[CIFIT, Xiamen, China, September 07, 2022] MOU signed by Red Rock Mountain Cooperage for an internationally invested, oak barrel cooperage in China to support the rapid growth in both the local wine production industry and the more recent developing whisky industry. Red Rock Mountain Cooperage will be built in Da Chi Town, Longyan, Fujian Province, in […]
Read More[CIFIT, Xiamen, China, September 07, 2022] MOU signed by Red Rock Mountain Cooperage for an internationally invested, oak barrel cooperage in China to support the rapid growth in both the local wine production industry and the more recent developing whisky industry.
Red Rock Mountain Cooperage will be built in Da Chi Town, Longyan, Fujian Province, in the shadow of local landmark, Red Rock Mountain (赤岩头). The cooperage will have a capacity of 100’000, full sized, 200 litre oak casks, and will include a cooperage factory and extensive land for air drying raw oak wood on site. Oak logs will be sourced initially from the USA and France, with a longer-term plan to expand into sustainable forestry management to develop oak throughout northern China.
Red Rock Mountain Cooperage will be developing local talent into highly skilled coopers, with the first group of locals being sent to Europe for 2 full years of training in early 2023. This first team will return to China with the support of European coopers, provided by two European partners who will support the Red Rock Cooperage project.
The lead investor in this project is Nine Rivers Distillery, an American led, international investment of more than 160 investors, who joined together through a shared passion for whisky and a strong connection to China. Nine Rivers Distillery is another previous success story of AMCHAM South China, who were the catalyst for the Nine Rivers Distillery project, which was also signed at CIFIT just a couple of years ago.
CIFIT, The China International Fair for Investment & Trade, or CIFIT, approved by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, takes place in September every year in the city of Xiamen, in East China’s Fujian province.
Themed on “introducing foreign direct investment” and “going global”, CIFIT focuses on nationality and internationality, investment negotiations and investment policy promotions, the coordinated development of the national and regional economy, as well as economic and trade exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.
——- Ends ——-
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.
There have been quite a few pieces written by some of the investors in the Nine Rivers Distillery project. I’ve just been told it’s my turn, so here goes everything (or maybe nothing). I want to talk about my journey into the Nine Rivers Distillery project, but it requires knowing a little about who I […]
Read More
There have been quite a few pieces written by some of the investors in the Nine Rivers Distillery project. I’ve just been told it’s my turn, so here goes everything (or maybe nothing). I want to talk about my journey into the Nine Rivers Distillery project, but it requires knowing a little about who I am and what whisky means to me. Daniel Liang
My name is Daniel Liang, and while I might not look like it, I was trained to be an engineer by universities in Asia and North America. I spent the early days of my career in tech, similar to Joy Tan who our last article was about (you can read about her by CLICKING HERE). I also traveled all over the U.S. and China. While my travels allowed me to experience many wonderful places, I’ve actually spent the past 20 years in China as a businessman. Dongguan is where I have most recently ended up getting involved in some good old fashioned traditional manufacturing. In this time, I’ve seen some incredible changes from the “Wild East” of Dongguan to the more mature environment around us today.
Even though my factory work may not seem connected, alcohol is nonetheless a big part of doing business in China, especially in traditional manufacturing. Back in the (good old?) days, a business meeting or collaboration usually started in the office with drinks, then continued over dinner with more chugging, followed by KTV where the madness was turned up to 11, with everyone zipping past comfortable levels of BAC.
Nobody would think of calling in sick the next day; it was just the feeling of successful business, even if it didn’t quite feel like it. Plus, the next day might be a rinse and repeat, so I just ate lots of carbs, reached for that energy drink, and kept going! Thankfully, those days are gone; even typing all that out and reliving those memories makes me exhausted. Despite that, I am proud to say that I am among the few who have strolled past the corpses and survived. Daniel Liang
No, he didn’t push me into the dark world of alcoholism, despite the ominous one-line introduction. Through the interactions I had with him, I found that behind the abrasive online persona there is a passionate person with an encyclopaedic knowledge of whisky. He reminded me of an M&M – hard candy shell but melts in… never mind.
