Kavalan

When Taiwan joined the WTO in 2002 and private distilling became possible, the King Car Group — a beverage conglomerate best known for coffee drinks — decided the island should have a world-class malt distillery, and built one at Yuanshan in about nine months. Named for the indigenous people of the Yilan plain, Kavalan ran its first spirit in 2006, drew on Snow Mountain spring water and consultant Jim Swan's cask wisdom, and matured at such tropical pace that its young whiskies floored blind panels. In 2015 its Solist Vinho Barrique was named the world's best single malt.