2026 年初，World Whiskies Awards 公布最後決選名單，一支台灣威士忌站上跟蘇格蘭、北愛爾蘭、日本、美國同台的位置——大武山泥煤威士忌（Limited Release Blended 類別 Taiwan winner）。背後操盤的不是哪家新創酒廠，是萬家香醬園。
1945 年吳文華在台北南京西路開「新化醬園」，專做黑豆醬油。80 年後，這個牌子每年產出大量甲等醬油、大吟釀醬油，是 Costco 跟超市冷藏架上的常駐選擇。當這樣一家以發酵為核心邏輯的老廠，2010 年代跨進蒸餾，第一個產品就拿下國際金銀獎，台灣媒體很快貼上「跨界傳奇」標籤。但工藝邏輯上，這不算意外——可能還比較像必然。
1945 年起家，80 年後拿出威士忌
萬家香醬園跨足蒸餾烈酒，是分支「萬家香蒸餾所」（位於屏東地區）。產品線在大武山品牌下分三條：燕麥波本雙桶、雪莉干邑雙桶、泥煤威士忌。三條都用愛爾蘭式三次蒸餾（pot still triple distillation），這在台灣威士忌圈是少數選擇——大多數台灣酒廠走蘇格蘭式雙次蒸餾。三次蒸餾出來的酒體相對輕盈、酒精度純度高，再進桶陳，會更突顯桶味。
水源來自大武山地下百米深層水，經台灣土壤天然過濾。這個地理 + 製程組合是萬家香蒸餾所的核心識別。
不是醬油桶，是燕麥桶、波本桶、雪莉桶
網路有些報導把萬家香的威士忌跟「醬油桶」連在一起，這是誤解。真實工藝是三種標準威士忌桶：
- 燕麥桶（Oat cask）— 萬家香獨家技術。燕麥早就用於該廠燒酒釀造（曾以「獨步全球用燕麥釀燒酒」見報），把同一原料延伸到熟成桶是邏輯延伸。燕麥桶提供的是溫和的穀物甜感與柔順口感。
- 波本桶（Bourbon cask）— 全球單一麥芽威士忌最常用桶，香草、椰子、蜂蜜的基礎風味來源。
- 雪莉桶（Sherry cask）+ 干邑桶（Cognac cask）— 提供深色水果、堅果、果乾層次。
「燕麥波本雙桶」「雪莉干邑雙桶」是雙桶熟成；「泥煤威士忌」則加入泥煤元素，走的是接近艾雷島的風格。
2024 IWSC + ISC 多面金銀獎，2026 WWA 入圍決選
萬家香的獎牌紀錄（官方公告 2024-08）：
- 燕麥波本雙桶：2024 ISC 金獎、IWSC 銀獎
- 雪莉干邑雙桶：ISC 銀獎、IWSC 銀獎
- 泥煤威士忌：2024 IWSC 金獎、ISC 銀獎
2026 World Whiskies Awards，大武山泥煤威士忌（2025 版）拿下 Limited Release Blended 類別 Taiwan winner，並入圍最後 World’s Best 決選——同組對手是美、北愛、日、蘇格蘭。同年 Kavalan 拿 WWA 2026 Distiller of the Year（全球最高榮譽），台灣威士忌在國際舞台同時有老選手跟新選手在發聲。
老牌跨界不靠故事行銷，靠工藝可遷移
真正能跨界的老牌，靠的不是 PR 講「我們有 80 年歷史」，是底層工藝可以遷移。萬家香 80 年做黑豆發酵——控溫度、控時間、控菌相、控鹽度——這些是發酵食品共通的硬功夫。從醬油跳到燒酒、再跳到威士忌，原料變了，「等」的紀律沒變。
跨界不靠包裝，靠把同一套規矩往新材料上套，看材料能不能接受。萬家香的答案，現在掛在 IWSC 跟 ISC 的獎牌牆上，2026 等 WWA 最終決選結果。
— 葉知舟
延伸閱讀
From Soy Sauce to Whisky: Wan Ja Shan’s 80-Year Bridge to Irish Triple Distillation
In early 2026, the World Whiskies Awards announced its final shortlist. A Taiwanese whisky stood alongside contenders from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Japan, and the United States — Dawu Peated Whisky, Taiwan winner in the Limited Release Blended category. The producer is not a new craft startup; it is Wan Ja Shan, an 80-year-old soy sauce house.
In 1945, Wu Wen-hua opened a soy sauce shop on Nanjing West Road in Taipei. Eighty years later, the brand fills supermarket shelves across Taiwan with its Class-A and dai-ginjo soy sauces. When this fermentation-rooted family entered distillation in the 2010s, its first whisky already collected international medals. Taiwanese media called it a crossover story; from a craft logic standpoint, it looks more like a logical extension.
Founded 1945, Whisky 80 Years Later
Wan Ja Shan’s spirits arm is Wan Ja Shan Distillery, located in southern Taiwan. The Dawu Mountain whisky range covers three expressions: Oat & Bourbon Double Cask, Sherry & Cognac Double Cask, and Peated Whisky. All three use Irish-style triple pot distillation — a minority choice in Taiwan, where most distilleries follow the Scottish double-distillation tradition. Triple distillation produces lighter spirit with higher alcohol purity, which lets the cask character speak more clearly during maturation.
Water comes from deep aquifers below Dawu Mountain, naturally filtered through Taiwan’s geology. The site plus the process is the distillery’s core identity.
Not Soy Casks — Oat, Bourbon, and Sherry
Some online write-ups link Wan Ja Shan’s whisky to soy sauce casks. That is incorrect. The actual maturation uses three standard whisky cask types:
- Oat cask — a Wan Ja Shan signature. Oats have long been used in the distillery’s shochu production (once highlighted in trade media as a world-first), and extending the same grain into maturation casks is a natural progression. Oat casks contribute a gentle cereal sweetness and a rounded mouthfeel.
- Bourbon cask — the workhorse of single-malt maturation worldwide, supplying vanilla, coconut, and honey notes.
- Sherry cask and Cognac cask — adding dark fruit, nut, and dried-fruit complexity.
The Oat & Bourbon and Sherry & Cognac expressions are double-cask matured; the Peated Whisky introduces peat, leaning toward an Islay profile.
IWSC and ISC 2024 Medals, WWA 2026 Final Shortlist
Per the company’s August 2024 announcement:
- Oat & Bourbon Double Cask: 2024 ISC Gold, IWSC Silver
- Sherry & Cognac Double Cask: ISC Silver, IWSC Silver
- Peated Whisky: 2024 IWSC Gold, ISC Silver
At the 2026 World Whiskies Awards, the Dawu Peated Whisky 2025 Edition was named Taiwan winner in the Limited Release Blended category and advanced to the World’s Best shortlist alongside US, Northern Irish, Japanese, and Scotch contenders. The same year, Kavalan was named WWA 2026 Distiller of the Year — the global top honour. Taiwan whisky now has both veteran and emerging voices on the world stage.
Cross-Industry Moves That Travel
Old brands that genuinely cross categories do not rely on heritage PR. They rely on craft fundamentals that transfer. Wan Ja Shan spent eight decades managing fermentation — temperature, time, microbial activity, salt — the shared discipline behind any fermented food. Moving from soy sauce to shochu to whisky changes the material; the patience does not.
The crossover succeeds when the same discipline is applied to new substrates and the substrates accept it. Wan Ja Shan’s answer is currently mounted on the IWSC and ISC medal walls, with the WWA 2026 final result still to come.
— 葉知舟
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