In my conversations with him, I quickly realized that I was on the far-left side of the Brian-Dunning Curve. For the uninitiated, and to prove I’m not a total idiot in comparison, by this I mean I didn’t even know enough about the subject to realize I was ignorant about it. His passion for whisky and creating something disruptive and game changing in the global whisky industry through Nine Rivers Distillery was contagious. I got interested and then involved initially as an investor, and then later as a member of the Board. Daniel Liang
To understand how I got involved with Nine Rivers, it helps to know what whisky means to me and why I felt the motivation to get involved.
My father was a wine enthusiast. We “enjoyed” some nice bottles together, although with my unrefined palate at the time, I consider the wanton abandon in which I guzzled those bottles as a crime.
After he passed away and I was going through his estate, I was shocked to see rack after rack of incredible bottles in his private collection, still waiting for the special occasion that would never come. As I stood before all that expensive fermented grape juice, lost in thought, it occurred to me that those who die with the most toys do not, in fact, win anything. I decided then and there to be the one who isn’t afraid to open bottles and consume them, rather than keep them for value speculation. While others might derive more joy from the process of collecting rather than consuming, I don’t. Daniel Liang
For me, whisky is about creating and accentuating memories, which is all we truly own, and what ultimately matters in the end. It’s about the special bottle to welcome a new job. The sherry bomb to celebrate becoming a parent. The fruity bottle at a birthday. The smoky dram at a wake with the respectful swig at a cemetery. In between all these milestones and events, whisky helps us commemorate these anniversaries by taking a sip and getting lost in memories. Daniel Liang
It’s about “making the ‘remembering self’ remember the ‘experiencing self’”, in Daniel Kahneman’s words. It’s about humanizing the human condition – we should be creating new memories and enjoying life, not dwelling on past glories or events. That is why I refuse to buy “investment” bottles or collectibles that are not meant to be consumed. All of my bottles are drinkers – granted, some may call for a very special occasion, but nonetheless they are all ready to be popped and enjoyed.
Some might ask, “Why whisky? Doesn’t this apply to most alcoholic drinks?” It’s true that alcohol is an excellent stimulant, analgesic, anesthetic, and in sufficient quantities, a memory wiper. Yet few have the depth and range of whisky that make it so versatile. And if you’re going to drink something, it might as well taste good. I’m not advocating for a hedonistic lifestyle; after all, you can’t drink money. Daniel Liang
One of my favourite milestones in the Nine Rivers Distillery project is the ability to buy a private cask. (If you want to read more about reserving your private cask, CLICK HERE.). A friend and I decided to share the cost of a single cask but add our own personal twist. We will age our cask at the distillery until one of us outlives the other. If this sounds like an illegal tontine pledge, we cleverly circumvent it by extracting one bottle every few years for tasting. Getting old does have its perks.
Having gone through the motions of building factories from the ground up here in China (sure, a distillery sounds much nicer, but fundamentally it’s a whisky factory and subject to all the same challenges, rules, regulations and safety issues as any other factory in China) the other board members were keen to bring my experiences into the project. Daniel Liang
I’m not really one to brag or boast about my contributions, but I’ve been involved in the design, architecture, environmental impact report, process design, and all of the hoops we need to go through in order to secure a construction permit. I was there with the team at 3 A.M. on February 18th laying our foundation stone and taking part in the two public ceremonies we had later that day. I’ll continue to be actively involved through construction to production in my capacity as Board member and Senior Vice President Super Boss Chief Laoban Taster (a title I’m currently lobbying the rest of the board to make official).
I’ll wrap up by saying that while I understand Nine Rivers is a financial investment, it also speaks very personally to the qualities that I value: the people involved in this project all have a voice in what we want our product to be. My contribution to these discussions is that I want us to create a product all people can enjoy in good times or bad, forging memories that last long after the bottle is empty. I know it sounds cliché’ but my life experiences have made me realize the truth of the statement that “life is short,” so we might as well enjoy it. Daniel Liang
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. Daniel Liang
Facebook users, you can CLICK HERE.
