Going bold: Kavalan Whisky Distillery

Kavalan's distillers don't shy away from Taiwan's hot, humid climate. Instead they turn it into an asset that gives Kavalan Whisky its big, bold taste.

Go big or go home…

What does that phrase mean to you? It’s often heard in ads about sports drinks or pickup trucks, something about determination and grit. For me, it implies plotting a course of action, then having the tenacity to bear it out even if there are challenges that seem daunting. In other words, try and dare to fail. When applied to whisky, to me it’s not being timid about going after the big flavors. Big, bold Kavalan whisky doesn’t shy away from its environment…it embraces the warm and wet climate of Taiwan and forces its whisky to be excellent.

I had the pleasure of attending a whisky tasting seminar this week at Gordon’s Main Street (in Waltham, MA) hosted by Ian Chang, Kavalan’s Master Blender. He led us through a lineup of Kavalan’s main expressions as well as higher-end pours including Gordon’s Single Cask. Ian’s soft-spoken delivery didn’t mask his obvious pride and devotion to these products and to Kavalan itself. It was a master class about whisky distilling in Taiwan, its history, and how Kavalan whisky has adapted the distilling process to take advantage of the microclimate.

Others asked Ian Chang to sign their bottles...I just asked him to sign my tasting notes

In a nutshell, Kavalan pays attention to very small details every step of the way, from the ratio of grain sizes when milling, to precise vat temperatures during fermentation, to tasting the wine from the casks they plan to reuse for maturation their new make spirit. Even the location of the casks within the maturation warehouse is strictly monitored to ensure a specific maturation rate. As a multistory building in a very hot and humid climate, Kavalan uses different sizes of casks on different floors – small 200L casks are on the bottom floor where the temperature is about 80°F in the summer, and the casks get larger as you climb the floors so the large sherry casks (500L) are on the top floor where it's 107°F. The spirit in larger casks matures at the same rate as the smaller casks due to this temperature difference, so after 4-5 years all the product on the different floors will be almost even in terms of maturity.

So what does all this attention to detail get you? Big, bold, viscous, oily...all words used to describe the fruity and floral nature of all Kavalan’s expressions. No shrinking violets, these – each one makes you stand up and take notice. Full disclosure…I’ve tried and posted my reviews of four of these pours already (Classic, Concertmaster, Ex-Bourbon, and Sherry Oak), and once again my impressions were different this time. If you’d like to see my original and revised tasting notes for those expressions, please visit Hurry up & wait and (Re)Visiting Friends.

Okay, enough with the small talk…let’s go taste whisky!

We tried the entire top row, and the Pedro Ximenez (middle) in the bottom row

Kavalan Whisky Seminar

At Gordons Main Street, presented by Master Blender Ian Chang, April 24, 2018

Our very special (and expensive) extra pour for the evening...fantastic!

Many times in my life I do try and dare to fail (note the existence of this blog!). After all, what is failure but a way to learn how not to do something? Go big or go home…bold Kavalan whisky is definitely not going home.

Slainté! L’chaim! Cheers!

Tammy