Kavalan is a distillery located in Yilan County, Taiwan . It was founded in 2005 by entrepreneur Mr. Tien-Tsai Lee with its first bottling in 2008. TT Lee's ambition to create the first Taiwanese whiskey made it one of the sacred distilleries of Scotland and of Japan, in particular when Jim Murray awarded the Solist Fino Sherry Cask 'New Whiskey of the Year' in his 2012 Whiskey Bible. The company is owned by King Car Group .
Kavalan draws its mineral-rich waters from Snow Mountain and ages in a unique combination of intense heat and humidity tempered by sea and mountain breezes. Taiwan's warm subtropical climate allows spirits to mature faster than in most whiskey-producing regions. The double distillation method is applied in the Kavalan distillery. The first distillation consists of separating alcohol and water. The second is made up of three parts: the head (the first alcohol to come out of the still), the heart and the tail (the final alcohol to come out of the still). The best part of the heart is collected and put in barrels for maturation. The choice of casks is very important for the flavor of the whisky. When the whiskey has reached the desired maturity, the selected casks are emptied and 'Kavalan' water is added to create the correct amount of alcohol by volume when not bottled cask strength.