It was the 18th anniversary of Kavalan’s first distillation recently and we would like to congratulate all of the hard working people of Kavalan for reaching this significant milestone.
Kavalan is probably one of the most established, and also one of the most significant, ‘world whiskies’ that we could mention right now and we are delighted to feature it as our cover distillery for this issue of WW&M. It is a huge success story and an amazing project that has become a household name and modern whisky icon in less than two decades.
Both of us have had the privilege of visiting Kavalan and love its fascinating background and the way in which it keeps developing and delivering exceptional releases year after year. We both remember the early years, when Kavalan’s whiskies started winning golds at major international awards and competitions. It was exciting to see their success – “Long may it continue,” we said, and it did! Kavalan has now won over 800 gold medals.
Kavalan has something of a dual nature. It is both a great whisky and a signature Taiwanese product; something that is both proudly local and at the same time internationally recognised, with a respected position in the premium world whisky market. It is an amazing place to visit and a great way for one to learn about the rich and fascinating Taiwanese culture, and experience their warm hospitality, as well as sampling the country’s other wonderful drinks product – their delightful oolong teas.
The distillery is about an hour’s drive from Taipei, surrounded by rice fields and forest. The distillery’s water comes from the springs of Snow Mountain (Taiwan’s second highest peak), which are also bottled as drinking water as a result of their high quality.
AWARDS
Kavalan has been awarded many significant accolades and been nominated by whisky authors as the very best. Awards won include: “Best New World Single Malt” and “Best New World Single Malt No Age Statement” – for Kavalan Solist Fino in 2012, followed by “World’s Best Single Malt Whisky” in 2015 for Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique. Kavalan Solist Amontillado Sherry Single Cask Strength won the “World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt Whisky” in 2016, according to the World Whisky Awards.. In 2017, thanks to the excellent tasting results of its whiskies, the distillery was named “Distiller of the Year” at another great international drinks competition.
PRODUCTION
Kavalan Distillery produces a very light, malty-fruity whisky similar to the Scottish style but unique to the distillery. It is considered to be very approachable and is therefore very popular with consumers. The house style is best expressed in the Kavalan Classic Single Malt, bottled in a bottle modelled after the Taipei 101 Tower. In 2019, production of a lightly peated version began. A tasting of the New Make Spirit gives a glimpse! The top line of the Solist’s, a range of single cask bottles, is for connoisseurs. Here, the cask that was used dominates most of the time. Between the single malt and its brother with a port finish (Concertmaster) as a base and the Solists as a top range, there is a line consisting of ex-Bourbon Oak and ex-Sherry Oak (Small Batch – not Single Cask), as well as the whiskies “King Car Conductor” and “Podium”. Conductor is the only whisky from Kavalan that bears the name of the parent company. This range is bottled at 46 vol%.
All barrels are imported from Europe and America and processed in the in-house cask treatment facility. They are subjected to an elaborate shaving, toasting and / re-charring to create STR casks. Visitors can see this impressive process on a tour of the distillery. Of course, the cooperage also repairs small damage to the barrels themselves, and all coopers have been trained in Europe.
Initially German Holstein stills were used, which were later replaced by purpose-built whisky stills from Forsyth of Scotland. Today, only the in-house gin based on New Make Whisky is produced on the Holstein stills.
Due to the high temperature in the region, Kavalan matures much faster than European whiskies do in their cooler climate. On the other hand there is also a lot more “Angel’s Share” evaporation. The speed of the maturation contributes to the whiskies being all very soft and round and complex after a shorter but more intense maturation.
BAR
Kavalan Whisky Bar was opened in the capital city of Taiwan, Taipei.. It features a range of whiskies that are exclusive to the venue and are straight from cask – in the cosy atmosphere of a Speakeasy Bar. For the opening, two bar professionals were hired to create special recipes with Kavalan Whisky. We had the luck trying some of these creations and they were world class cocktails with a brilliant concept behind them all. The bar serves as a model for further Kavalan bars to be opened in the future – first in Asia, later in Europe and the USA. Kavalan Whisky is currently available in over 60 countries around the world! The cocktails were world class on our visit and even the secret speakeasy entrance opening by hitting the shape of Taiwan – a secret button under the Kavalan sign on a wall was brilliantly entertaining. This is a fun but also world class venue.
VISITING THE DISTILLERY
There’s a ‘whisky laboratory’ where visitors can blend their own bottles of 1 of 1 Kavalan to take away, and it isn’t just fun but as a drinks professional, it is a great way to learn more about Kavalan and understand how difficult whisky blending can be even when using perfectly brilliant blending elements.
On our visit with whisky industry legends none other than Steve Beal, Ingvar Ronde, Colin Hampden- White and co-writer of this article, Tobias Gorn, we had a wonderful time. The blending session was sensational and a lovely experience, and we even had the honour of signing a cask of
maturing whisky.
Our visits to Kavalan weren’t made exceptional just by the very impressive barrel treatment area or the beautiful stillhouse or the marvellous surroundings of the distillery itself, but by the outstanding hospitality and kindness of our hosts. It is a great place to visit and a worthy pilgrimage on any whisky connoisseur’s bucket list.
To read the article, see the Personality profiles and see the tasting notes, got to issue 4:
