Taiwan

Question 1

Where is Kavalan?

Answer 1

-north of Taipai in hills of Yilan
-humid, but no extremes of heat
-Over 1 million visitors per year

Question 2

Who were the two men responsible for the success of Kavalan?

Answer 2

-Dr Jim Swan
-Distillery Ian Chang (now at Komoro in Japan)

Question 3

How large is Kavalan?

Answer 3

-One of the top 10 single malt producers in the world in terms of volume

Question 4

Equipment at Kavalan?

Answer 4

-5 mash tuns
-40 fermenters running 60-72 hour fermentations using yeasts isolated from surrounding area
-10 pairs of pot stills same shape and size (10,000 liters for wash, 7,000 liters for spirit)
-all with slightly downward sloping lyne arms
-Wort is clear and cuts are tight (Jim Swan)

Question 5

-Maturation at Kavalan

Answer 5

-Wide range of casks including STR (Swan)
-ex Bourbon makes up largest
+variety of ex-Sherry, ex-Port and wine used for maturation and finishing.
-Casks placed in five large concrete warehouses
-Temperature peaks at 42C (108 F) on average
-13% per year is lost
-accelerated maturation
-faster interaction with all the elements
(oak compounds, new make character, air to create esterification and complexity)

Question 6

-Nantou

Answer 6

-Distillery on central east side of island
-State-owned enterprise
-Taiwan’s alcohol production was under government control from 1947-2002
-Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation
-Brand = Omar first appeared locally in 2008 using wash sourced from local TTL brewery

Question 7

Where does the water for Kavalan come from?

Answer 7

-Snow Mountain (Taiwan’s second highest peak)