Green grape | Hay | Light caramel | Oak | White peppercorn | Faint candy corn | Earthy

Tannic oak | Watery vanilla | Faint rubber | Bubblegum | Mushroom | Black peppercorn spice | Slightly thick mouthfeel

Tannic dry oak | Rubber | Black peppercorn spice | Faint vanilla | Incredibly dry, light lingering spice

While American consumers may not be as familiar with it, baijiu has been popular in China for thousands of years. Shāng East + West is a new product that tries to bridge these two countries together. The company states that “the spirit begins with solid-state fermented red sorghum in Guìzhōu, China. After ceramic aging and refinement, it travels to Kentucky, where it is blended with American whiskey and finished in charred American oak.”

Shāng East + West lulls you into believing the sip will be something that it is not. It opens with an aroma that delivers scents reminiscent of an American single malt. The green grape and hay scents mingle nicely with oak and white peppercorn, providing a pleasing earthy opening. The palate takes a hard turn, however, as tannic oak and faint rubber collide with watery vanilla bubblegum and black peppercorn spice. It’s an amalgamation of flavors that don’t work well together. The finish continues down this path with large doses of black peppercorn spice pushing against tannic dry oak and rubber. A faint vanilla note tries to add sweetness, but is quickly overpowered before the sip ends on an incredibly dry, light, lingering spice note.

Tasting the company’s Shāng Dàn Yǎ whiskey, which shares the same jiàngxiāng whiskey foundation as East + West, it is clear that mingling the company’s jiàngxiāng whiskey with American red sorghum whiskey changes the flavors drastically. Compared to that expression, East + West helps to cut down the thick, viscous mouthfeel, tame the herbal earthy tones, and produce a more tolerable ending. While the American red sorghum whiskey helps improve the sip, it still leaves a lot to be desired. The whiskey’s aroma is enjoyable; its palate and finish will be unlike most anything American consumers are used to, and it has a ways to go to compete with other American whiskeys on the market.