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A Visit to King Car Kavalan Distillery in Yilan, Taiwan

Kavalan Distillery from afar

We visited Kavalan Distillery in Yilan during our trip to Taiwan in May. It was a rather long journey from Taipei as we needed to take a local commuter train from Taipei to Yilan. After that, we took a cab from the station to the distillery. The drive took 22 minutes! Thankfully, we started our day early and arrived at the distillery 10 minutes before 11 am.

The cab driver dropped us at the main entrance, and we walked into a building that looked like a colonial house from the past. What greeted us when we went in was this.

It was a crisp, clean look with an impressive, awe-inspiring feel to it. Behind the two doors that you could see in the back of the picture was an auditorium.

I love this auditorium because the glass behind the stage allow everyone to look outside and enjoy the view of the lush greenery.

Searching for the Distillery Tour

After a short exploration, we approached the staff at the main building and asked about the tour. She told us that it would start at every hour, and adviced us to wait for the tour. As we planned to take the 1 pm tour, we decided to go for a meal at the Mr Brown’s Cafe first, which was at the far end of the distillery grounds. When we returned from lunch, we waited for the tour to start. They ushered us into another big room where we spent 10 minutes watching a film about King Car Group, the parent company of Kavalan Distillery. The Group is enormous, with businesses in all kinds of beverages and insecticides (they started the group with pesticides).

After the film, all of us waited with anticipation for the tour guide – who never came! The staff informed us that it was a self-guided tour and we could walk around by ourselves! We were bummed! To be honest, we were a little annoyed at the lady as she did not tell us in advance. We could have started the self-guided tour without going back to the main entrance! So, we tracked our way back to the distillery again.

The Distillery “Tour”

It was disappointing that there wasn’t a tour guide but the state of the distillery tour made it worse. To be fair, there was a lot of information available, but all of them were general, and there was nobody stationed there for visitors to ask questions. Furthermore, there wasn’t any information about their production process. Here are some of the pictures from the distillery.

The awards that Kavalan won

Entrance to the distillery

Barley Storage

Regular Malt

A half completed cask

Different casks used in Kavalan

We understood that Kavalan makes their casks in a cooperage within the distillery. We also managed to see a machine that appears to be charring the barrels. However, we did not manage to explore further as we did not have enough time after wasting time waiting for the film at the main entrance. Moving on to the production line, these were what we found.

Mash Tun at Work

These bottles showed the fermentation process

Here’s the yeast that Kavalan used

Half of all the stills that we saw

More Stills

The Spirits Safe

As you can see from the pictures, the whole “tour” was nothing more than just a stroll through a park. It was very different from Nantou Distillery , which we visited last year. The whole process took us less than 30 minutes and bringing our disappointment along with us; we headed to the tasting area. We got a free dram when we entered, but we quickly moved on to the paid tasting.

The Tasting Room

Kavalan has a Tasting Room on the second floor of the building that houses their shop and cafe. It hides in a corner, so you need to do some walking to find it. We paid NTD$400 at their shop and headed upstairs for the tasting. We were given a choice of 4 drams out of the 16 expressions they have, and of course, we went for the single casks.

Paid Tasting

Geek Flora chose the following:

• Ex-Bourbon Single Cask Strength
• Manzanilla Sherry Single Cask Strength
• Amontillado Sherry Single Cask Strength
• Oloroso Sherry Single Cask Strength

Geek Choc chose the following:

• Fino Sherry Single Cask Strength
• Vinho Barrique Single Cask Strength
• PX Sherry Single Cask Strength
• Kavalan Distillery Reserve Peat Cask Single Cask Strength

The expressions were a mixture of delicious stuff and those which were lacking. Our favourite turned out to be the Ex-Bourbon, the Manzanilla, the Vinho Barrique and the PX Sherry.

The DIY Blending

After the tasting, we went to the DIY Blending Room where we had previously booked a slot to do our blends. Our job here was to become a master blender and create our special blend. The DIY Blending Experience cost NTD$1,500.

We had three different casks with different flavours. We guess that two of them are ex-bourbon matured and one is an ex-sherry matured. They were labelled A, B and C. A (ex-bourbon) was 40% abv, B (ex-sherry) was 40% abv and C (ex-bourbon) was 46% abv.

The three casks

The lady manning the room gave us the below setup. Our job was to blend the three liquids given into something that was uniquely our own.

When we started work, we forgot to take pictures along the way once we got engrossed in the blending. It was a fun and insightful experience where we took a peep into the world of all master blenders. The experience also “helped” us to forget the time! It was later than we thought when we finally finished!

