KAVALAN - TRY TO GET YOUR HANDS ON THIS WHISKY

IF YOU’RE lucky enough to get hold of a premium Kavalan whisky like the Amontillado sherry, which boasts honey, tropical fruits and nuttiness with an LQFUHGLEO\ VPRRWK ÀQLVK \RX·OO ÀQG LW comes in its own luxurious, solid teak case with a splash of verdant green running down one side. The distinctive box has been designed to match the award-winning whisky inside.

MORE THAN 220 GOLDS

IN LESS than 10 years, Kavalan has collected more than 220 gold medals from the world’s highest drinks authorities. It has collected the WWA’S biggest awards two years in a row: the World’s Best Single Malt Whisky by the prestigious World Whiskies Awards in 2015 and again its World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt in 2016, it’s also earned the covetous title of International Wine and Spirit Competition “Producer of the <HDUΜ ÀYH WLPHV ([SRUWLQJ QRZ WR PRUH than 60 countries, the most surprising thing about this global whisky sensation is that Kavalan is made in Taiwan.

More than a decade ago, making ZKLVN\ LQ 7DLZDQ KDG EHHQ D ÀJPHQW RI .DYDODQ &(2 0U <7 /HH DQG KLV IDWKHU·V imagination. The problem had been how to make world-class whisky in a hot, humid climate with average temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius in a summer. No one else had had the vision or daring to try it before.

/LNH DOO EHVW VWUDWHJLVWV 0U /HH·V WHDP decided to work to their strengths. They recruited global whisky guru, the late Dr Jim Swan, and together, rather than ÀJKWLQJ WKH LVODQG·V VXEWURSLFDO KHDW DQG dense humidity, they harnessed it and created a fast-tracked whisky, which ripens bearing the characteristics of a drop twice its age.

ANCIENT MISTS OF KAVALAN

KAVALAN’S name is taken from the indigenous name of the county in north eastern Taiwan where it’s made. It’s also the name of the early people that settled those parts. On the gold panel inside the box, it reads: “The Mists of Kavalan: In ancient times… Kavalan had always been kept primitive and protected from the outside world by the Syue-shan mountain range.”

Over the past 10 years, these sublime Yilan mountains shrouded in mists have harboured a global whisky trailblazer. 7KH ZDWHU IURP WKHLU VSULQJV LV ÀOWHUHG DV LW GHVFHQGV UHÀQLQJ WKH ZDWHU SDUWLFOHV which in turn gives the water a sweeter, purer mouth-feel and imparts the signature creaminess of Kavalan whisky.

WATER OF LIFE

RICH IN ZINC, calcium and magnesium, WKH ZDWHU DOVR LQÁXHQFHV WKH DFWLYLW\ RI the yeast, which comes into play during fermentation. Kavalan’s yeast can achieve a high alcohol yield and produce the Taiwanese whisky’s characteristic IUXLW\ ÁRUDO ÁDYRXU

Until December last year, it was very hard to get your hands on a bottle of Kavalan. But things could be set to change with the commissioning of Kavalan’s Second Distillery and Second Maturation Warehouse for its 10th anniversary in 2016. The expansion apparently makes Kavalan the world’s 9th biggest distiller, doubling its annual production to 9 million litres.

GLOBAL EXPANSION

MASTER BLENDER Ian Chang explains .DYDODQ·V ÀUVW GHFDGH ZDV DERXW IRFXVLQJ on the whisky’s quality, while the second decade will be about making Kavalan available globally.

In Kavalan’s gleaming new Second 'LVWLOOHU\ ÀYH VHWV RI KXJH ODQWHUQ shaped copper stills from legendary whisky stills maker Forsyths stand in a vast white vault, having traveled by sea from Scotland.

They will play a major role in helping Kavalan spread a world class whisky across the globe.