台湾威士忌成世界同业佼佼者

⊙ By Michelle Yun

翻译：丁一

台湾威士忌成世界同业佼佼者

⊙ By Michelle Yun

翻译：丁一

Taiwanese Whisky is Outshining Old Brands on the Global Stage

人们一般认为威士忌起源于苏格兰或爱尔兰，“威士忌”更是一个外来词，所以说起威士忌产地，人们都会想起欧洲。不过，这是老眼光了。如今，不论是威士忌的消费量，还是产地，中国台湾已经是一支不容小觑的新军了。

Taiwan’s whisky-drinking tradition is nothing new, led by long business dinners and a “bottoms up” culture of drinking3)hard liquor. In 2015, it ranked as the fourth largest market by value for4)Scotch, behind the U.S., France and Singapore, according to the Scotch Whisky Association. Now a5)flourishingscene of specialized bars and tasting workshops has6)emergedas Taiwanese drinkers become thirsty for in-depth expertise.

Helping to promote interest is the island’s homegrown Kavalan7)Distillery. Set among rice fields in northeastern Yilan County, it sees a million visitors a year.

“A lot of people only know how to drink, but they don’t know how it is made,” says CEO Lee Yu-ting, who hopes the distillery can“educate” consumers.

Kavalan was founded just 11 years ago by local company King Car—best-known for mass producing bottled water and canned coffee. While Kavalan was the8)brainchildof Lee’s father, King Car founder Lee Tien-tsai, experts were skeptical that good whisky could be produced in such a humid climate. But Kavalan has succeeded in9)wowingthe international whisky circle.

It earned its global recognition by taking first place in a10)high-profileLondon blind tasting in 2010, beating four Scotches and one English11)maltjust two years after its whisky hit the market.

In 2015 Kavalan’s Solist Vinho Barrique was named the “World’s Best Single Malt Whisky” by the12)prestigiousWorld Whiskies Awards.

And in 2016, it was handed the “World’s Best Single Cask Single Malt Whisky” at the

1) whisky [5(h)wIskI] n. 威士忌酒

2) outshine [aʊt5∫aIn] v. 胜过，比……更出色

3) hard liquor 烈性酒

4) Scotch [skɒt∫] n. 苏格兰威士忌酒

5) fourishing [5flʌrI∫Iŋ] adj. 繁茂的，繁荣的，欣欣向荣的

6) emerge [I5mз:dʒ] v. 出现，显露

7) distillery [dI5stIlərI] n. 酿酒厂

8) brainchild [5breInt∫aIld] n. 脑力成果，设想

9) wow [waʊ] v. 使惊叹，使佩服

10) high-profle [haI5prəʊfaIl] adj. 备受瞩目的，知名的

11) malt [mɔ:lt] n. 麦芽，用麦芽酿造的酒

12) prestigious [pre5stIdʒəs] adj. 有威信的，有名望的same awards for its Solist Amontillado—named after a Spanish13)sherrythat had previously been stored in the14)casks.

Kavalan has benefited from on the15)tropicalclimate to develop a method that allows it to age whisky more quickly, says CEO Lee. That means it can hit the shelves within five years, compared with 10 years or more in traditional production regions.

“People tend to judge the quality based on its age—that’s not always correct,” says Lee. “Taiwan is the new player in the whisky world.”

13) sherry [5∫erI] n. 雪利酒 14) cask [kα:sk] n. 桶，桶状容器 15) tropical [5trɒpIk(ə)l] adj. 热带的

威士忌种类词汇

可能大家或多或少都听说过威士忌（whisky），我们来“科普”一下最简单的威士忌种类名称。注意：whiskey并不是拼写错误，它主要用于美国与爱尔兰。

blended whisky 调和威士忌

bourbon whisky 波旁威士忌

grain whisky 谷物威士忌

ignited whisky 高酒度威士忌

Irish whisky 爱尔兰威士忌

immature whisky 未成熟的威士忌

malt whisky 麦芽威士忌

patent still whisky 连续式蒸馏威士忌

peppery whisky 辛辣威士忌

pot still whisky 罐式蒸馏威士忌

rye whisky 黑麦威士忌

Scotch whisky 苏格兰威士忌

single malt whisky 单一麦芽威士忌

straight whisky 纯威士忌

whisky neat 纯威士忌

whisky sour 柠檬威士忌

台湾人喝威士忌酒的传统有些历史了，这源自当地商务晚餐耗时较长和喝烈酒时“干杯”的习俗。苏格兰威士忌协会的数据显示：台湾苏格兰威士忌的市场价值在2015年紧随美国、法国和新加坡，排在世界第四位。如今，随着台湾饮家想深入了解这方面知识的渴望与日俱增，专门的酒吧和品酒坊生意兴隆。

助长这一势头的是台湾岛本土的噶玛兰酒厂。这家酒厂坐落在宜兰县的稻田中，每年接待游客上百万。

酒厂的首席执行官李玉鼎希望他的酒厂可以“教育”广大消费者。他说：“许多人只知道怎么喝威士忌，但并不了解它的制作过程。”

噶玛兰酒厂的历史只有短短的11年，由当地的金车公司创立，该公司当时以大量生产瓶装水和罐装咖啡著称。创办噶玛兰酒厂是金车公司的创始人李添财（李玉鼎的父亲）的想法，当时众多专家对于在台湾如此潮湿的气候中能否酿制高品质的威士忌持怀疑态度。但噶玛兰酒厂成功地赢得了国际威士忌业界的称赞。

2010年，就在噶玛兰酒厂的产品面世的两年后，它在伦敦一次高知名度的盲饮品酒赛中击败了四个苏格兰威士忌酒款和一个英国麦芽威士忌酒款，夺得冠军，第一次获得了世界认可。

2015年，噶玛兰的经典独奏葡萄酒桶威士忌原酒被极负盛名的世界威士忌大奖评为“世界最佳单一麦芽威士忌”。

2016年在同一项赛事中，噶玛兰酒厂的经典独奏阿蒙提亚多酒款获得了“世界最佳单桶单一麦芽威士忌”奖，这个品种是以一种之前用酒桶储藏的西班牙雪利酒命名的。

李玉鼎称，噶玛兰酒厂的成功得益于当地的热带气候，因而，他们能开发出一种可以让威士忌加快熟化速度的方法。这就意味着他们的酒可以在五年内上市，而不是像一些传统的产酒区那样要等上十年，甚至更长时间。

“人们喜欢用威士忌熟化时间的长短去鉴别其质量，但那不一定是对的，”李玉鼎说道，“台湾现在是威士忌行业的一支新军了。”