Oak (Quercus)—a member of the beech family—has always been known for its strength, tight grain, and curious paradox: it’s watertight, yet breathable.
For centuries, people have chosen it as the perfect vessel for maturing fine spirits.
During aging, the oak gently gives off its vanillin, caramel, and toasted wood tones—
the unmistakable flavour of time conversing with timber.
But deep within Taiwan’s misty mountain forests,
another kind of oak grows—one that carries the soul of the island’s terroir:
Morii oak (Quercus morii Hayata), also called Chike,
a Taiwan-endemic species that thrives around 2,000 metres above sea level.
It lives among red cypress and hinoki, towering and elusive—
the silent spirit of the highland forest.
🥃 Funny Distillery’s New Experimental Series
“Wood Play Chapter 1: Malt Spirit x Taiwan Morii Oak”
This is our first exploration of how Taiwanese Morii oak can speak its own language of time and place.
While whisky makers around the world rely on American and European oak or Mongolian Oak,
we wondered: what if Taiwan’s mountain trees could also tell their story through the glass?
In this project—we let the wood speak.
The result is a conversation between malt and mountain, between craft and nature.
“Wood Play” reflects our curiosity for materials beyond the conventional;
and pays tribute to those who documented these forests before us;
and reminds us that purity of spirit allows complexity to bloom.
🪵 The Voice of Taiwan Morii Oak
Morii oak, though dense and fine-grained like its European cousins, offers a distinctly different tone.
Instead of heavy sweetness, it imparts a lighter, cleaner impression—
dry forest bark, toasted wood, a wisp of dried longan fruit.
We believe terroir isn’t just in the soil or grain.
Sometimes, it grows on trees.
📚 Source & Inspiration
Image reference: The Illustrated Guide to Taiwan’s Acorns: 45 Species of Fagaceae by Lin Huan-Ching
(used with the author’s permission).
This wonderful book gave us the knowledge base for bridging Taiwan’s oak and Taiwan’s spirits.
At Funny Distillery, we’re trying to prove something simple:
If every great whisky speaks of its land,
then Taiwan’s spirit can speak through its own forests.
Our island’s terroir deserves its own aroma of wood and mist.
#FunnyDistillery #WoodPlayChronicles #TaiwanMoriOak #TaiwanOak #MaltSpirit #TaiwanTerroir #LocalDistillation #TaiwanCraftSpirit #TaiwanOakAgedSpirit
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