Welcome to Delta Farce 2: Kick Some Glass! The follow up article to Delta Farce Part 1 (CLICK HERE if you missed that article) Previously on Team Delta Farce we introduced one of our many missions on the Nine Rivers Distillery project – the creation of our own distinctive whisky glasses. We introduced the team and […]
Read MoreWelcome to Delta Farce 2: Kick Some Glass! The follow up article to Delta Farce Part 1 (CLICK HERE if you missed that article)
Previously on Team Delta Farce we introduced one of our many missions on the Nine Rivers Distillery project – the creation of our own distinctive whisky glasses. We introduced the team and had a competition for you all to guess who created our unique concept (and who thought it was a terrible idea!).
Coming up, we’ll reveal how we designed the glasses, some challenges we faced, then showcase some cool images of prototypes alongside the finished product. Finally, we’ll reveal the winner of the contest.
Some of our broader team asked the same thing. The world has no shortage of fine glassware, so why go through all the trouble (and indeed, trouble was plentiful) of designing and manufacturing a new whisky glass?
There’s a few reasons why we did this. First and foremost, we want to show the whisky loving world that we really are different. It’s easy to say “yeah, we’re different because we say so” but actions speak louder than words. Doing things differently and taking on challenges that even the big brands don’t bother to do is the type of project that we want to be.
Secondly, because we see whisky as more than just chugging some oak cask matured, grain-derived booze. We see it as an experience. Something to be slowly enjoyed through aromas, flavors, in the company of good friends, and in a relaxed environment. A good whisky glass really does add to that experience, much in the same way people naturally reach for their favorite coffee mug, tea cup, comfy slippers, or a well-worn arm chair.
In Part One, we said we wanted cool whisky glasses, and we put Team Delta Farce on the mission because we didn’t want to be whisky industry sheep. We last left off at The Nerd suggesting borosilicate glass so we could use 3D sub-surface laser engraving. So what happened next?
The logic of four was an easy decision. Single glasses and pairs might sell better, but we weren’t looking for mass market merchandise. Four glasses not only make a nice set, but also reflects the four buildings that we are constructing for our distillery. With one building engraved into the base of each glass, well, you kinda have a visual representation of the distillery, right?
Wrong. When you have a nerd on the team, what you have is a “pain in the glass.” Nerds are mostly anal about precision and perfection, which was pointed out by The Nerd. Repeatedly.
“What’s going to happen when these glasses are not being used to drink whisky? They are going to sit on a shelf. The problem is going to be that most people won’t be bothered to lay these glasses out exactly as they should be. The spacing will be wrong and they won’t consider the need for the alignment to be 1.6 degrees off due north to cater for the feng shui requirements of our site.”
Two yawns, one “STFU,” one “stop being a nerd” and finally Chief Petty Officer Otter asked how this could be fixed.
Six minutes of silence later, during which The Nerd scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it over to Private Parts with some gibberish that only Private Parts and The Nerd could understand (they have developed some strange, caffeine overdose-induced language between themselves). Private Parts whipped out his…laptop, and proceeded to create a design that could be understood by other humans.
The concept was to create a scaled representation of our land parcel from locally sourced granite. The granite slab would match the shape of the land parcel and have inlaid holes with a correct feng shui- friendly alignment for each of the four glasses to sit.
While we’re not really into all that fluffy marketing waffle others use to “sell” a concept to an audience (and in all fairness, we think the finished product speaks for itself) we feel it is worth explaining what we think we have achieved.
We have created a set of whisky glasses that pretty much anyone would be proud to own. They balance the trade-off between high-end quality and an everyday glass. They weigh in at more than half a kilo per glass (yes – per glass) but are surprisingly comfortable to hold and use. They also make an interesting display piece when not in use, giving owners an opportunity to experience what we hope our distillery will eventually look like.
We won’t pretend this was an easy process. In fact, to most of us on the team, it has been an endless headache for months. 19 prototypes on the granite slab with 3 different cutting techniques. There were 7 different approaches to inlays on the holes which included 2 members of Team Delta Farce spending a day with scissors, craft knives, 3 different types of resin and literally a haberdashery worth of different cloths. Even the 3D sub-surface laser engraving went through numerous designs and renders.
We came away with the knowledge and experience of exactly why the big brand whisky companies prefer to just print logos on generic glass. As it turns out, designing your own unique whisky glasses is quite a challenge and none of those other companies have Team Delta Farce*.
