In the US, you don’t just drink whiskey, you experience it. In China, you don’t just drink báijiǔ (pronounced bye-joe), you experience it. By combining the two, you create an entirely new tasting experience. One that calls for these two often disparate worlds to come together to form a partnership, a mingling, and a new category of jiáng xiāng (pronounced – jong-shong) whiskey.
Báijiǔ, a clear white spirit, is the world’s most widely enjoyed spirit dating back some 5,000 years, yet it is almost nowhere to be found in the US. The numbers alone are staggering. Báijiǔ accounts for a third of global spirit sales, much larger than whiskey, tequila and vodka combined – though very little is sold outside of China’s borders. Moutai, the largest maker of báijiǔ, is the most valuable spirits brand in the world with a value of $58.4 billion. In comparison, the closest US-based company, Jack Daniel’s and the Brown-Forman brands are number seven in the world with a brand value of $4.4 billion. In fact, the top four most valuable brands are all báijiǔ based. A variation of báijiǔ is about to make a new splash in the US.
Introducing SHĀNG Whiskey from Maritine Brands
Maritine Brands is truly a global company. It is a newly formed joint venture between True Essence Foods in Indianapolis, Indiana and Guìzhōu Guótái Shùzhì Liquor Group, founded by the Tasly Health Industry Group, in Máotái Town, Rànhuái City, Guìzhōu Province, China. Together, they have partnered with Whiskey House of Kentucky, from Elizabethtown, Kentucky and The Blending House from Shelbyville, Kentucky. All combined, it is a true blending of history, talent, and innovation. Together, they are introducing SHĀNG (pronounced – shong) Whiskey and creating what they call a new spirits category.
True Essence Foods is led by CEO and Founder Matt Rubin. He also serves as CEO of the newly formed Maritine Brands. Rubin is truly a man of the world having made many trips to China and Kentucky to invent this new spirits category of jiáng xiāng.
What Was the Flavor Vision for the SHĀNG Whiskey Launch?
We had an opportunity to talk to serial entrepreneur and True Essence Founder & CEO Matt Rubin to learn more about what went into this initial release from Maritine Brands. We asked him what the flavor vision was for these first releases from the new company.
“From a flavor profile our focus on the release was Dàn Yǎ (pronounced “DAHN-yah’) which is a subtle balance and elegance between oak and jiáng xiāng whiskey flavor,” said Rubin. “Both styles of East+West and pure jiáng xiāng Whiskey are released in a Dàn Yǎ style. They use the same barrels, we have more or less the same aging standards. Now, the reason we launched the East+West and the Dàn Yǎ together is to provide a bridge to jiáng xiāng flavor.
“Historically, báijiǔ has tried a couple of different times to enter the world market, and consumers really didn’t know how to appreciate it. In 2015, you’ll find a number of articles about báijiǔ, entering US market. Moutai had a line in Costco for a little while and it vanished. And I took some humility with that and I said, ‘Look, there’s a lot of really smart ad agencies and brand developers that thought they could introduce báijiǔ. I said, now this is a báijiǔ whiskey, but I think we just have to create that bridge even further to something familiar’. So that’s why we made the decision to release SHĀNG East+West and jiáng xiāng Whiskey at the same time.”
SHĀNG: Born from Two Worlds 2,000 Years Apart
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For 2,000 years in the river valleys of Báijiǔ, grain met earth, heat and time. And became something the world had never tasted. Eight fermentations, seven distillations, nine cycles of Dàn Yǎ culture. Carrying generations of microbial memory. This is jiáng xiāng báijiǔ. The most technically demanding fermentation condition on the planet. A process so rooted in place that the land itself is an ingredient. Here, patience isn’t a virtue, it’s the method. Not compromised, earned.
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During the release event the SHĀNG team led guests through a tasting with four samples which affirmed the bridge. The tasting began with pure jiáng xiāng báijiǔ distillate which offered complex layers of fruit and floral. That was followed by SHĀNG jiáng xiāng Whiskey finished in American Oak barrels which offered fruit floral notes with a chocolate and baking spice finish. Third on the tasting was the pure Kentucky Sorghum Distillate, distilled at Whiskey House, that offered sweet vanilla flavors with a delicate sorghum finish. And that led to the other SHĀNG product, East+West Whiskey. The East+West, finished in an American Oak barrels, offered a softer, rounder profile featuring vanilla, toasted grain and caramel notes. The SHĀNG whiskey only spent about a month in the barrel, so the oak didn’t overpower the original báijiǔ spirit.
