THERE IS SUCH A BRAND!
It has happened: in 2025, The Netherfield Whisky made the leap from an idea into physical reality. Its birthplace is a small estate in Scotland called Netherfield House, which we also refer to as Netherfield Estate. Just like in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice — only our Netherfield isn’t fictional. In fact, there are several places in the UK named Netherfield House or Netherfield Estate, but all of them, apart from ours, are located in England. Our Netherfield is Scottish, situated in the town of Strathaven (pronounced “Stray-ven”) in South Lanarkshire, about 40 minutes’ drive south of Glasgow.
The emergence of The Netherfield may well be thanks to a chance event—when, about 25 years ago, shortly after moving to China, I first tasted whisky. It was Black Label. Alongside the intriguing new flavour, I was struck by the fact that, despite how much had been drunk that evening, I felt no hangover the next morning. I was pleasantly surprised and decided: “Whisky is my drink.”
Of course, back in the distant year of 2000, I had no idea that one day I would be living in Scotland and making my own whisky. At the time, I was a young lawyer building a consulting firm called China Window, and I believed my life would be entirely connected with China. But even then, I began taking my first steps into learning about and collecting whisky. True, the pace of collecting matched the pace of consumption, so it was more a collection of impressions and experiences than bottles.
Around 2013, my wife and I started exploring Europe — mainly France and Belgium. That’s when we became interested in investing in premium alcohol, beginning with the purchase of several cases of fine wine at an auction in Cannes. A few years later, we moved on to investing in whisky casks. This process became more structured in 2018–2019, when we made a permanent move from China to Belgium, and later to the UK.
Initially, we planned to settle in London, but decided first to spend a year in Edinburgh, to better understand the whisky industry from the inside. After a year in Scotland, the appeal of moving to London faded — we had fallen in love with Scotland and knew this was where we wanted to make our home. So we began searching for a place where: (a) we could live, (b) build a bonded warehouse to store our personal cask collection, and (c) develop a business in trading bulk whisky. The idea of producing whisky under our own brand may have started to take shape at that point, though it still felt a bit daunting.
After exploring various estate options across Scotland, we chose Netherfield House, which won us over with its beauty, scale, and potential. From the very first visit, it was clear: this was a place worthy of becoming the home of a new whisky brand. The purchase of Netherfield was completed at the end of 2023, and the process of creating the brand began immediately.
By mid-2025, The Netherfield includes a small bonded warehouse housing part of our cask collection and a bottling line, three pilot single malt releases and one blended malt. Our plans include obtaining a licence to host tasting tours on-site, restoring the derelict Cherrytree Cottage and converting it into an office and visitor centre, as well as building our own distillery.
