Award-winning Taiwanese whisky arrives in Tesco

The Taiwanese whisky, Kavalan, has made its UK debut with an exclusive listing in 50 Tesco stores

The whisky began to be noticed by industry-experts after beating a trio of premium Scotch whiskies in a blind taste test organised by Time magazine in 2010, resulting in a tripling of Kavalan sales.

Tesco whisky buyer Oliver Stevens told the Daily Mail: “Kavalan is a first class single malt that has already surprised many connoisseurs in the very conservative whisky world for its quality and we believe it will do very well in Britain.”

This listing is part of Tesco’s campaign to stock a greater number of premium whiskies after sales of whiskies priced above £40 rose by 70% over the last year. Another whisky introduced will be the £80, 21-year-old Scotch, Old Pulteney, the winner of The Whisky Bible’s World Whisky of the Year 2012.

Stevens added: “Customers are trading up and are treating themselves to better quality products to consume at home.”

Ian Chang, Kavalan’s master blender, research and development chief and brand ambassador, described Kavalan as “having notes of mango, green apple and cherry”. Also, according to hospitalitymagazine.com, the whisky has been “widely praised as having all the characteristics of a whisky matured for 20 years rather than the three years maturation it actually underwent”

The distillery was set up and built in 2005 by Taiwanese conglomerate King Car, with the first bottle of Kavalan being released in December 2008.

Kavalan whisky is named after the indigenous Kavalan people of Taiwan. The company says that this naming “represents sincerity, honesty, and the spirit of step-by-step cultivation.”