in distinctive purple clay bottles and carved wooden boxes. All in all, it’s a world away from the commonplace perception of baijiu (at least by those in the west) as a relatively rough spirit that has more in common with creosote – a chemical typically deployed to winterproof wooden sheds – than an upmarket single malt whisky or a vintage Cognac. Such perceptions, however, can largely be ascribed to ignorance or, indeed prejudice.

Those truly in the know, are only too aware that the origins of this mysterious and luxurious spirit can be traced to the ancient China of sometime around 135 BC. Indeed, it is this illustrious heritage that has made it the go-to drink of China’s political and business elite when it comes to entertaining their counterparts While it may be an acquired taste, it may also be one well worth acquiring.

(Text: Joseff Musa)

In the pre-pandemic era, the biggest trends in spirits were about extremes. Getting sloshed by downing a stiff negroni or gulping pint glasses of a whacky-flavoured craft beer. But the last two years threw us for a loop. Even the canniest of beverage experts could not predict that morning meetings over speciality coffee or after-work drinks will be replaced by solo pour-overs and virtual happy hours. Who imagined that consumers could become their own baristas and bartenders? And now that imbibing alone is cool in 2022 – or at least tolerated – it will take more than a bevvy of premium dilutes or artisan gin menus to drag the post-workout, wheatgrass-smoothie-drinking Millennial to a bar. We asked some experts on what lies in store for the cocktail and bar scenes. Here’s what the pros are anticipating.

Less is More

Getting elegantly wasted is no longer in vogue. Like everything else in life, cocktail hour is in the grip of the wellness industry. It’s cool to care about health. That said, industry figures show that alcohol consumption has not declined. Much like Europeans, Millennials now view booze as a part of the meal rather than a separate food category.

Drink manufacturers are now responding by introducing low- and no-alcoholic spirits to capture a sober-ish, calorie-conscious market of influencers and fitness fanatics who prefer a hard seltzer or a no-alcohol beer after a strenuous sporting activity. Touted as a recovery tool, the market is flooded with low-alcohol options. Flora Ma, co-founder of Hong Kong’s Only Beverages, has embraced this sentiment. Her successful line of Only Vodka Soda comes in three flavours – Tahitian Lime, Yuzu Ginger and Guava Hibiscus – and contains less than four percent alcohol and just 80 calories per drink. That’s roughly half the calories of your average can of beer and the lowest of any similar ready-to-drink product in the market. “Consumers are gravitating towards clean, crisp, refreshing and flavourful drinks. People want to enjoy their drinks but not have it impact on their health. We believe this trend is here to stay and will expand in the future,” says Ma.

Sustainable Sustenance
Camille Glass, one half of the duo behind Sai Ying Pun’s Tapas Bar Brut, is at the forefront of sourcing the best “small-batch, artisan and sustainable wines” for her restaurants and sustainable wine store. Consumers are environmentally aware and demand more ethically conscious choices in their glasses.

“Sustainability is such an all-encompassing topic right now. The wines themselves no longer carry the ‘too funky’ for comfort stigma anymore. We are getting more clean, delicious and environmentally friendly outcomes which pair perfectly with the organically grown vegetables in your lasagna,” says Glass.

Sustainability in food and drink is more than just a fad, it’s something that’s demanded by the planet-conscious consumer. And this is demonstrated in the sudden rise of brands with a purpose. Matt Ayre, a wine advisor for Vivant, a platform connecting responsible winemakers and imbibers, says, “According to industry research, consumption of organic wine will reach about one billion bottles by 2023. That’s a huge jump from 400 million in 2013 – clearly, people want to know what’s in their glass.”

The Clooney Effect
And finally, celebrity endorsed alcohol continues to be a thing. In 2013, George Clooney launched the famous Casamigos Tequila with Cindy Crawford’s husband and his business partner, Rande Gerber. In 2017, the founders cashed in on the business and sold for a tidy US$1 billion. And just like that, celebs began to see this as the perfect opportunity to make a quick buck.

(Text: Nikita Mishra, Photos: Hennessy, Only Vodka)

The rare spirits market is bubbling along nicely. Referred to those in the know as ‘liquid gold’ – the name is living up to the hype. Five years back, if you were told that someone could fetch US$274,779 (about HK$2.16 million) from a meagre US$5,759 investment from a couple of whisky casks, you’d assume they had probably been scammed or faking it. But in July 2021, 59-year-old bank officer Roger Parfitt from Coventry in England, made an astounding 4600 percent increase on a Macallan cask he bought in 1994. He used the money to pay off his mortgage and advance his retirement by three years.

Twenty-seven years back, when Parfitt first dipped his toe in the world of whisky collecting it was primarily for consumption, diversifying capital and hoping for long-term gains. He said to the local media: “I remember thinking, if it doesn’t appreciate in value, the worst that could happen is that you would have to get it out of the warehouse, bottle it and drink it.”

