Whisky at TPE Duty Free
Jan 27, 2014, 3:11 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Baltimore MD
Posts: 3,457
Whisky at TPE Duty Free
Any idea if the whisky selection is any good at the duty free in TPE? My parents are heading through there soon and I'm looking for some stuff not sold in the USA.. Definitely thinking of maybe some Kavalan, but didn't know if they offer any of the rare export only bourbons (Blanton's straight from the barrel, Four Roses Super premium)
Thanks
FDW
Thanks
FDW
Feb 5, 2014, 6:52 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2008
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Taipei do have a fair amount of good whiskey, e.g. some single malt back from 1967 / Scotch Malt Whiskey Society bottles / Whiskey from independent bottlers. However, most of them that I understands are of single malt / blended whiskey, and mostly from Scotland or Japan.
I didn't really meet bourbons there yet, may be they are available at airport duty free, but surely not a lot. Also kindly remind your mother need to buy it and put it as check-in luggage before heading back to US. Taipei has extreme low tax for Whiskey (they only charge around 100 TWD per liter of distilled liquor) so you don't necessary source it at airport duty free.
I didn't really meet bourbons there yet, may be they are available at airport duty free, but surely not a lot. Also kindly remind your mother need to buy it and put it as check-in luggage before heading back to US. Taipei has extreme low tax for Whiskey (they only charge around 100 TWD per liter of distilled liquor) so you don't necessary source it at airport duty free.
Mar 20, 2017, 11:50 pm
#4
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 602
Maybe the shop you walked into was Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor: http://global.ttl.com.tw/ttldutyfree...e/taoyuan.aspx
TTL is the former government-run monopoly, and "Omar" is one of their brands apparently: http://www.ttl.com.tw/products/produ...?sn=104&id=218
Some of Everrich's duty-free shops are exclusive to TTL. On the maps below, "酒" is where they sell alcohol but if it says "台灣菸酒[公司]" there won't be Kavalan there.
T1: http://www.everrich-group.com/TC/Loc...8-0a967fcb07f8
T2: http://www.everrich-group.com/TC/Loc...c-f9404277b16e
Last edited by ProleOnParole; Mar 21, 2017 at 12:04 am
May 19, 2017, 4:53 pm
#6
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Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Cambridge
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As an update, Kavalan is definitely something you want to pick up at TPE duty free if you're a whisky fan.
Big premiums (30% to 50%) in price if you try to buy it abroad, even if you can find it.
If you're looking for one of the finer bottles, look into multiple stores - they don't all stock the same. When I was there last week, most stores had the regular single-malt, bourbon-cask, and sherry-cask.
If you wanted the Sherry Fino (about $200usd) or Manzanilla... look into more stores. I went through 5x different ones before finding the Sherry Fino.
Big premiums (30% to 50%) in price if you try to buy it abroad, even if you can find it.
If you're looking for one of the finer bottles, look into multiple stores - they don't all stock the same. When I was there last week, most stores had the regular single-malt, bourbon-cask, and sherry-cask.
If you wanted the Sherry Fino (about $200usd) or Manzanilla... look into more stores. I went through 5x different ones before finding the Sherry Fino.
Last edited by Plato90s; May 20, 2017 at 4:19 pm Reason: correct spelling
May 22, 2017, 10:48 am
#7
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Location: Tainan, Taiwan
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Question about the Kavalan...
I'm a non-drinker, so I know nothing about whisky. However, I've been thinking about buying a bottle as a gift for my SIL's dad, who I know enjoys whisky. I see bottles of Kavalan in various stores, but I have know idea what to look for. I don't necessarily want to spend a small fortune for the absolute best stuff, but is there something that is reasonably good in the low/mid-range that I should look for?
I'm a non-drinker, so I know nothing about whisky. However, I've been thinking about buying a bottle as a gift for my SIL's dad, who I know enjoys whisky. I see bottles of Kavalan in various stores, but I have know idea what to look for. I don't necessarily want to spend a small fortune for the absolute best stuff, but is there something that is reasonably good in the low/mid-range that I should look for?
