World whisky - Taiwan, India, Wales and Sweden
Whisky has long ceased to be the domain of Scotland, Ireland, the United States and Japan alone. Today excellent whiskies are made in places that until recently no one associated with it: in Taiwan, India, Wales and Sweden. These new countries, lacking centuries of tradition, combine Scottish methods with local climate, wood and ideas, and the results can be astonishing. The most important lesson they have brought is this: the quality of whisky is often decided not by age but by climate. They are worth knowing, because this is the most dynamic and exciting part of the whisky world.
Climate more important than age
This is the key thing to understand with whisky from new countries. In a warm, humid climate, whisky matures much faster than in cool Scotland. Higher temperatures speed up the exchange between the spirit and the wood, so the whisky draws more flavour from the barrel in a shorter time. The price is a huge loss, the angel’s share: in a hot climate far more liquid evaporates from the barrel than in Scotland. I cover this phenomenon in the angel’s share. That is why a young, few-year-old whisky from a hot country can taste like a much older Scotch, and rigid thinking about age loses its meaning here. I cover the role of the barrel in flavour in how the cask shapes whisky.
Taiwan, or Kavalan
The most talked-about example is the Taiwanese distillery Kavalan, founded only in 2005. It makes malt whisky in a style close to Scottish, but matures it in Taiwan’s hot, humid, subtropical climate. The effect is spectacular: according to the distillery itself, a year of maturation in Taiwan is equivalent to four or five years in Scotland. The price is high, though, because as much as 10 to 12 percent evaporates from the barrel each year, many times more than in Scotland. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Kavalan won the most important awards between 2010 and 2015 and proved to the world that world-class whisky can be made far from Scotland.
India, or Amrut and Paul John
India has a long history with whisky, though for years much of it was made from molasses and was not recognised internationally as whisky in the classic sense. That changed when Indian distilleries began releasing single malts from 100 percent barley. Today brands like Amrut and Paul John export their whiskies all over the world. The Indian climate is extremely hot, so losses reach as much as 10 to 15 percent a year, and the whisky shows a mature, intense oak influence after just four or five years.
Wales and Sweden, or Europe wakes up
New whiskies are also being made closer to home. The Welsh distillery Penderyn is the only one of its kind in Wales, reviving the local tradition. Sweden’s Mackmyra, founded in 1999, uses Scottish-style stills but experiments with local barley dried over juniper smoke and with small barrels of Swedish oak, which, thanks to their smaller capacity, give the whisky more contact with the wood and faster maturation. Sweden’s climate is similar to Scotland’s, so here maturation is slow and steady, unlike in the tropics.
A curiosity is the figure of Dr Jim Swan, a consultant who helped create many new distilleries around the world, including Penderyn in Wales, Kavalan in Taiwan and Amrut in India. It shows how interconnected this new whisky world is.
How to explore them
The best way to feel this new world is to compare a young whisky from a hot country, like Taiwan or India, with a comparable Scotch, and see how climate accelerates maturation. In GustoNote you note the country of origin, age, profile and your impressions of every whisky, and after a few entries you will see whether you prefer the intense style of a hot climate or the calm, cool maturity. It turns the global whisky map into a specific element of your taste. You will find a full overview of world whisky in whisky around the world, and the making process itself in how whisky is made.