Taiwanese Kavalan whiskey beats the Scots own

[quote=“tommy525”]NO doubt ,its not worth 2000. But I wonder if maybe they are doing this for several reasons:

  1. asians tend to think expensive = good
  2. make money
  3. ensure plenty gets put away for storage, otherwise their whiskey will always be only 3 years old.

yeah chivas is over-rated. I think OLD PARR is better and a bit cheaper. Cant find it here in Calif but in Taiwan I liked it.[/quote]
We discuss about their marketing strategy. But really doubt it’s a good move. Arrogance and ego may be at play here. Believing spending enough money on equipment and hiring a Scotch master would automatically create miracle.

from: PostPosted: 15 Jun 2010 14:01

Cranky -
My ‘inside guy’ at TTL turned me on to a bottle of one of the TTL “Whisky”…truth is its made in England for them. Probably Scottish in origin…they did not know the exact facts yet.
It didn’t suck too much. One of the selections to be offered is on the shelf now at select TTL stores.

I still prefer Teachers for taste/reliability/price factors.

Finally got to try this a while back, it was good. i could feel the rawness of it. price still too high but good.

Did you feel it was a bit sweet? The one I tried was. Almost a caramel taste. Not bad though, taken on its own merits.

Did you feel it was a bit sweet? The one I tried was. Almost a caramel taste. Not bad though, taken on its own merits.[/quote]

I wouldn’t have said sweet, though a bit syrupy in texture.

Taiwanese whisky is outshining veteran brands on the global stage
Agence France-Presse
October 07, 2016 · 3:00 PM EDT

Bottles of single malt whisky of Taiwanese distillery Kavalan are offered at Glen Fahrn liquor store in Zurich, Switzerland, on June 7, 2016. Credit: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters
Taiwan’s whisky-drinking tradition is nothing new, fueled by long business dinners and a “bottoms up” culture of throwing back hard liquor.

In 2015, it ranked as the fourth largest market by value for Scotch, behind the US, France and Singapore, according to the Scotch Whisky Association.

But now a flourishing scene of specialized bars and tasting workshops has emerged as Taiwanese drinkers become thirsty for in-depth expertise.

Helping to galvanize interest is the island’s homegrown Kavalan distillery. Set among rice fields in northeastern Yilan county, it sees a million visitors a year.

“A lot of people only know how to drink, but they don’t know how it is made,” says CEO Lee Yu-ting, who hopes the distillery can “educate” consumers.

Kavalan was founded just 11 years ago by local conglomerate King Car — best-known for mass producing bottled water and canned coffee.

The brainchild of Lee’s father, King Car founder Lee Tien-tsai, experts were skeptical that good whisky could be produced in such a humid climate.

But Kavalan has succeeded in wowing the international whisky circle.

It earned its global stripes by taking first place in a high-profile London blind tasting in 2010, beating four Scotches and one English malt just two years after its whisky hit the market.

In 2015 Kavalan’s Solist Vinho Barrique was named the “World’s Best Single Malt Whisky” by the prestigious World Whiskies Awards.

And this year it scooped the “World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt Whisky” at the same awards for its Solist Amontillado — named after a Spanish sherry that had previously been stored in the casks.

Kavalan has capitalized on the tropical climate to develop a method that allows it to age whisky more quickly, says CEO Lee.

That means it can hit the shelves within five years, compared with 10 years or more in traditional production regions.

“People tend to judge the quality based on its age — that’s not always correct,” says Lee.

“Taiwan is the new player in the whisky world.”

A worker pours a glass of whisky inside the Kavalan Whisky aging warehouse and distillery in Ilan, northeastern Taiwan, on February 9, 2010. Credit: Nicky Loh/Reuters
‘Taiwan’s awakening’
Just over an hour away from Kavalan’s distillery, in the capital Taipei, a growing number of specialist bars are a testament to the island’s burgeoning whisky scene.

Tucked away in a quiet alleyway, “L’arriere-cours” welcomes a steady stream of customers on a rainy Tuesday night.

Neatly dressed in dark grey waistcoat and bow-tie, bar manager Peter Huang says the Taiwanese have experienced an “awakening” when it comes to how they drink.

“Drinking used to be pervaded by the ‘gan bei’ culture,” he told AFP, which means draining a glass in a single swig, a drinking style often encouraged in Asia whether at a business dinner or at a private karaoke room with friends.

“Consumers are becoming more curious about what they’re actually putting into their stomachs,” said Huang, attributing the trend to a proliferation of tasting workshops held by bars and local experts.

Stocked with more than 400 bottles, from Scotches to Kavalan to India’s Amrut, “L’arriere-cours” does not have a set drink menu. Instead, bartenders chat with customers to determine what to serve them.