*(please note, any attempts by other whisky brands to poach our Team Delta Farce will probably result in handbags at dawn…)
There were actually only 6 people who submitted correct answers. 2 of them cheated with multiple attempts from different email addresses, (we’re sure some of you can guess who they are……our favourite Italian guy and his wife) leaving just 4.
Chris P, Christian B, Daniel H, and Joel A. We threw all 4 names into a hat and we asked Winnie to draw one out. The winner is <drum roll> Joel A.
Joel is based in Suzhou, Jiangsu where he has spent the last decade working for a rather large software company as a New Product Introduction Manager. He’s not your typical nerd – apparently he’s super into extreme sports. He has a black belt in origami, he’s a former world heavy weight duck wrestling champion, and he once stared down Phill’s auntie without even blinking. All impressive feats.
No doubt at least six people out there want to know what the answers to the questions were. The Negative Nelly was in fact Hayden. The Nerd was Jay.
Yes we know, the only reason you’ve endured reading our latest waffle is to get your hands on some right? Well, it’s finally THAT time. There’s a link right here for you to buy some. CLICK RIGHT HERE IF YOU WANT TO BUY
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.
This is part one of a two-part article about Team Delta Farce and their mission to create something unique in the world of whisky glassware. The team is also offering you a chance to win a complete set of four glasses that Team Delta Farce created. These glasses will be a one off, limited release […]
Read MoreThis is part one of a two-part article about Team Delta Farce and their mission to create something unique in the world of whisky glassware. The team is also offering you a chance to win a complete set of four glasses that Team Delta Farce created. These glasses will be a one off, limited release of only 250 sets. They will be released for sale after we publish part two of this story next week.
This mission needed the very best of the best. The elite, spec-ops types. Battle hardened war veterans that could stare down Chuck Norris and make Rambo call his nanna for some comforting words and moral support. We assembled the our Special Ops team: Team Delta Farce. You may applaud.
We had Captain Cringe (Jason – content and editorial support), Private Parts (Darryl – product design and branding), Sergeant Major Catastrophe (Hayden – our GM), Corporal Punishment (Fabien – product design and branding) and Chief Petty Officer Otter (Phill – editor for all our content) all under the leadership of Major General Mishaps (Jay – our CEO, who just came along when he heard there was free whisky).
There are 4 main styles of whisky glasses that are dominant in the market. Although we don’t know the industry statistics (most of us just swig directly from the bottle so glasses are irrelevant) and we probably don’t even have the correct names for them, we decided to simply call them Rocks Style, Snifter Style, Glencairn Style and Tulip Style. We’re deliberately not including a shot/shooter glass because as every whisky lover knows, good whisky is to be sipped, savored, and experienced. Shot glasses can stay in their lane next to a cheap bottle of Sambuca, or (as we prefer) in the bin.
Most whisky brands typically brand one of these 4 main styles with their name and logo and bundle them in a box set with whatever bottle they need to sell more of (or, more likely, charge extra for). It’s boring, it has zero creativity, and its a rinse-and-repeat cycle that does little more than employ a Photoshop monkey to change the pictures on the front of a template for an outer box.
There have been some interesting ideas come out in the world of whisky glassware over the last decade or so, due in part to the growth in whisky consumption. When combined with crowd funding websites (which has created accessibility through pre-selling to fund new concepts) many new glasses have become available. This means different shapes, different sizes, even sometimes with new materials! What they all share in common are claims about how the particular glass enhances the experience of drinking whisky. I don’t know about the other members of Team Delta Farce, but I hold the opinion that a fancy glass in my hand speaks volumes about the quality of my character.
Well, our team has tried them all: every size, shape, and style there is. We’ll be honest, there are some styles that genuinely enhance the aromas of whisky, which does enhance the whisky tasting experience. But (and we’re sure most of you will agree) there’s a vast difference in mindset and comfort when tasting whisky versus drinking whisky.
When tasting, yes, we all use a tasting glass. The shape and style are normally a personal preference between a Glencairn style and a Tulip style. There are logical reasons to want a taller shape to capture aromas.