The staves in the barrels from Independent Stave Company were air-dried for at least 36 months prior to construction and once the barrels were assembled, they were finished with a #3 char. Typical barrel staves are aged from 3 to 6 months. The other unique thing about the process is all the báijiǔ went through the True Essence filtration process. It’s not exactly a filtration process with a substrate or chill filtration; it is a pressure process that modifies the molecular structure that can remove unwanted congeners or harsh notes from the distillate before maturation. By skipping the chill filtration, it allows the key aroma profile of the distillate to shine through.
Related Stories
– What is Báijiǔ? The Most Popular Spirit in the World You’ve Never Heard Of
– Chinese Brands Raise the Bar More Than 10x vs. American Brands as Global Leaders in Distilled Spirits in 2025 Rankings
How Did the Idea of SHĀNG Whiskey Begin?
The idea of SHĀNG Whiskey was born a few years ago when Rubin met with the Chairman of Guótái.
“It began at a single conversation with the chairman of Guótái,” said Rubin. “He presented me one evening at a dinner báijiǔ, that had been oaked in a barrel. And baijiu means ‘white spirit’. And when I was presented with this oaked spirit, I saw in the chairman, he had the courage to push beyond the definition of a product and with a team that has the capabilities to innovate.
“The question was, what is the vision and where we go? Creating a great whiskey has somewhat of a roadmap, but creating a new product category really requires the team to ask, “What should the standards be? How should we make these, and how can we honor the traditions that lay before us?”
“Guìzhōu has been manufacturing báijiǔ in the same river valley for over 2000 years. This practice has been refined over time. It celebrates the slow process of fermentation, the slow process of aging and clay pots. And we wanted to make sure that we capture this essence and turned it into something that could be expressed as a modern spirit to the global audience.
“While the chairman’s tastes are very much to sophisticated báijiǔ, the young chairman is a whiskey enthusiast. And routinely, when I would have dinner with them, I would have fantastic báijiǔ samples presented by the chairman and fantastic whiskey samples presented by the young chairman. and even within this single family, the generational shift in flavor preferences was seen. We committed over two years ago to create this new product category of solid-state fermentation, whiskey, or jiáng xiāng whiskey.
“While we were doing this, the world was changing around us. In the United States, consumer preferences had begun to change and in the curiosity for its internationally inspired products has increased. At the same time, in China, the younger generation has very rapidly began to shift towards Western inspired spirits. And so, it came before us to put a team together to realize this vision. We said, ‘What is the story?’ It is born in China in the one of the most famous river valleys that is known for making báijiǔ.
“But where should it become a whiskey? And there was only one logical choice, to take it to Kentucky through celebrating the years of whiskey innovation aging, and the decades of experience from the local team members.”
Comparing the Whiskey Making Process to the Báijiǔ Making Process – Similar but Different
Making American whiskey vs. báijiǔ distillate is very different. They both involve grains, cooking the grains, fermentation, distillation, storage vessels, and maturation. Even though the timeline is similar the process of how they go from grain to finished distillate is very different.
“The creation of SHĀNG really celebrates two different traditions,” explains Rubin. “To understand the final product, we have to take a journey through SHĀNG and three solid-state fermentations. Typically, when we ferment a Western whiskey, we’ll start with the grain, we’ll make a mash, and we’ll end somewhere around three days later, through a series of distillations. Now we’re ready to go into a barrel.
“For jiáng xiāng whiskey, that journey takes four-years. So, what happens during this four-year period? The story of jiáng xiāng whiskey begins with high temperature, solid state fermentation. Rather than grinding the grain and making a thick slurry or soup, we ferment the grains solids. We cook it, it says looking like it grain, it slowly ferments as a solid, its put into pits, and through sequential fermentations it will slowly break down to develop the flavor. The báijiǔ will go through nine different fermentations, eight different extractions, and seven distillations.
“The key to this fermentation process is the Dàqǔ (pronounced – dah-chew) (translates to “big starter”) powder. This Dàqǔ powder as a fermentation yeast begins its journey more than six months prior to the fermentation of the final báijiǔ.
“Once we finish distillation of the báijiǔ it needs to rest and it rests for years in these clay pots. These clay pots are made of a special clay that comes from the Chìshuǐ River Valley that allows oxygen to permeate while keeping the spirit trapped delicately in. This resting between the first and the second distillation is unique amongst all whiskies. From a Western perspective we would say, this is like aging a low wine between two rounds of pot distillation.
