Whiskey demand grows
According to data from market research company Euromonitor International, Chinese whiskey sales will reach US$2.3 billion in 2022.
This number is expected to nearly triple by 2027, as the whiskey market there is expected to grow at around five times the global rate.
These sales are driven by young, middle-class, urban, educated consumers, and increasingly female drinkers.
Malmsten said many of them stopped drinking baijiu, opting instead for lower-alcohol spirits from outside China.
Growing demand for whiskey has helped encourage international brands to open distilleries in China.
These include French drinks giant Pernod-Ricard, which owns the Jameson Irish whiskey brand as well as Beefeater Gin and Absolut Vodka). The company is investing $140 million to build a production base near Mount Emei in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
British rival Diageo also opened a factory in Yunnan Province in December last year. It is currently undergoing trial production and plans to be fully operational later this year. The company will also open an Asia-Pacific innovation center in Shanghai.
"We are here for the long term," Atul Chhaparwal, managing director of Diageo China, told the BBC.
He's bullish on the market, saying demand is so strong there's room for everyone.
"Given the dynamism of the entire whiskey category in China, there is ample room for growth in single malt whiskey, blended whiskey, local whiskey and imported whiskey," Chappawal said.
He added: "Currently, whiskey accounts for less than 2% of China's total spirits consumption, which shows that there is still a lot of room for everyone to play."
This includes homegrown breweries popping up across the country. Pernod Ricard estimates there are 30 to 50, many still under construction.
The whiskey market is also expanding in other parts of Asia.
Jamie Li of spirits retailer Maison du Whiskey is responsible for sales in Korea, Japan and China. "The growth is huge," he told the BBC at the French company's store in Singapore.
Mr Lee expects sales to increase during the Lunar New Year period as Chinese tourists travel to Singapore.
"Chinese New Year is a bit like Christmas in Europe - it's a holiday and people want to spend money, buy beautiful gifts and have something memorable. So whiskey is part of their memory," he said.
At the same time, collectors are increasingly "buying and holding" whiskeys that are expected to appreciate in value.
But Malmsten warned that it was not all plain sailing for the Chinese whiskey market.
She said: "Local distilleries are still in their early stages. 80% of the whiskey is aged for two years or less. There is a lack of barrels and a lack of professionals to help with production."
However, if the success of China's wine industry is used as a criterion, then the development of the whiskey industry in China is worth paying attention to.
Ms Malmston said: "We saw demand for Chinese wine skyrocket once the Chinese wine industry started to mature. We found in a recent survey that Chinese wine was the second most popular after French wine wine."
She believes that "as China's whiskey production matures, we may see a similar increase in demand for domestic whiskey."