But, when we are drinking, our slippers on, bum in a comfy old chair, with some gentle background music, perhaps with a cigar, we agreed as a team that a rocks glass was the preferred style.
A slug of whisky, an ice ball, with no cares in the world.
The thought of us, growing wooly fleeces, bleating in synchronisation and following all the other sheep in the whisky industry with generic, branded rocks glasses would be as painful as gouging out our eyes with spoons.
The time had come to design our own. In the same way we do everything at Nine Rivers Distillery, it was mob of whisky lovers brainstorming ideas over a few whiskies. Starting with a long list of wants and needs, which would lead to some scribbles and sketches, it eventually led to some design concepts which resulted in developing prototypes.
We knew we needed ultra premium quality, extra flint glass. We wanted weight. We wanted a chunky thick base. We wanted some sculpted character. We wanted everything that would make this stand out amongst a sea of other glassware on any whisky lover’s shelf.
There aren’t many ways to include technology in glassware. How can technology improve the enjoyment of whisky once past the design phase? That was a question we all pondered on.
“If we changed the glass to borosilicate glass, the boron trioxide will give a much lower coefficient of thermal expansion.”
Five confused faces stared at the source of the noise they had all just heard and for a brief moment there was absolute silence. Eventually, one of the five asked what everyone else was thinking – “what on earth are you babbling on about – how does that help anything?”
“It means the glass wont crack under extreme temperature changes, so we could (in theory at least) get a laser with a wavelength of 532nm, map it against the 3D renders from the architects, we could essentially create a path of micro-fractures in the glass. “
Five confused faces stared at the source of the noise again and for another brief moment there was absolute silence. This time another one of the five asked what they all thought – “are you just drunk and talking nonsense?”.
“We could create a 3D sub-surface laser engraving in the base of the glasses. Each glass could have one of the buildings in it. A set of 4 glasses would become a representation of the entire distillery.”
This time there was no silence. There was 5 dull-sounding clunks as 5 jaws hit the table in front of them, quickly followed by two “wows” one “awesome” one “show me what that looks like” and a “I think this is a very very shit idea.”
With five being in favour and some examples shared of 3D images being engraved within blocks of glass, this injection of nerd-factor motivated the team to get scribbling with some designs that were literally good enough to make.
We have a lot to show in Part 2. We’ll do the big reveal on what our first whisky glasses are going to look like (and you can trust us when we say they look absolutely amazing). We’ll also be showing you all what we did to take what was already a pretty awesome concept and turn it into what we consider to be a work of art.
The competition winner will be announced (just to prove we’re not cheating) and they will be featured in the article.
We’ll announce the cost of a set of glasses and open up sales on them as soon as the content goes live. Remember, there are only 250 sets available so these glasses will sell out quicker than Jay can trigger a wobbler in a WeChat group.
Answer the questions below to have a chance to win a set of glasses. Remember, we need your details too so don’t skip that bit – 回答下面的问题，有机会赢得一套杯子。请留意填写你的详细信息，请勿忽略。
Back in March we announced that Joy Tan was joining our Board of Directors. Recently, our beloved, extremely handsome, and not even remotely tipsy editor, Phill (who’s currently writing this), had the opportunity to sit down and chat with her about her background, why she joined the Nine Rivers project, and her own ambitions for the distillery. […]
Read MoreBack in March we announced that Joy Tan was joining our Board of Directors. Recently, our beloved, extremely handsome, and not even remotely tipsy editor, Phill (who’s currently writing this), had the opportunity to sit down and chat with her about her background, why she joined the Nine Rivers project, and her own ambitions for the distillery.
Here’s what she had to say.
I’ll condense the introduction. Most of it was spent with me having Zoom issues and strategically adjusting my camera to hide how much I may or may not have been drinking at the time. Joy Tan
How would you introduce yourself to the world?
Joy Tan: I grew up in Beijing and studied biology at Tsing Hua University. I first came to the US for graduate school and just stayed here in Texas after school. Over the years, I’ve worked with several large technology companies, including Verizon and Huawei. I had the opportunity to live in Shenzhen for several years when I was the head of Global Media and Communications for Huawei.
