Foreign spirits producers eyeing middle class

Drinking whiskey is seen in China as a kind of "spiritual consumption" among young people, Zhu says. It's common for a 30-year-old man earning a salary of 10,000 yuan a month to buy one or two bottles of whisky priced at around 600 yuan to 1,000 yuan ($97 to $161) per bottle, he says.

The various tastes and brand culture behind the drinks intrigue those who want to be different from others and, in the meantime, are in pursuit of good taste and quality.

Lin Xiao, an accountant at an investment company, said he used to drink whisky with a green tee beverage, which is common among new Chinese drinkers. But he's since stopped and learned to appreciate the taste while drinking whisky with close friends. He even introduced whiskies to family relatives during the last Spring Festival holiday.

"It's easy to for young people to pick up knowledge of whiskies online. The booming e-commerce in China makes whiskies accessible everywhere, even to people in rural areas," he added.

On Jingdon, one of the biggest online retailers in China, more than 53,000 bottles of a Chivas Regal whiskey produced in 2012 have been sold over the last two years. The whisky is priced at 239 yuan per bottle.

Unlike their parents' generation－who mainly consume baijiu, the most popular spirit in China－young people in their early 30s and 20s developed their knowledge of spirits at bars, KTV and trendy restaurants, where foreign spirits are easier to find, Zhu said.

"The future market is promising, I'm quite sure," he said.