With Chinese (Lunar) New Year around the corner, I crack into Laizhou Sherry Harmony Batch 2—an award magnet that just took Gold at the World Whiskies Awards 2026 as Best Chinese Small Batch Single Malt (country and category winner). I’ve reviewed a few Laizhou releases already, so in this one I keep the distillery chat tight and focus on what matters: this is the largest single malt distillery in China, they only started laying down barrels in 2021, and they’re already putting out whisky that genuinely impressed me from the first sip. This Batch 2 is built around “harmony” in a very literal way: it’s a combination of 10 different first-fill sherry casks (Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso, PX, Moscatel, Palo Cortado and more), bottled at 53% ABV, natural colour, non chill filtered, and limited to 9,999 bottles (retailing here at $298). I walk through the pour, nose, palate and finish—potpourri/rose-like florals, honey and butterscotch, dried fruits, then a palate that swings between dry sherry-driven notes and sticky, jammy PX-style richness, with fruitcake, burnt sugar and dark chocolate. I also compare my notes to other reviewers’ tasting notes (since the bottle notes are in Chinese), talk about who it’s for (sherry bomb fans and bold whisky lovers), and finish with a quick Hibiki Harmony comparison: Hibiki is softer and more delicate, while this one is a louder statement—in a good way.