The bar food also reflects its whisky obsession — slices of chicken, more traditionally marinated in Chinese rice wine, are instead soaked in whisky from the Scottish island of Islay.

For regular Mike Su, 35, the personal approach and wide selection have won his loyalty.

“You can try each kind one-by-one to find the drink you like, most suited to your mood that day,” said Su, who works at a technology equipment distributor. “It is finding pleasure through experimenting.”

Edinburgh-based whisky expert, writer and researcher Charles MacLean says the level of whisky knowledge in Taiwan is impressive.

“In my judgement, there are more malt whisky connoisseurs in Taiwan than any other country I have visited,” he tells AFP.

MacLean has followed Kavalan’s rise from the beginning — it was he who arranged the London tasting where it first rose to international prominence.

He describes the brand as “consistently excellent”.

“Of course it is not better than Scotch - or any other non-Scotch whiskies — it is different, made with the same care and attention as other whiskies are.”

While MacLean says Taiwan still has to catch up with its more established competitors, it is now on its way.

“It is too soon to describe Taiwan as being in the top whisky regions in the world,” he told AFP. “But it already has a reputation.”

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A man after my own heart…

I’ve been to Kavalan just today, their Amantillado was being shown very proudly everywhere.
For the 2015 Vinho we’ll have to wait until next year, though.

I’ve tasted most of Kavalans whiskeys. They definitely mark the checks most people look for in a whiskey, mellow, not sharp but for whiskey drinkers, at least for me it lacks character.

Now you would need to drink a fair bit of whiskey to know what im talking about, Singleton comes to mind as a Scottish drop which is smooth yet lacks character, glenfarclas on the other hand, after 25 years its character is mellowed enough to make it a superior drop, half that and you will be overwhelmed with character.

After drinking a fair bit of whisky you dont’t want to be overwhelmed by too much cacter :blush: in yer whusky

Hic!

Glenlivet has a good balance for price to character. Glenfarclas is the best drop, with character, so long as its well aged, you cant duplicate that taste in a couple of years, Even if the taste they are looking for is some clean, mellow neutral taste.

I agree. I enjoy the Kavalan but I’m much happier with scotch and the variety of scotch, which can be had relatively cheaply in Taiwan. Kavalan is just meh, I don’t care what the experts say.

After the £ sunk on the Brexit vote I thought I’d be paying more for whisky but it’s actually worked out well, the price of proper scotch has fallen. Kavalan must have paid a lot for some media attention, keep the punters buying their mediocre product.

I recently tried the 2015 Kavalan’s Solist Vinho Barrique, named the “World’s Best Single Malt Whisky”, the blue label.

It was OK. I’m no connoisseur, but there are definitely others that I like better.

I’m no connoisseur either, just a booze hound. But it seems that it’s always either a Japanese or Taiwanese whisky that’s been winning these awards for the past 10 years or so. It’s a nonsense. They’re not bad but they’re nothing special.

Some idiots gave Taiwan jinpai a gold medal at some point - it’s still s☆☆☆ though

Kavalan - overpriced and over-rated IMO. Also a bit too sweet for my liking.

Here in Texas, their single-malt 750ml goes for US$80. If it isn’t’ aged, and its still that pricey, I do have high expectation.

Now this stuff is fantastic

Looks good. Hard to get outside of TX looks like though!

5 posts were merged into an existing topic: Kavalan

Made it out to Kavalan Distillery today . GOt there at 5pm in time to MISS the last tour at 4pm. However, luckily one can still venture into the factory and see the process as outlined by murals on the walls. Peek at the stills and get an idea.

Then walk next door to the sales orifice and even get about 2 teaspoons of their first whiskey as a sample. That was the only sample they provided (it was free). To see what the others are about, luckily they are on sale. Bottles of 700cc, bottles of about 200, and bottles of bout 48cc available of all their different series . Except the best one, the Fino, which is only available in 700cc size (far as I can see) and for bout 6600.

I bought 3 tiny bottles of their Soloist series. One each of the favored one matured in sherry casks, one of the vinho barrique and one light colored one matured in bourbon casks.

trying out the sherry one now, not bad, not bad.

Took the 9 over there. Full of big bikes on the road and took the 5 freeway back thru the snow tunnel . Kinda scary as thats a first time for me and the traffic was crawling at 25kph initially, then up to bout 55kph. Took over 20 mins to get thru the 12.9 km.

They’ve got these horrible kavalan + coke or Kavalan + lime premixed bottle/can things that they’re giving away down here to ‘promote’ their whiskey. It’s so terrible I was very, very surprised to see you proclaim it ‘not bad’. If it’s really decent stuff then it’s a shame they’re busy ruining their image with premixeds. :s