Inside China's Biggest Whisky Distillery: Laizhou, Sichuan
Sichuan, China is known for hotpot and peppercorns. Now it's making world-class whisky too.
This September, AABEV took our Australian VIP customers to Qionglai in China's Sichuan province for a private visit to Laizhou Distillery, hosted by the Laizhou team. Here's what we saw.
Big in Scale, Serious about Craft ：
Laizhou sits in Qionglai, the historic first stop on the Silk Road west of Chengdu, on a 146,000 sqm site built after the founders toured more than 100 distilleries worldwide. Inside, copper pot stills and towering column stills sit in separate halls, all within one very modern facility. The distillery says it holds around 80% of China's maturing whisky stock.
Laizhou's mission is to craft "China's own whisky", blending traditional craft with Eastern terroir. It is also bringing whisky into everyday Chinese life, with Laizhou Bar lounges across China and the Laizhou Distillery Experience Center, which opened in April 2025. According to Laizhou, the 150,000 sqm centre has six areas: Explore, Discover, Create, Tour, Reside and Feast. The distillery also aims to reach one million casks within the next five years.
600,000 Casks and Counting：
Racks upon racks of casks. More than 50 types of them. Laizhou even pioneered Huangjiu (Chinese rice wine) casks and Mongolian oak. We even got to see an STR (Shaved, Toasted, Re-charred) cask being charred, flames and all. And the numbers are huge: our hosts told us 600,000 casks were maturing as of January 16, 2026, a mix of time-honoured whisky craft and Chinese innovation.
Inside the Laizhou Distillery Experience Center：
Next stop was the Laizhou Distillery Experience Center. Here, whisky isn't just for drinking. You learn about it, touch it and watch it being made. We got up close to the ingredients and casks, then it was time to taste.
We started in the aroma gallery. There's a row of glass domes filled with fruit, wheat, citrus, flowers and peat, each with a little funnel. Lean in, take a sniff, and you can pick out the smells that make a whisky: orange peel, ripe apple, malted barley, smoke. Simple idea, and it got everyone's nose ready before the first sip.
Then we sat down for a guided tasting. Each glass came with a colour-coded card showing its flavour profile, and the whiskies ranged from pale gold to deep amber. Our hosts took us through the aromas, the taste and the finish, and showed us how the casks shape each one.
What stood out was how much of Sichuan is in the glass. Laizhou ages its whisky in a mix of casks, including Chinese Huangjiu casks and native Mongolian oak. The result is a whisky with a style of its own.
Award-Winning, Too
Laizhou won the Chinese Spirits Producer Trophy at the 2025 IWSC China judging, and the wins kept coming in 2026.
🏆 2026 World Whiskies Awards: Bourbon Cask Peated Malt was named Best Chinese Single Malt and won Gold.
🏆 2026 International Whisky Competition: Amontillado Sherry Cask came first for Best Chinese Whisky (93.87 points) and was the first Chinese whisky in the global top five.
🥇 2025 IWSC: Bourbon Cask (Peated) scored 98 points and Finest Select scored 95 points, both Gold.
Try Laizhou in Australia
A new chapter for Chinese whisky, now in Australia with AABEV.