May 26, 2017, 3:15 pm
#9
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 44
I'm surprised at the mark up that happens on the Kavalan whiskys. I've had quite a few of their products at the TPE lounge. Even the classic is fairly smooth, so don't feel like you have to blow a fortune to pick up of the more expensive bottles.
Jun 1, 2017, 12:52 pm
#10
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Cambridge
Posts: 63,609
Question about the Kavalan...
I'm a non-drinker, so I know nothing about whisky. However, I've been thinking about buying a bottle as a gift for my SIL's dad, who I know enjoys whisky. I see bottles of Kavalan in various stores, but I have know idea what to look for. I don't necessarily want to spend a small fortune for the absolute best stuff, but is there something that is reasonably good in the low/mid-range that I should look for?
I'm a non-drinker, so I know nothing about whisky. However, I've been thinking about buying a bottle as a gift for my SIL's dad, who I know enjoys whisky. I see bottles of Kavalan in various stores, but I have know idea what to look for. I don't necessarily want to spend a small fortune for the absolute best stuff, but is there something that is reasonably good in the low/mid-range that I should look for?
It's ~$100 at duty-free, $115 in a local store in Taipei, $150+ internationally for a 700ml bottle. It also comes packaged in a fancy container, which makes for better gifting than the usual paper box.
If you want to go a bit cheaper, the Sherry Oak should be 30% less than that and it's also impressively smooth.
Jun 1, 2017, 6:06 pm
#11
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Location: Tainan, Taiwan
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Agreed on the Solist Sherry recommendation by frobozzelectric.
It's ~$100 at duty-free, $115 in a local store in Taipei, $150+ internationally for a 700ml bottle. It also comes packaged in a fancy container, which makes for better gifting than the usual paper box.
If you want to go a bit cheaper, the Sherry Oak should be 30% less than that and it's also impressively smooth.
It's ~$100 at duty-free, $115 in a local store in Taipei, $150+ internationally for a 700ml bottle. It also comes packaged in a fancy container, which makes for better gifting than the usual paper box.
If you want to go a bit cheaper, the Sherry Oak should be 30% less than that and it's also impressively smooth.
Jul 7, 2017, 10:29 am
#13
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 276
best price
in my comparison carrefour gives the best price.
for the concertmaster green bottle 700ml.
1500 ntd everywhere in taipei
1333 ntd in carrefour
1700 ntd at airport
say you get two bottles and add a few more items to reach 3000 ntd and you get a tax refund of 5%
for the concertmaster green bottle 700ml.
1500 ntd everywhere in taipei
1333 ntd in carrefour
1700 ntd at airport
say you get two bottles and add a few more items to reach 3000 ntd and you get a tax refund of 5%
Jul 7, 2017, 10:27 pm
#14
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 602
Note that each Carrefour might have different prices: not sure about whisky but in general this seems to happen a lot.
Also, RT-Mart usually beats Carrefour on prices: their locations are not that convenient for most visitors and the choice of imported food is much more limited but as for Kavalan products they probably have the same range so it might be worth checking out.
Last but not least, there are also Kavalan's own shops (listed here), which should offer more choice than the supermarkets. If I remember correctly you can get a lifetime 5% discount for spending over 6,000 TWD at a time (or perhaps it only applies at the distillery, not sure).
Also, RT-Mart usually beats Carrefour on prices: their locations are not that convenient for most visitors and the choice of imported food is much more limited but as for Kavalan products they probably have the same range so it might be worth checking out.
Last but not least, there are also Kavalan's own shops (listed here), which should offer more choice than the supermarkets. If I remember correctly you can get a lifetime 5% discount for spending over 6,000 TWD at a time (or perhaps it only applies at the distillery, not sure).