Dongwei is a pioneering Chinese single malt whisky distillery founded by Master Distiller Dongye. The journey began in 2014 when Dongye embarked on an obsessive quest to create authentic whisky in China, spending 4-5 years meticulously researching every element—from malt and peat to yeast—while traversing half the country to source the perfect raw materials. By 2016, Dongwei's complete distillation process was finalized and stable production commenced. After an extensive site selection process that began in 2018, construction on the permanent, non-experimental distillery started in 2019 and was completed in 2020. In 2019, Dongye personally handcrafted China's first complete set of hand-hammered copper pot stills for whisky production, receiving invaluable technical guidance from Scottish collaborators Forthys and Frilli during fabrication. These stills were installed in the new distillery in 2021. The inaugural release, originally slated for 2022 when the earliest spirit reached six years of maturation, was delayed two years to ensure perfection. In 2024, Dongwei launched with 15 single cask expressions, with the oldest whiskies approaching eight years of aging. The distillery's full history is documented in the prestigious "World Whisky Yearbook," cementing its status as China's artisanal whisky pioneer.
Curiosities
The Dongwei Exploration Series captures the culmination of Master Dong's nine-year odyssey in pursuit of Scottish whisky flavors. They are finally unveiled in their most authentic form: single cask, cask strength. What they represent extends beyond the diversity and independence of a new regional product—they embody the arduous journey of relentless exploration into the unknown and an uncompromising resolve.
Timeline
Started the journey of whiskey making.
Began experimenting with all-copper pot stills featuring multiple configurations to simulate and verify the differences in distillation characteristics brought by boiling ball, lamp shape, and onion/pear-shaped still designs.
With extraordinary perseverance, Master Dong sent hundreds of pages of emails to Jim Robertson, who eventually accepted him as an apprentice. He learned whiskey making comprehensively and systematically, mastering every detail from malting to fermentation, still operation, and heat input.
Master Dong started a dedicated research thread on Baidu Tieba about whiskey making. For peated malt, he visited 8 domestic peat sites and finally selected one variety through testing. In cask selection, he experimented with domestic Mongolian oak barrels and STR wine casks.
Began distillery site selection. Started testing Huangjiu (Chinese rice wine) casks for maturation.
Selected a beautiful rural location by Dongting Lake to build a production-scale distillery. In the second half of 2019, began hand-crafting his own stills.
Distillery construction completed.
The copper stills, embodying Master Dong's dedication and craftsmanship, were installed at the new distillery and commissioned.
Dong Wei was featured in the 'World Malt Whisky Yearbook' 2022 edition.
Dong Wei Exploration Series launched.
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