臺灣威士忌成世界同業(yè)佼佼者

⊙ By Michelle Yun

翻譯：丁一

臺灣威士忌成世界同業(yè)佼佼者

⊙ By Michelle Yun

翻譯：丁一

Taiwanese Whisky is Outshining Old Brands on the Global Stage

人們一般認為威士忌起源于蘇格蘭或愛爾蘭，“威士忌”更是一個外來詞，所以說起威士忌產(chǎn)地，人們都會想起歐洲。不過，這是老眼光了。如今，不論是威士忌的消費量，還是產(chǎn)地，中國臺灣已經(jīng)是一支不容小覷的新軍了。

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 [a?t5∫aIn] v. 勝過，比……更出色

3) hard liquor 烈性酒

4) Scotch [sk?t∫] n. 蘇格蘭威士忌酒

5) fourishing [5fl?rI∫I?] adj. 繁茂的，繁榮的，欣欣向榮的

6) emerge [I5mз:d?] v. 出現(xiàn)，顯露

7) distillery [dI5stIl?rI] n. 釀酒廠

8) brainchild [5breInt∫aIld] n. 腦力成果，設(shè)想

9) wow [wa?] v. 使驚嘆，使佩服

10) high-profle [haI5pr??faIl] adj. 備受矚目的，知名的

11) malt [m?:lt] n. 麥芽，用麥芽釀造的酒

12) prestigious [pre5stId??s] 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，桶狀容器 15) tropical [5tr?pIk(?)l] adj. 熱帶的

威士忌種類詞匯

可能大家或多或少都聽說過威士忌（whisky），我們來“科普”一下最簡單的威士忌種類名稱。注意：whiskey并不是拼寫錯誤，它主要用于美國與愛爾蘭。

blended whisky 調(diào)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 愛爾蘭威士忌

immature whisky 未成熟的威士忌

malt whisky 麥芽威士忌

patent still whisky 連續(xù)式蒸餾威士忌

peppery whisky 辛辣威士忌

pot still whisky 罐式蒸餾威士忌

rye whisky 黑麥威士忌

Scotch whisky 蘇格蘭威士忌

single malt whisky 單一麥芽威士忌

straight whisky 純威士忌

whisky neat 純威士忌

whisky sour 檸檬威士忌

臺灣人喝威士忌酒的傳統(tǒng)有些歷史了，這源自當?shù)厣虅?wù)晚餐耗時較長和喝烈酒時“干杯”的習俗。蘇格蘭威士忌協(xié)會的數(shù)據(jù)顯示：臺灣蘇格蘭威士忌的市場價值在2015年緊隨美國、法國和新加坡，排在世界第四位。如今，隨著臺灣飲家想深入了解這方面知識的渴望與日俱增，專門的酒吧和品酒坊生意興隆。

助長這一勢頭的是臺灣島本土的噶瑪蘭酒廠。這家酒廠坐落在宜蘭縣的稻田中，每年接待游客上百萬。

酒廠的首席執(zhí)行官李玉鼎希望他的酒廠可以“教育”廣大消費者。他說：“許多人只知道怎么喝威士忌，但并不了解它的制作過程?！?/p>

噶瑪蘭酒廠的歷史只有短短的11年，由當?shù)氐慕疖嚬緞?chuàng)立，該公司當時以大量生產(chǎn)瓶裝水和罐裝咖啡著稱。創(chuàng)辦噶瑪蘭酒廠是金車公司的創(chuàng)始人李添財（李玉鼎的父親）的想法，當時眾多專家對于在臺灣如此潮濕的氣候中能否釀制高品質(zhì)的威士忌持懷疑態(tài)度。但噶瑪蘭酒廠成功地贏得了國際威士忌業(yè)界的稱贊。

2010年，就在噶瑪蘭酒廠的產(chǎn)品面世的兩年后，它在倫敦一次高知名度的盲飲品酒賽中擊敗了四個蘇格蘭威士忌酒款和一個英國麥芽威士忌酒款，奪得冠軍，第一次獲得了世界認可。

2015年，噶瑪蘭的經(jīng)典獨奏葡萄酒桶威士忌原酒被極負盛名的世界威士忌大獎評為“世界最佳單一麥芽威士忌”。

2016年在同一項賽事中，噶瑪蘭酒廠的經(jīng)典獨奏阿蒙提亞多酒款獲得了“世界最佳單桶單一麥芽威士忌”獎，這個品種是以一種之前用酒桶儲藏的西班牙雪利酒命名的。

李玉鼎稱，噶瑪蘭酒廠的成功得益于當?shù)氐臒釒夂?，因而，他們能開發(fā)出一種可以讓威士忌加快熟化速度的方法。這就意味著他們的酒可以在五年內(nèi)上市，而不是像一些傳統(tǒng)的產(chǎn)酒區(qū)那樣要等上十年，甚至更長時間。

“人們喜歡用威士忌熟化時間的長短去鑒別其質(zhì)量，但那不一定是對的，”李玉鼎說道，“臺灣現(xiàn)在是威士忌行業(yè)的一支新軍了。”