Single malt whiskies produced by Kavalan distillery in Taiwan’s northeastern county of Yilan won four double golds and two silvers at the recently concluded 2015 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Kavalan was also named Tasting Panel Magazine Distillery of the Year for its winning submissions in the global event attracting 1,580 entries across 90 classifications from 66 countries and 41 U.S. states.
Also in March, Kavalan’s Solist Vinho Barrique was named the World’s Best Single Malt Whisky and Best Asian Single Malt by U.K.-based World Whiskies Awards.
Describing it as “surprisingly smooth on the palate,” the judges said the bottling contains “lots of stewed fruits on the nose” and is “like bourbon infused milk chocolate.”
The whisky’s top listing has received wide coverage by media outlets such as Esquire, CNBC and the Independent. Time magazine also spotlighted the result in an article headlined “You won’t believe where the world’s best whisky comes from.”
Prior to its latest two global honors, Solist was named New Whisky of the year in 2012’s Whisky Bible, a gold medalist at Beverage Tasting Institute in 2012 and 2013, and was included in the 2010 issue of “101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die” by Ian Buxton.
Established in 2006 as Taiwan’s first whisky distillery by King Car Group, Kavalan is named after the aboriginal tribe residing in Yilan prior to large-scale Han immigration in the 18th century. (SFC-JSM)
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