“After this period of at least three years of rest, we’re now ready to redistill it into a final whiskey. It enters into a copper pot still and we’re able to use this combined with a pressure filtration that allows us to lightly remove and separate some of the aromatics and round the edges to create a beautiful and new make distillate.
“Once this process is concluded, unlike most spirits which then get to age in the local area until they’re ready, it travels halfway around the world from Guìzhōu to Kentucky. Here’s where it meets American oak and it’s able to rest and age and develop a balanced flavor.
“We have a responsibility to protect some of the aroma, celebrate the solid-state fermentation and the jiáng xiāng báijiǔ, while carrying it forward as an expression to the next generation and to the world audience.
“That innovation cycle happened at a lightning pace. We could not have done that without a very consistent daily partnership between The Blending House, Whiskey House of Kentucky, and Guìzhōu Guótái Shùzhì Liquor Group.
“It was a series of innovation cycles that led to the advancement of how we distill product into a final spirit, and how do we age this product and blend it with Western spirits to create a completely new expression.”
“The foundation for SHĀNG consists of red sorghum from the Chìshuǐ River basin, selected for its resilience through repeated steaming and fermentation. Its structure and tannin content are unlocked through solid-state fermentation to create the depth and savory complexity that defines jiàng-aroma báijiǔ. After distillation and aging in traditional clay pots in China, SHĀNG is redistilled to a whiskey base, matured in American oak and blended in Kentucky to ensure continuity across each release.”
SHĀNG’s portfolio will debut with two products with several others on the way.
SHĀNG Dàn Yǎ (pronounced dahn-yah) is SHĀNG’s first expression. All expressions share the same jiáng xiāng whiskey foundation; time in American oak defines the distinction. Dàn Yǎ rests in charred American oak barrels for a minimum of one month and up to just under one year, creating balance between fermentation depth and wood structure.
SHĀNG East + West Kentucky Blend marries SHĀNG’s jiáng xiāng whiskey with a proprietary American red sorghum whiskey and ages the spirit in charred American oak barrels in Kentucky. The result is a globally inspired spirit that redefines expectations and presents a groundbreaking expression to the world stage.
When Will SHĀNG Whiskey Be Available?
SHĀNG Dàn Yǎ and SHĀNG East + West Kentucky Blend will be available beginning June 15, 2026, for pre-order online with direct shipping to 42 states. SHĀNG Dàn Yǎ is bottled at 100 proof (50% ABV) and will be available with a suggested retail price of $64.99 for a 500mL and $15.99 for 50mL bottle. SHĀNG East + West Kentucky Blend is bottled at 92 proof (46% ABV) and will be available at a suggested retail price of $45.99 for 500mL and $13.99 for 50mL bottle. SHĀNG Whiskey will also be available in China beginning in September 2026.
SHĀNG is produced by Maritine Brands, a joint venture between True Essence, LLC, and Guìzhōu Guótái Shùzhì Liquor Group Co. Maritine Brands develops, manufactures, and commercializes SHĀNG for global markets; building a scalable premium spirit’s platform rooted in heritage, innovation, and international growth.
True Essence Foods provides state-of-the-art food and beverage processing solutions and new product launch support. Based in Indianapolis, IN, TEF offers proprietary pressure filtration and formulation solutions to reduce off-spec flavors and improve overall batch consistency of new-make and aged spirits.
Guìzhōu Guótái Shùzhì Liquor Group, founded by the Tasly Health Industry Group, is the second largest distillery in Máotái Town, China. It operates five production facilities with an annual capacity of 56,000 tons and maintains an inventory of 100,000 tons of base liquor. Guótái has invested heavily in “intelligent brewing,” creating China’s first intelligent distillation standard system for sauce-aroma báijiǔ. You can learn more about the types of báijiǔ in our related story here.
Whiskey House of Kentucky is the most advanced distillery in the United States, designed from the ground up to provide the highest-quality, customized American whiskey for the most discerning brands in the industry. By incorporating best practices, programs, and state-of-the art technology from advanced food manufacturing, and applying them to distilling, Whiskey House delivers unparalleled quality, unmatched flexibility in customization, and the ability to test and scale innovation projects for the best spirits companies in the world.
The Blending House is a spirits production facility in Shelbyville, Kentucky designed exclusively to support post-distillation needs. By integrating state-of-the-art barrel maturation, blending and custom bottling capabilities within a single, centralized location, spirits brands can operate efficiently and scale with confidence. As the global spirits market evolves, The Blending House serves as a strategic partner across R&D, production, and logistics for domestic and international brands seeking reliable, high-quality delivery to market.
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