Kavalan was an older name for Yilan in northeastern Taiwan. It comes from the Kavalan people of the Lanyang Plain.
Before modern Yilan County was established, the area was known as Kavalan. The name belongs to this part of Taiwan and to the Indigenous Kavalan people.
The upper floor of Kavalan's maturation cellar exceeds 40℃ in summer. About 15% evaporates per year. Here, the trees do not wait slowly.
The first wash still imported was a 12,000 liter copper pot still made by Forsyths in Scotland. Although it started in Taiwan, the facility itself follows the traditional Scottish malt whisky distillation method.
Early steel had a head that swelled and then narrowed again, like lamp glass. The rising vapor loses speed in this space, and the heavy components return downward.
The cooled vapor boils again and comes into contact with the copper again. This repetition of evaporation and condensation is called reflux. Reflux reduces the harsh scent and creates a new make with vivid fruit and flower scents.
Of the second distillate, only the section that will be used for actual maturation is selected. This section is called the heart or middle cut. Kavalan selects spirit with a clean fruity flavor even before putting it into the cask.
In summer in Yilan, Taiwan, the temperature on the upper floor of the ripening cellar rises to about 42℃. When the temperature rises, the spirit expands and penetrates the oak, and when it cools, it comes out again. This movement is repeated quickly, and the cask influence develops more quickly even after a few years.
The annual angel share is approximately 15%. Instead of having to wait as long as in Scotland, the amount in the barrel decreases quickly. Kavalan's short age speaks more to the speed of the climate than to inexperience.
Based on Kavalan Classic Single Malt.
The bottom left is wide open. Vanilla and flowers are the center, and the peat is almost folded. Sherry and oak are evident but do not dominate the shape.
However, these six axes are the core of Kabalan. Tropical fruits such as mango, papaya, and peach There is no separate axis. Here, the scent is translated between citrus, flowers, and vanilla.
Classic is influenced by bourbon and sherry casks, but the first impression is closer to tropical fruit. The high temperature quickly extracts the woody aroma and allows the fruity and oaky aromas of the spirit to blend together within a short period of time.
Kavalan was built in Yuanshan, Yilan County, in 2005. New make spirit first ran from the stills on 11 March 2006, and the first whisky was released in 2008. From the outset, Taiwan’s climate was treated as a defining production condition rather than a drawback.
Water comes from Taiwan’s Snow Mountain range. Yilan is hot and humid, caught between mountains and sea, and the warehouses are not chilled to erase that climate. Even the temperature difference between upper and lower floors becomes part of maturation.
Casks are another reason Kavalan became known worldwide. Developed with the late Jim Swan, STR means shaving, toasting and re-charring the inside of a wine cask to renew its surface. Taiwan’s heat and this carefully prepared wood combine in richly flavoured whiskies such as Solist Vinho Barrique.
Kavalan is not a Scottish place name. Since the etymological dictionary in this archive is intended to collect elements of Scottish place names in bottle names, Kavalan is interpreted only within this page.