YESTERDAY saw the latest stage of a remarkable project that will see an entire brand-new distillery shipped from Scotland to Mongolia.
Purists need not worry that our Scotch is being hijacked. On the contrary, this is a very friendly international exercise which may even lead to more Scottish distilling experience and equipment going abroad to help countries make their own spirits.
WHO IS BEHIND IT?
THE giant MengTai company, with assets worth £3 billion and which has recently diversified into internet e-commerce and modern financial services, is based in Ordos, a city of two million people in the autonomous Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.
Founded in 2001, the group has more than 4300 employees, and its chief Ao FengTing is reckoned to be one of China’s most dynamic businessmen. MengTai has made a profit in each of the last 18 years.
WHY IS SCOTLAND INVOLVED?
DAVE Valentine, owner of Valentine International Business Connections based in Forfar, was commissioned to help deliver the distillery in Ordos. He said at the time: “Building a distillery…
