I have relied on Dramface for this one. Many thanks! TLDR - Mindblowing Whisky out of Taiwan
Taichung Distillery has made frequent moves in recent years. Following the launch of wheat bourbon casks and wheat sherry casks last year, two types of Grain Whiskey single grain whiskey, two batches of new Grain Wing single grain whiskeys have been launched recently, namely "Wheat New Oak Casks" As well as "Sorghum Bourbon Casks", Taichung Distillery has been able to release refreshing works one after another. In fact, it has accumulated a lot silently and waited for the right time to achieve today's results. In the past, at the beginning of whiskey brewing, there was also a period of exploration. For example, the way of distillation has gone through three stages of evolution.
A couple of things caught my attention. Firstly, it is rare for Taiwanese whisky to carry an age statement (OK it doesn’t actually carry an age statement, but the vintage information on the label indicates that it is 10 year old whisky), let alone a double-digit one; secondly, Sorghum whisky? Let’s dig a little deeper.
While technically a whisky can be distilled from any grain, it's commonly accepted that whiskies are made from one or more of four main grains: corn, rye, wheat, and barley. This has led to ongoing debate about whether Japanese rice whiskies should be classified as whisky. To my knowledge, this issue remains unresolved and might never be settled. Given its limited global presence, it’s not something that keeps many awake. Similarly, this whisky is not distilled from one of the four traditional grains, rather, it is distilled from sorghum, also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, among other names. This is also the base grain of the traditional Chinese spirit baijiu, Chinese for “white spirit”.
I have never encountered whisky made in this way before this bottle, so as I’m trying to inform, I’m also learning. In fact, let me link you to the official product page, although I suspect most of you will require a bit of Google Translate.
My understanding is that sorghum has similar properties to corn, which puts this whisky one step closer to a bourbon. However, bourbon by law needs to be matured in new oak, while this sorghum whisky was aged in ex-bourbon casks, which means it’s not going to have to “break in” the new oak, so I expect that it would be less oaky than a typical bourbon. Additionally, it is often said that the sweetness of bourbon works well with new oak; since the sorghum spirit carries a similar sweetness as corn spirit, it may be able to better combat the subtropical climates of Taiwan better, and so it can also stand the challenge of time, thus it is able to withstand 10 years in cask.
Anyway, all of the above is speculation, what’s important is whether the liquid actually tastes good.
Tasting Notes
