Kavalan

The first new spirit ran from its four copper pot stills on 11 March 2006, when it could make 2.5 million litres of pure alcohol a year.^2,6,7 Scottish whisky consultant Dr Jim Swan guided production; Ian Chang says Swan being from Scotland is the main reason Kavalan adopted traditional Scotch methods.^2,6,7 Swan helped set its fruity, oily and complex house style.⁵ Kavalan does not malt its own barley; its malt is sourced from outside.² Wort, the sugary water from the mash, ferments in 40 washbacks, and the resulting wash, a kind of beer, is distilled twice.² Its water comes from Snow Mountain, which the distillery credits for the whisky's creamy feel in the mouth.^1,2,8 During a shortage of refill casks from 2009 to 2013, Kavalan became the first distillery to use Swan's STR casks.^2,3,5 These are used wine casks shaved, toasted and re-charred to remove their acids, and Kavalan still uses them.^2,3,5

In December 2016 a second distillery and a second maturation warehouse opened, raising the stills to 10 pairs, all built in Scotland by Forsyths.^1,2,6 That makes 10 wash stills for the first distillation and 10 spirit stills for the second.^1,2 The expansion took capacity to 9 million litres of pure alcohol a year.⁵

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