Flora’s Blend

Choc’s Blend

The Rush for the Train

The last part of our journey to Kavalan Distillery was the most stressful one! Due to us forgetting the time, we only managed to get the shop staff to call a cab for us at 5 pm. She dropped us a bomb after that – the cab could only come in 20 minutes! Our train was due at the station at 5.35 pm, so we thought we were going to miss the train. We lamented about paying extra for new tickets but due to the efficiency of the staff at Kavalan, and the experience of the cab driver, we arrived at the station at 5.34pm. With one minute to go, we rushed into the station, and found that our train was late for 3 minutes! We were so glad! We finally boarded the train at 5.37 pm before it went off a minute later. It was such an adventure!

Therefore, if you are heading to Kavalan, we would suggest you go early, and complete the tasting and DIY blending (if you want to do it) before going to the self-guided tour. It would help you to determine the time and of course, call the cab earlier! 😀 Of course, the other option is to stay at Yilan for a couple of days and explore the town.

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King Car Kavalan Distillery

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Private Tour Yilan Kavalan Whisky Distillery from Taipei provided by Taiwan Private Tour - Vince Group

Taiwan’s Kavalan Whisky Distillery: Up Close and Personal

• by Jake Emen
• July 19, 2016

The Kavalan Distillery in Yilan, Taiwan, receives up to 1 million visitors per year; up to 10,000 may cross the doors of their Spirit Castle visitor center on a single national holiday.

While most guests to Kavalan hail from Taiwan or elsewhere in Asia and have a decidedly shorter trek than my roughly 30 hour door-to-door trip, western tourists certainly get in on the fun as well. It’s a pilgrimage of sorts, getting to one of the hottest sites for whisky production across the globe. Hottest , of course, referring both to the blazing Taiwanese heat, as well as the buzz-worthy status of the brand.

To put that visitor count into perspective, the entire Kentucky Bourbon Trail reported nearly 900,000 visits in 2015. That’s across their nine main members, representing the historic big name distilleries in the state, as well as the 10 additional stops on the craft portion of the tour.

Kavalan has managed to not only build a global whisky juggernaut in a decade, but also to create an entirely new destination for whisky tourism. This is perhaps as much of an instructive point as anything else as to how everything at Kavalan is done big, done quickly, and done precisely well.

What Makes Kavalan, Kavalan

The air around Taiwan’s northeast coastal region may best be described as oppressively sticky , and that combination of heat and humidity produces unique aging conditions for whisky.

“The huge reason is the heat of Taiwan, it’s subtropical,” explains Ian Chang, Kavalan’s master blender and the face most commonly associated with the brand. Chang learned under Dr. Jim Swan, Kavalan’s consultant who helped set up the distillery and maintains twice yearly visits.

Without any prior experience in the whisky industry though, Chang also spent three years in Scotland learning the art and science of whisky production. “Once I joined the company, they sent me to Scotland to learn the trade and everything,” says Chang. “Even though we have Jim Swan as our consultant, it still took time for us to learn how to improve quality in the heat.”

Before the whisky is even distilled, the heat is already impacting Kavalan’s processes in ways that were difficult to forecast until they were experienced firsthand. For instance, temperature controlled stainless steel wash backs are now utilized to properly maintain and control the delicate fermentation process.

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Two types of yeast are used for their fermentation. The first, a French strain, is put to use to produce a maximum yield. In the middle of the fermentation process, they then incorporate a South African yeast to provide more of their desired flavor. The resulting distiller’s beer rests between 8 and 8.5% ABV.

Kavalan then uses an array of Forsyths copper pots, with 12,000-liter wash stills and 7,000-liter spirit stills. In addition to their current allotment, five fresh sets of stills are en route, boosting their production capacity to a massive 9 million LPA, instantly placing them amongst the largest single malt distilleries in the world –  after just 10 years .

While the temperature affects many aspects of whisky production, it’s first and foremost felt during maturation. “With the heat, we have high extraction of wood,” says Chang. “We can manage to produce whisky with very dark color and also a good amount of wood flavors in a much shorter time.”

Four years in the Taiwanese heat represents at least 10 to 12 in Scotland, and while all Kavalan releases are NAS, four years is the brand’s minimum. Depending on warehouse location and cask specifics, 4-6 years could actually represent an equivalent of 15-25 years or more.

Their oldest whisky in the warehouse is all of 10 years, stretching back to the small amount of stock remaining from the distillery’s opening in 2006. It’s not for a specific project in mind, either. According to Chang, their first runs of new make simply weren’t very good, so they’re just waiting it out to see if anything develops.

