TAIPEI: A Taiwan-distilled whisky shocked connoisseurs by beating a trio of top Scottish blends in a blind-taste test arranged by an English newspaper.

According to a report in The Times of London, Taiwan's Kavalan brand came out on top in a recent test against three Scottish and one English whisky in a historic hostelry in Leith, Scotland, north of Edinburgh.

The Times organized the test itself, in what it called a "piece of mischief-making" in hopes of catching the experts by surprise with Scotland's traditional "Sassenach" English rivals, but to the newspaper staff's surprise, it was the Taiwanese whisky that took the honors.

"It's tropical fruits. Tropical fruit jam," said author and whisky connoisseur Charles MacLean, who headed the jury panel, after Kavalan, which is not marketed in Britain, came out on top with 27.5 points out of a possible 40.

Langs, a three-year-old Scottish premium blend, scored 22 points, and was followed by another Scottish blend King Robert with 20 and the English three-year-old malt with 15.5.

Quadruple-distilled Scottish blend Bruichladdich X4-3 came in last with only 4.5 points.

"Asians are not only some of the world's most sophisticated consumers of Scotch, but have begun distilling malts that compete with the best Scottish distilleries," The Times wrote.

The blind taste test was also organized to mark Scotland's annual Burns Night festivities, in honour of 18th century poet Robert "Robbie" Burns. The festival competes with St. Andrew's Day as a focus for traditional whisky-fueled celebrations in Scotland and by Scots around the world.

The Kavalan whisky is distilled by Yilan County-based King Car Group. Since it was first marketed in December 2008, the distilled spirit has won many honors, including a silver medal in the SWSC world contest last March and another silver medal in the International Wine and Spirit Competition last July.

Thanks to the Kavalan brand's growing international fame, the Malt Whisky Yearbook included Taiwan in its list of emerging whisky production areas in its 2010 edition for the first time.

King Car spokesman, Ma Ming-hao, said the two-year-old whisky was produced with quality water from Taiwan's Central Mountain Range and Syueshan Mountain with Scottish distilling technology.

According to Ma, the Kavalan blend exudes an intriguing aroma composed of flowers and fruits. "Its flavor is a mixture of honey, mango, green apple, vanilla, pear, coconut and chocolate," he said.

King Car Chairman Lee Tien-tsai was gratified by the recognition the brand received in the taste test organized by The Times, Ma said.

"The honor proves the correctness of our decision to build a distillery in Yilan, which boasts beautiful natural scenery with green mountains, clean water and fresh air," Ma said, stressing that a fitting natural environment is essential to producing good liquor.

Ma said King Car invested heavily in whisky production because its chairman wanted to create a product that could help boost Taiwan's international profile.

"Liquor contains not just alcohol, but also extracts of the premium ingredients of crops and requires a long aging period.

Producing a good spirit reflects good taste and cultural roots," Ma said.

The number of whisky drinkers in Taiwan has been increasing steadily, but Ma acknowledged Kavalan has had a tough time breaking into a market long dominated by imported brands or those produced by government-controlled Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp.

"We still have a long way to go to gain a firm foothold in our domestic spirits market," he said.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 01/27/2010 page2)