Whisky maker Kavalan has brought out its first gin and opened up a whole new world of Taiwanese experimentation with Mother’s Milk. Here’s why Kavalan Gin is an awesome advert for its island homeland.
Kingdom of Fruit
All year round, mouthwatering fruits overflow in Taiwan, a.k.a. the kingdom of fruits. Not just tropical and subtropical fruits like pineapple, mango, guava, starfruit, passionfruit, papaya and lychee. But also temperate fruits like apple, grape, strawberry, kumquat and mulberries.
Poster boy
That’s why it was so easy for Kavalan to showcase its homeland in its inaugural gin. Along with the traditional botanicals of juniper, aniseed and coriander, you get a taste of Kavalan’s motherland in Yilan County with botanical extracts made from juicy kumquat, sweet starfruit and red-flesh guava.
Kavalan Master Distiller Ian Chang used the kumquat peel to give Kavalan Gin its refreshing tartness balanced with sweetness. Dried red guava lends a sweet, musky aroma. And dried starfruit delivers a fruity sweetness to stimulate those taste buds.
As smooth as… Kavalan
Double charcoal-filtered and triple-distilled in traditional copper stills, Kavalan Gin is made from the same incredibly pure malted barley spirit as the award-winning Kavalan whisky.
Cool winter temperatures and vast mountains on this hot subtropical island give Taiwan its huge fruit variety. And they help create this creamy smooth gin bursting with flavours.
Paradise Bottled
At the base of the bottle, the juniper-blue glass represents the meltwaters of Snow Mountain, Kavalan’s water source. While the clear glass toward the neck shows the transformation into the deliciously pure spirit of the gin.
Kavalan Master Distiller Chang puts it like this: “A gin this fresh comes only from paradise.”