Kavalan enters gin market

Acclaimed Taiwanese whisky maker Kavalan has made its first foray into the gin market, with Kavalan Gin the first in a range of gins inspired by the “island’s subtropical riches”.

Featuring a blend of six botanicals (including kumquat peel, dried red guava, and dried star fruit alongside the traditional juniper, aniseed and coriander), the new gin clocks in at 40% ABV and is described as “refreshing and elegant” on the nose and “rich, pleasingly sweet, and long and full in body”.

Double charcoal-filtered and triple distilled in traditional copper stills, Kavalan Gin is also made from the same malted barley spirit as the award-winning Kavalan whisky.

Kavalan master blender Ian Chang says the new series of gins will celebrate experimentation and are inspired by the flavours of Taiwan.

“After more than 10 years of making whisky, I wanted to try my hand at gin and contribute to the global Gin Renaissance,” says Chang. “I’m very excited about crafting a unique series to showcase Kavalan distillery and Yilan and extend a warm welcome to gin drinkers.”

The design of the bottle pays tribute to its water source, Snow Mountain, with the juniper-blue glass crystals a nod to the mountain’s melt water.

“The smoothness of our gins, like our whiskies, relies on the mineral-rich water we take from Snow Mountain’s springs, so it’s fitting we pay homage to it as well as gin’s juniper on the bottle,” adds Chang.

The release of Kavalan Gin builds on the momentum gained by the distillery in 2018, when it was named the 4^th highest trending (in terms of requests by bar customers) and the 5^th best selling world whisky in Drinks International’s 2019 Annual Bar Report.