Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Distillation" in English language version.
As already mentioned, the textual evidence for Sumero-Babylonian distillation is disclosed in a group of Akkadian tablets describing perfumery operations, dated ca. 1200 B.C.
The earliest possible period seems to be the Eastern Han dynasty ... the most likely period for the beginning of true distillation of spirits for drinking in China is during the Jin and Southern Song dynasties