An employee of Kavalan whisky preparing a wooden whisky barrel at the companies production facility in Yilan, in the northeast of Taiwan

AFP - An upstart Taiwanese whisky is outshining veteran brands on the global stage as the island fast earns a reputation as a stamping ground for connoisseurs. 

Taiwan’s whisky-drinking tradition is nothing new, fuelled by long business dinners and a “bottoms up” culture of throwing back hard liquor.

In 2015 it ranked as the fourth largest market by value for Scotch, behind the US, France, and Singapore, according to the Scotch Whisky Association.
But now a flourishing scene of specialised bars and tasting workshops has emerged as Taiwanese drinkers become thirsty for in-depth expertise.

Helping to galvanise interest is the island’s homegrown Kavalan distillery. Set among rice fields in northeastern Yilan county, it sees a million visitors a year.
“A lot of people only know how to drink, but they don’t know how it is made,” says CEO Lee Yu-ting, who hopes the distillery can “educate” consumers.
Kavalan was founded just 11 years ago by local conglomerate King Car - best-known for mass producing bottled water and canned coffee.
The brainchild of Lee’s father, King Car founder Lee Tien-tsai, experts were sceptical that good whisky could be produced in such a humid climate. 

But Kavalan has succeeded in wowing the international whisky circle. 
It earned its global stripes by taking first place in a high-profile London blind tasting in 2010, beating four Scotches and one English malt just two years after its whisky hit the market. 
In 2015 Kavalan’s Solist Vinho Barrique was named the “World’s Best Single Malt Whisky” by the prestigious World Whiskies Awards. 
And this year it scooped the “World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt Whisky” at the same awards for its Solist Amontillado -- named after a Spanish sherry which had previously been stored in the casks.
Kavalan has capitalised on the tropical climate to develop a method that allows it to age whisky more quickly, says CEO Lee.
That means it can hit the shelves within five years, compared with 10 years or more in traditional production regions.

“People tend to judge the quality based on its age -- that’s not always correct,” says Lee.
“Taiwan is the new player in the whisky world.”