Last year, after more than two decades in tech, I decided to start my public affairs consulting firm to help companies improve their reputations and expand their businesses globally. I also do venture capital investment, especially startups led by female founders. I’m very passionate about initiatives that help empower women and girls around the world.
That’s quite the journey. From China to the US, from biology to digital tech. There’s a lot of big jumps in your life. What would say is the thread that connects all of these experiences?
Joy: I think that, at the time, fundamental science research wasn’t nearly as technically advanced as it is now. So a lot of the work was manual, tedious, and SLOW. The amount of time it took to do basic things was really frustrating. Today, thanks to advances in technology, we can sequence an entire genome in about an hour for US$500. That’s about a 100 million-fold increase in efficiency compared to when I was in school.
That frustration is what first pulled me into the world of technology. I knew technology was poised to create exciting advancements in medical technology. But I didn’t want to wait for it to happen – I wanted to be part of it! The practical application of science has a much more immediate and tangible impact on the world. So halfway through my PhD, I had a good opportunity to jump ship, so I did. I got an MBA in marketing and jumped headfirst into the tech sector.
At first glance it may seem like I’ve quite a few seemingly unrelated branches in my career, but the connecting thread is really my passion for using technology to make life better. Joy Tan
So why whisky? Why did you end up getting involved in Nine Rivers Distillery?
Joy Tan: First and foremost, I love whisky. And I can see you do too.
[Editor’s note: Oops. Got caught trying to sneak a drink between questions.]
I especially love a good scotch, although I’ve got a foot in both camps because I love bourbon too. Second, it’s a very vibrant and burgeoning industry. Whisky has seen massive growth over the past few years.
We’re seeing all kinds of new startups popping up around the world. Truly artisanal shops that are doing some groundbreaking stuff with flavor and experience. At the same time, we’re seeing larger, more traditional Scotch distilleries start to reinvent themselves. Distilleries Brora and Rosebank are opening up their doors for business again, and of course we have Port Ellen due to reopen next year.
The demand is there, and China especially is an untapped, eager market for whisky. Chinese consumers are growing more sophisticated by the day. So when Jay approached me about bringing some of my experience to the project, I jumped at the opportunity.
I’m glad you mentioned Jay. Because, seriously, why Jay of all people? I can’t join the dots. How on earth did you end up in his mad, mad world?
Joy Tan: (Laughs) Yeah, craaaaazy Jay. I originally met him years ago, back when Nine Rivers was still a concept and very much in the early stages. We were introduced by an old colleague of mine in Shenzhen. One night we were chatting over drinks and Jay started talking about this project he was working on.
He said he was working with a group of whisky lovers across China to start their own distillery. It was a grassroots approach. At the time, he was building up this whisky community across China through one of his other projects, Oak and Barley. It brings whisky enthusiasts together in different cities, combining their love of whisky with professional networking.
These whisky networking events always had a ton of diversity. Men, women, people from China, North and South America, Africa, Europe. Everywhere. There were older people and younger people, and people from all walks of life: engineers, teachers, architects, writers, designers, even shoemakers. All brought together by a common love for whisky. It sounded like an awesome group.
Jay’s dream was to put China on the international whisky map, and he wanted to do it together with this community by making them co-founders, investors, and ambassadors. There was no shortage of talent; they all brought their expertise to the table through focusing on one thing: making incredible whisky.
The idea of a grassroots distillery in China was interesting, but what really stood out to me was his ideas on technology in the whisky industry.
A lot of people might not know this, but prior to his alcohol import business in China, and his adventures in Africa, Jay was a real nerd. We’re talking old-school computer programming, networks, infrastructure – that kind of nerd. Even in Africa he was out there helping remote villages get internet access through satellite, so technology has always been a part of what he has done over the years.
When we met, he was throwing around ideas about using technology to revamp areas ranging from production and brand protection to customer engagement. Not only to create better whisky, but also to create a better overall whisky experience. It was right up my alley.
Needless to say, we stayed in touch. And last year, when Jay noticed that I’d moved on from my previous role to do consulting work, he reached out. We started talking formally at the start of 2022, and well, here I am.
Can you talk a little about what the public can expect regarding technology and Nine Rivers Distillery?
