Taiwan
Subtropical speed
Heat, humidity and mountain water make whisky mature at double pace — and in under two decades Taiwan has gone from newcomer to world-beater.
Regions
Yilan
Kavalan's rain coast
On a green plain squeezed between the Snow Mountain range and the Pacific, Yilan County catches typhoons, monsoon rain and year-round humidity — brutal weather that turned out to be a whisky-making superpower. Kavalan, built here by the King Car Group in 2005, matures its malt at more than double Scottish speed, losing over 10% of each cask a year to the angels and gaining flavour just as fast. Within a decade of its first spirit, it was winning the world's biggest blind tastings.
1 distillery
Nantou
The mountain heart
Landlocked Nantou County, in Taiwan's mountainous centre, is home to the island's other whisky maker — and its quiet counterpoint to Kavalan's fame. The state-owned Nantou Distillery, run by the Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation, began as a winery and turned its stills to malt in 2008. Its Omar single malts — matured in bourbon and sherry wood, and famously finished in casks that once held Taiwanese lychee and plum liqueurs — have gone from local curiosity to serial award-winner.
1 distillery