The bottom floor of one of their five-story warehouses may be roughly 75 to 80 degrees, while the top floor routinely rises above 110 degrees. They close the doors to their warehouses between June and October, but otherwise use no temperature control.

Placement in the warehouse depends most importantly on the size of the cask being used. “As the sizes of casks become bigger and bigger, we move them higher,” says Chang. The increasing heat speeds up maturation for larger casks which would typically need more time.

The maximum amount of time Kavalan will age whisky in one of their ex-bourbon casks, even on the relatively cooler, lower floors, is six years. “It all depends on the sizes,” says Chang. “We think that for a bourbon cask, if we mature our whisky for more than say six years, then I think quality will start to go down.”

Flavor extraction may not be impacted by the humidity, but the angel’s share certainly is, with annual levels approaching 15%, and that thirst makes a big difference in concentration of alcohol in the barrel. “With high humidity, we therefore lose more alcohol,” says Chang. “Proof is going down,” over time as a result, with more alcohol evaporating comparative to water.

Kavalan currently has just two warehouses, with several more on the way in coming years, and a total of 60,000 barrels currently maturing. Considering their prodigious production capacity, it’s a tiny number of barrels, again thanks to how quickly the maturation process can be completed.

Approximately 60% of their aging stock is in ex-bourbon casks, with the rest encompassing the full arsenal of cask types that the brand is known for, from brandy and port to a full smorgasbord of sherry casks.

“We try to use as many casks as possible to modify our character and complexities,” says Chang. He believes having that diverse portfolio of casks enables them to produce the equivalent of Scotch blends which would otherwise be sourced from a handful or potentially dozens of distilleries. He describes the single cask Solist series as single notes of music, whereas the entire warehouse is a symphony once put together properly.

Even the sherry casks Kavalan uses, however, are made from American oak. “We use almost 99.9% American oak for our barrels,” says Chang. Once again, it’s the heat. Chang explains that American oak imparts a more “delicate” flavor to their whisky, while European oak leads to “bitter and astringent” flavors in their conditions.

The distillery also has an on-site cask reconditioning facility. Here, they practice what they call STR, or shaving, toasting and re-charring. Chang notes the toasting phase as “the key part” of the process, helping to free organic compounds from the wood, among other benefits.

It’s just another of the many specific protocols the brand has put in place to gain an edge. “Being a young company, we don’t have the history… so technology is the best way to compete,” says Chang.

Kavalan currently has a six-person group devoted entirely to R&D, and Chang says the brand was the first to use an STR style process on wine casks. They deployed it for their Vinho Barrique, an expression named  the “World’s Best Single Malt Whisky” by the 2012 World Whiskies Awards.

Expect Four New Kavalan Whiskies This Fall

Kavalan has seven whiskies available in the U.S. right now, with four new releases hitting our shorelines this fall: Solist Amontillado, Solist Manzanilla, Solist Pedro Ximenez, and Solist Moscatel. As members of their Solist range, they’re all cask strength, single cask whiskies, with each ending up between 55% and 58% ABV. The Solist Amontillado has already garnered an award from the World Whiskies as the 2016 “World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt.”

While sherry influence is noted in all of the new whiskies, they each revealed a highly distinctive character during a distillery tasting session. The Amontillado is light and shifts from honey to toffee and spice; the Manzanilla is nuttier and darker; the PX creamy, rich and sweet; the Moscatel is the lightest yet and floral on the nose.

At the distillery, there’s also a chance to gain another glimpse at the future for the brand, including a newfound focus on peat. Available for purchase at the Spirit Castle is a distillery-exclusive peated-cask whisky, and meanwhile, Kavalan currently has peated mash bill whisky being aged in four types of casks.

For those, they have used peated barley with 20 phenol PPM, which Chang says results in a final spirit with a level of 10 phenol PPM. Chang has also been busy on scouting trips, saying he recently visited Independent Stave and is planning a virgin oak series with new barrels.

A mere decade into their existence, and Kavalan has already set a lofty standard. That’s a tiny fraction of the time that Scotland’s, and even Japan’s, top single malt distilleries have been in production, and it signals that the best is still yet to come for Kavalan. If you’re not up for the rather lengthy trip to the Spirit Castle in Taiwan, then it’s time that you at least try to track down a few bottles for the personal stash.

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Jake Emen is a freelance writer based in San Diego, and a lover of all types of whiskey. He's passionate about food, drink and travel, and lucky enough to write on such topics as he explores both newly burgeoning regions around the United States, and others across the globe. For whiskey and spirits coverage, he has been published in outlets including USA Today, Maxim, GQ, Whisky Advocate, AFAR, Vice Munchies, Eater Drinks, Tasting Table, The Washington Post Express, Distiller, and various others. Follow him @ManTalkFood.

