Discover the Kavalan Distillery
Discover the Kavalan Distillery
Whisky of the World
The hourlong drive from Taipei to Kavalan leads through the Hsuehshan Tunnel—one of the world’s longest at 12.9 kilometres—and traverses the mountain range separating the capital from Taiwan’s Pacific coast. The road then opens out onto the Lanyang plain: the fertile farmlands of Yilan County, which is famed for its hot springs, rice paddies, and tea plantations. It is here, near the Lanyang River, that Kavalan distillery stands: an ultra-modern sixteen-acre estate surrounded by natural beauty, founded by the King Car group in 2006. It offers a spectacular view of the Snowy Mountains, with the Xueshan range—whose highest summit culminates 3,800 m above sea level— looming in the west.
◊ Acting as a preamble to the visit, the Art Barrel Project exhibit in the distillery’s garden is an unexpected artistic detour. The path leading to the cooperage is lined with a dozen casks painted by young Taiwanese artists, including Yu Ting-Yen, Yang Chun-Chun, Sul-Han, Chang Lih-Shin, Hu Wei-Hsiang, and Xiao Po-Wen. The illustrations depict the stages of whisky ageing, the distillery, and its natural environment.
◊ The most spectacular part of the visit is most likely the Cask Recharring Station. Employees can be observed shaving, toasting, and recharring the casks: this ‘STR’ method was developed by whisky expert Jim Swan, who acted as advisor when the distillery was being designed. Shielded from the intense heat behind great glass windows, visitors can watch the impressive display of barrels being charred using flamethrowers.
◊ A stark contrast to the usually austere décor of Scottish cellars, the barrel-heads in Kavalan’s cellars are colour-coded, displaying a variety of hues: green for the port casks, pink for madeira, blue for the Vinho Barrique recharred wine barrels, brown for sherry, red for oloroso, purple for the peated whiskies… The choice is yours!
◊ The bar at the grand Kavalan Garden Hall has a selection of cask strength bottlings from the Distillery Reserve range on offer, including some unusual ageings in rum or madeira casks. Vinho Barrique, which cemented Kavalan’s reputation, is the obvious choice here.
◊ Kavalan Whisky Bar sits on an unremarkable side street in the Taipei neighbourhood of Zhongshan, and serves the entirety of the distillery’s range straight from the casks. Decorated with barrel-heads, the bar feels like a livelier version of Kavalan’s own cellars.
◊ While in Taiwan, why not discover another of the country’s great sources of pride: oolong tea. West of Yilan County lies Wenshan, a region famed for Baozhong—a light, floral, lightly-oxidised variety. Some of Asia’s finest oolongs are cultivated slightly further south, up to 2,300 metres above sea level.
◊ The King Car group’s orchid garden, located 1.5 kilometres from the distillery, grows thousands of orchids within its vast greenhouses. It is open to the public, and houses many Taiwanese varieties including rare species and hybrids. The orchid is a symbol of Taiwan, and the inspiration for Kavalan’s Lan bottling.
◊ Do not miss Taipei’s Lungshan Temple. Founded in 1738 in the historic neighbourhood of Wanhua, Lungshan is the island’s principal Chinese Buddhist sanctuary. It is chiefly dedicated to Guanyin, goddess of compassion, who is worshipped with offerings of incense.
Kavalan
Kavalan