A sherried malt is a gorgeous thing to behold – and even better to drink – but this level of appreciation was not on his or any other whisky connoisseur’s radar until recently. With steadily soaring prices in the sector, Parfitt is not the only one to have so much to toast to in 2022.

Primed for Investment

Rare whisky is having a moment right now. Hong Kong-based seasoned whisky enthusiast and savvy collector Vinay Dayaram’s love for the ‘water of life’ (as it’s known in Gaelic) compliments his passion for alternative investment. He started with modest acquisitions in 2017, ambition built thereafter. Following a full cycle of falling in love with the Scottish dram, its flavours, the profile, the magic, the making, the process. Before he knew it, he was “picking up the limited editions, mature vintages, and seasonal and special releases from famous distilleries all over the world”.

Knight Frank’s 2020 Wealth Report found that rare whiskies have appreciated by a massive 580 percent over the last decade, outperforming other investment commodities like the stock market, gold and even highly coveted Hermès handbags.

A case of Macallan 1926, 60-year-old whisky recently went under the hammer at a Sotheby’s auction for a mouth-watering US$1.9 million. Today a 40-year-old Scottish whisky commands upwards of US$2000 a bottle. So it’s no surprise that collectors like Dayaram – who were previously looking at investing in other options like bonds and stocks – are multiplying all over the world.

In 2021, Elite Wine and Whisky, the go-to global platform for alternative investments, found that the increasingly hard-to-source category of Japanese whisky grew by 42 percent. Between 2015 and 2020 American whisky jumped off the chart by a staggering 41 percent.

Scarce Resource

In February 2021, when Scottish Highland Park released a 274 bottles limited-edition of its 50-year-old single malt in Washington, serious whisky buffs were blown away by its rich sherried flavours and delicate fragrances. An American collector flew all the way from New York to Seattle and paid Washington state’s highest alcohol tax to acquire this time capsule of sublime and complex flavours. Apparently, if this particular collector couldn’t grab it in US, he was willingly to travel to Dubai or elsewhere to own it, mindful of the long-term investment gains it promised.

Whisky is a unique asset. While fine wine has vintages every now and then, rare whisky is available in an extremely capacity and something that comes across once every few years. Cobwebbed old casks alone don’t make a whisky rare. According to Vinay Dayaram, a rare whisky is something which might be released in five to 10 years or never comes again after its release.

Distilleries also restrict the number of bottles of celebrated spirits or intentionally age some in small batches just for the holidays or special occasions to create scarcity. The trend also results in a phenomenon called ‘whisky flipping’ – people stocking up on limited editions from a distillery and retailing them at sharp mark-ups as soon as stocks run dry. With more collectors in the world than the bottles released, vintage liquid gems from ghost distilleries – distilleries that have shuttered – have become highly desirable for canny investors.

The reopening of the 202-year-old iconic ghost distillery Brora in Sutherland, Scotland was celebrated with the legendary releases like the Brora Triptych: 38-, 43- and 48-year-old vintages that replicate as closely as possible the distillery’s distinct style and heritage. But Vinay cautions, “There’s no magic formula for investing in rare spirits, the value and price could go either way. Single cask bottlings only yield a limited amount of spirit, so the bottles tend to be rarer and can potentially appreciate faster. But there have been notable exceptions as well.” Case in point: Macallan. It’s been the top investment whisky for decades, but its value has depreciated according to the broker Rare Whisky 101.

Beware of Fakery

In one of the biggest counterfeiting scams to come to light, New York’s oldest wine merchant, Acker Wines was selling a rare bourbon bottle of Colonel E.H. Taylor Four Grain for US$1,000 when an Inside Edition producer sent it for chemical analysis to validate its authenticity. It failed the test. Turns out, this fake rarity was refilled with substandard liquor, resealed and sold to Acker as a part of an esteemed private collection.

Counterfeiting in super-premium spirits has become fertile ground for scammers. Part of the problem is also the bragging rights around rare spirits – shaped by massive demand, a limited supply and a solid flow of cash – has meant both new and seasoned collectors have fallen prey to replicas, refills, and relics. In 2018, Rare Whisky 101 randomly analysed 55 different drams sourced from the secondary market. A total of 21 out of these 55 bottles, around 41-percent, were found to be straight-up fakes or had the year of bottling wrongly declared. Vintage and rare collectibles had an even higher level of fakery – with 100 percent of the bottles from around 1900 forged. The fakes had been priced at a staggering US$804,000.

While high-value replicas and refills are hard to spot, Vinay’s advice is to “carbon-date a sample before pulling out your wallet – and research, research, research.” Food fraud permeates all facets of our lives. It’s a good idea to assume the rare and specialised bottle you’re considering in investing in could be fake. Take a step backward to prove authenticity before making that all-important purchase.

(Text: Nikita Mishra)