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Kavalan Distillery

• Experience guided tours to learn about Kavalan's history and production process
• Enjoy diverse whisky tastings including unique sets of whiskies
• Blend your own whisky in the Whisky Lab for a personalized experience

Highlighted reviews

• Email ahead to inquire about English tours or self-guided options for visiting
• Check tour schedules for whisky tastings which are scheduled few times a day
• Visit during weekdays to avoid crowds and have a more relaxed experience
• Reserve time to explore all sites on campus; it typically takes around 2 hours

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A Taste of Kavalan, Taiwan’s Premier Whisky

“The light music of whiskey falling into a glass — an agreeable interlude.” – James Joyce

I t was my first assignment as a freelance reporter in Taiwan — I pitched a travel article about touring the Kavalan Whisky distillery in Yilan . This brand had won awards and was becoming better known outside of Taiwan, and I wanted to have a taste without splurging on a bottle at the store.

I had only tasted the whisky once because it was expensive compared to the imported scotch in Taiwan — I could buy a bottle of Glenlivet for about $20-25, but the cheaper Classic Single Malt blend of Kavalan was about $40 (it sells for around $70 in New Jersey). It was an economic decision to choose the imported bottles while living in Taiwan.

The last time I took a whiskey tour was in Edinburgh when I was 21 and spent a cold December afternoon at the Whiskey Heritage Centre. That’s where I found my bottle of Scapa 12 year old, which is no longer produced. I figured a tour of a distillery in Taiwan would be a different and educational experience. Plus, it was a day out of Taipei.

The first thing I had to do was figure out how to get to the Yilan and the distillery. The town is not far from Taipei, but the train takes a roundabout route while the bus is more direct. The bus stop, however, is in the middle of nowhere (ok, not quite, but it feels like it). I was dropped off between a huge parking lot and a few nondescript buildings and no sense of which way was which — GPS on my phone was slightly inaccurate and had me facing the wrong direction as I stepped off the bus.

I walked toward the train station to find the bus that would take me to the distillery, though I found there wasn’t a direct route from the bus stop and I had to walk a bit farther in the heat with my gear. The tourist information center was a relief to find — air conditioning and a refill of my water bottle. That’s when I was told the next bus wasn’t for another hour and a half, if it arrived on time. I opted for a taxi.

A private tour had been arranged for my visit to Kavalan . The distillery offers free tours, but English tours need to be reserved. My Mandarin is not good enough to understand a tour of a distillery.

The Kavalan distillery has become more popular since 2010 when it won its first international awards, the more prominent of which was the gold medal for its Solist Sherry Single Cask Strength single malt at the San Francisco World Sprits Competition. The same organization awarded Kavalan Distillery of the Year in 2015. The company has since won more awards for its Solist series of whiskies. Although it prides itself on the Solist series, its classic single malt is still its best seller as it’s more affordable for most consumers. The classic single malt was first released in April 2008 as the distillery was opened to the public.

Its classic single malt was first released in April 2008 and remains the best seller. This is the whisky I brought home on a previous trip. It’s good, but compared to the scotch I could buy in Taiwan for almost half the price, it’s not a great value.

During my tour, I learned that Kavalan added the second distillery in December 2016, as well as the third production line earlier in the year. Kavalan targeted to produce 10 million bottles of whisky in 2017 for distribution in 60 countries. The company has also repurposed its German stills to produce gin, though no official timeline for release had been set at the time.

Kavalan has developed its own method for treating casks for the whisky-aging process, all the machinery for which is made in Taiwan. Unlike some whisky distillers, Kavalan does not use climate control during maturation and adds no coloring for consistency. The lack of climate control leads to greater evaporation during maturation, thus a lower yield, making the final product more valuable. The climate in Yilan also allows the whisky to mature faster, thus bringing the final product to market after four to five years.

The distillery does not use climate control during maturation and adds no coloring for consistency, which many scotch producers use. My guides explained that the whisky is more expensive because the lack of climate control leads to greater evaporation during maturation, thus a lower yield. The hot and humid Yilan climate supposedly allows the whisky to mature faster, which means the whisky is ready for the market after four or five years. 

There’s a decent amount of history on the tour, though it only dates back to the plans that began in 2002. The second distillery wasn’t open to visitors, but they installed large windows for visitors to peer into. The grounds around it are pleasant to walk through, and are probably nicer now as the trees are bit older — and visitors can enjoy the cherry blossoms in the spring.