Joy Tan: Absolutely. I can’t share all of our secrets just yet, but there are a few things that make this project uniquely awesome.
Currently, whisky is a relatively untouched industry when it comes to tech. In terms of distilling itself, nothing has really changed for the past 200 years except the tendency to lean towards profitability over consumer experience.
Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing. In a lot of ways, whisky is about tradition. There’s a reason why traditions become traditions in the first place, and that’s because they produce good results.
At Nine Rivers, we want to use technology to build on those traditions. We can protect the good parts and see if we can do better in other parts, such as environmental impact, production quality (like flavors and aromas), and customer engagement.
That’s where technology really shines. For example, you know those big copper onion or lantern-shaped stills you see in distilleries? They are quite wasteful when it comes to energy use. You need to heat them up super hot, and then cool them back down for emptying and cleaning. All of that energy is just lost in between. There is some partial energy recovery that happens with heat exchangers, but most distilleries still end up wasting most of that energy.
Nine Rivers Distillery is going to use it. To start with, we’re using renewable energy as our primary heat source. We will use air source heat pumps. Additionally, we have designed and patented a more efficient way to use heat exchangers on our stills. Current projections show that we can meet about 70% to 80% of our energy needs with renewable and recovered energy. This is huge. So much so that we patented it and the patent has been granted.
That all sounds great. Obviously we need to protect the natural environment because, well, if you don’t have good natural resources, you can’t have good whisky. But if we take a step back, what about me as a consumer? You mentioned product quality, and you mentioned customer engagement. What is Nine Rivers doing with technology that will directly benefit me as a consumer of whisky?
Joy Tan: Essentially three things: We will use digital technology to make whisky in a more sustainable way, to make whisky better, and to improve the overall “whisky experience.”
For example, we are setting up connected systems to monitor all aspects of the mashing and fermenting process. Sure, these exist in general terms, but not to the precision and accuracy that we will use. I’m talking about three-second time slices on data sampling.
We will be taking a “big data” approach to every single aspect of production and then modelling this against all of the environmental data so we can leverage renewable energies – not just at the most optimal time to harvest energy, but also in consideration of the tradeoffs that we have to accommodate. For example, a hot day might give us more renewable energy from air source heat pumps, but we would then also have challenges with chillers on fermentors and condensers on stills.
That’s the sustainability aspect. As a consumer, you probably won’t really “feel” that directly, but to tech nerds like me and Jay, this gets us excited. And like you said, protecting the environment also protects our product.
We can also use this big data approach and create data models that will help us maintain strict consistency in the production of our milling, mashing, and fermenting, which means reliable consistency in the quality of the final product. For example, wood management, like everything about our casks, can be managed with the same technology-driven approaches.
That means better whisky. And you will definitely be able to taste and feel that.
As for the better overall experience you asked about, we have several plans in the works. Joy Tan
Take that whisky glass you keep trying to hide from me. I don’t know how you got your hands on one of the prototypes before I did. That’s totally not cool, and I’m definitely going to yell at Jay for that. (Laughs)
As someone who was part of the team that designed those, though, you know first hand how much technology went into creating what I can only describe as a work of whisky art. We are making a very conscious effort to provide people with a product and experience that make the most of technology to amplify tradition.
For example, we have plans to incorporate augmented reality in the distillery itself. When people visit, they will be able to engage more closely with what we’re doing, understand our end-to-end processes, why we do things the way we do, and interact with the distillery around them in a more immersive way.
We also have our own “grain to glass” technology that tracks the entire product lifecycle. Every bottle will have its own NFC chip, which means that when someone taps their phone on our product they can see everything about that bottle. This includes the farm where the barley was grown, the specific production process, the aging of the whisky, and everywhere the bottle has physically been.
Of course, technology will play a role even when we aren’t producing. We’ve got a lot in the works. Over the next few months, we’ll be releasing some really interesting technology-driven experiences. Joy Tan
Right now we’re working on something called “Project X.” We think it’s going to be a first for the whisky industry, and we’re pretty confident it will make all players take note of what Nine Rivers is doing. I dropped a little hint in there if you’re paying attention!
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.