Kavalan distillery

The Kavalan distillery in Taiwan is located approx. 30 km southeast of the capital Taipei. Their name is a reference to the indigenous people who used to live in the plain.

Production

The temperatures in Taiwan are on average 15 ° C higher than in Scotland, which also results in a higher percentage of angels share. While in Scotland you lose about 2% alcohol per year in Taiwan it is up to 15%! Therefore, the alcohol content is slightly higher and the cut (this is what we call the separation of the usable distillate from the rest) is set very closely.

Kavalan even has its own barrel cooperage on the premises in order to be able to prepare the best barrels for their malts. The water for production comes from the mountains that rise behind the still. The barrels are stored in multi-storey buildings on the site.For such a young distillery there are an incredible number of bottlings, there are currently 18 different original bottlings available. In total there are now a few hundred, since the still itself fills not inconsiderable quantities and mostly very popular single barrels.

History

In 2005 the Kavalan distillery is founded and built. Already on March 11, 2006 at 3: 30 p.m., the distillery’s first new make will flow. Two years later the young Spirit is released for the first time, who beats a few older malts from Scotland and England considerably in the blind tasting.

When setting up the still, the services of the well-known whisky expert Dr. Jim Swan, who sadly passed away much too early in 2017, back who was there with advice and support for the first Taiwanese distillery. Ten years after opening, Kavalan is expanded to become one of the ten largest malt whisky distilleries in the world.

Kavalan factsheet

Can I tour Kavalan?

No, unfortunately Kavalan distillery is not open to the public for tours