I was given a private viewing of a promotional film about the King Car Group that owns Kavalan — of course, it paints the owner in a positive light for his philanthropic work. Most tourists might not find the business interesting, I was more interested in it as an expat trying to understand more of Taiwan. I was also shown an art exhibition at the distillery because the company’s owner likes to promote local artists.

At the end of my tour, I was given a taste of a few of the whisky varieties. I didn’t have to pay NT$400 for four tastes, but that’s a reasonable price when you consider that some of those whiskies cost well over US$100 per bottle.

I was given tastes of the Classic Single Malt, Podium, Solist Amontillado, Solist Manzanilla, and Solist Pedro Ximénez. Most of the whiskies Kavalan produces are on the sweeter side for local tastes — they don’t make as many smoky or peaty blends.

The Classic is smooth and a little sweeter than most scotch. The Podium has a softer, more floral flavor and it has a sweeter aroma than the Classic. The Amontillado has more of a toasted nut aroma, but it’s milder flavor than the others I tried. The Manzanilla was my favorite — it’s a sherry cask whisky with a more bold, roasted aroma and smoky flavor with a hint of vanilla. The Pedro Ximénez is a lighter version of the Solist series but it has more of a briny, seaside flavor.

For some crazy reason, people can also pay NT$1500 (about US$50) to blend their own whisky. This sounds like a bad idea, but Kavalan has staff help visitors to avoid producing something undrinkable.

As I arrived a little late in the afternoon and had an extended tour with the whisky tasting, I missed out on the King Car orchid farm, which looks beautiful in photos.

Instead, I walked a little over a mile down the road to Jim & Dad’s beer brewery (I had to call a taxi to get back to the bus after that because I was told the bus was unreliable).

Had I not been on assignment, I would’ve considered picking up a six-pack of Jim & Dad’s and headed to a nearby hot spring to spend the night in the area. It would’ve been more relaxing than taking a two-hour trip back to my apartment in Taipei.

Kavalan Whisky Distillery is located at No. 326, Sec. 2, Yuanshan Rd. It is open from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday to Friday and until 7:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday. The final tour is at 4:00 pm and no reservation is required for Mandarin tours. The guided tour is about 70 minutes.

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2 thoughts on “a taste of kavalan, taiwan’s premier whisky”.

It was on my Taiwan bucket list to visit the distillery. ( I am drinking Kavalan classic while writing this comment). Hopefully I can spend a night or two there and get a chance to do some drawing or painting on its ground. Heading a brewery after Kavalan is definitely the way to go.

That would be a nice trip for a couple days. Plenty to hot springs to relax in around Yilan. And I hope Jim & Dad’s brewery has some good new beers to try.

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Kavalan Whiskey Distillery Visit @ Yilan, Taiwan

I was on a trip to Taiwan in early November 2019. I had not wanted to go to Taipei initially, as I do not find Taipei interesting, after being there twice before. However, after knowing that the group will be going to Yilan to visit the Kavalan whiskey distillery, I decided to go.

Here is a quick photo tour of the Kavalan whiskey distillery. You can make a reservation of the DIY Blending/Tasting with Kavalan , or via a third-party website such as Klook .

If you have any question regarding the visit or experience, feel free to drop me a message .

King Car Kavalan Distillery

Top ways to experience King Car Kavalan Distillery and nearby attractions

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KING CAR KAVALAN DISTILLERY: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

King Car Kavalan Distillery

Top ways to experience King Car Kavalan Distillery and nearby attractions

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KING CAR KAVALAN DISTILLERY: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

KAVALAN, 100% TAIWAN

A selection of unique whiskies, made in taiwan.

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triple Sherry cask

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Kavalan Classic Single Malt

KAVALAN SINGLE MALT

KAVALAN PODIUM

KING CAR WHISKY CONDUCTOR

EX BOURBON OAK

EX SHERRY OAK

SOLIST VINHO BARRIQUE

SOLIST PORT CASK

SOLIST AMONTILLADO SHERRY SINGLE CASK

SOLIST MANZANILLA SHERRY SINGLE CASK

SOLIST MOSCATEL SHERRY SINGLE CASK

SOLIST FINO SHERRY CASK

SOLIST PEDRO XIMENEZ CASK

SOLIST EX SHERRY CASK

SOLIST EX BOURBON CASK

KAVALAN PORT CASK CONCERMASTER

KAVALAN SHERRY CASK – LMDW 60th

KAVALAN PEATY CASK – LMDW 60th

KAVALAN VINHO BARRIQUE – LMDW 60th