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You’ve heard about us. You’ve seen us on the news. Now, you’ll learn more about our story. What inspired the creation of our signature product, Timah Whiskey, and its origins and what are the ideas that inspired us to create Timah in the very first place. All the secrets will be revealed in more detail below. Interested to learn more? Continue reading further below.
We are Winepak Corporation – expert distillers, seasoned whiskey producers and a long established alcohol manufacturer that has been incorporated in Malaysia since 1982.
So, what’s the story behind the creation of Timah Whiskey? Well, this probably hasn’t struck you before, especially if you are not from Malaysia, but the word “Timah” actually means tin in Malay. At this point, you’re probably wondering, what does “tin” have to do with whiskey?
Here’s how it goes… The name of Timah Whiskey actually harks back to the tin mining era during British Malaya. Back then, British Malaya was colonised by the British. And in that period, there was actually a charismatic man by the name of Captain Speedy, who was a British explorer and adventurer.
He was also an honourable man who was the first superintendent of police in Penang, a state in Malaysia, in 1871 and two years later he was invited by the Perak Menteri, Ngah Ibrahim, to help quell gang warfare in Larut over tin revenue.
But more importantly, he was one of the first to introduce whiskey culture to Malaysia. Captain Speedy symbolises Timah Whiskey because of his huge contribution to Malayan history and whiskey influence that he has introduced to back then.
Over the years, our company has faced many commercial challenges, for example, back in the day, it was tough, much tougher to establish a spirits business in Malaysia, than it is today.
It was difficult because when our company was established in the early 1980s, many Malaysians didn’t have enough knowledge on drinking quality and refined spirits back then, as it was not as common or modernised as it is compared to today.
But the toughest, yet most crucial challenge that we faced, was creating a unique taste profile for our very own Timah Whiskey. During the development of Timah Whiskey, we’ve always made it our end goal to make Timah taste differently from others to stand out from the common whiskey brands in the world.
And yet at the same time, we also strive to ensure our whiskey tastes excellently good. Today, we’re really proud to say that we’ve achieved all the support and goals. We will continue to improve our products to the fullest of our capabilities to satisfy our customers. More than that, we have the awards and results to prove our achievements.
As the years went by, we finally had our moment of fame. At the International Whiskey Competition (IWC) in 2021 where we scored a total of 92 points among other international competitors for our signature product, Timah Whiskey.
The judges of the International Whiskey Competition had to follow a strict set of rules to rate each of the spirits presented. We’ll explain more on the strict criterias that the judges used as a guideline below.
Firstly, all spirits must initially be tasted blind by the judges, and the judges were presented with one whiskey at a time. This ensures that each whiskey gets proper attention, so that the judges can carefully decide on the aroma, flavour, balance and smoothness of the spirits that were presented. Blind tasting also prevents the competition from becoming a biased one.
Secondly, the judges had to assess the spirits based on a proven judging process. This means they will have to taste the whiskey based on a score sheet. This score sheet has been thoroughly researched by experts, to make sure the judges assess the spirits based on the correct and relevant criteria. It also helps to ensure a consistent evaluation. No such score sheet is used at other spirit competitions.
Thirdly, the competition has a very effective way to ensure that the spirits are judged based on the opinions of fair and unbiased judges. For example, the IWC does not allow any industry insiders, distillery personnel, buyers or retailers to participate in the competition. This keeps the competition fair and the spirits scoring to be accurate. Going beyond that, before the judges are even selected, they have to go through a formal sensory analysis training to ensure consistency in their scoring.
Most importantly, there are a total of 10 judges who will judge the spirits independently, without allowing for any discussion amongst the panel of judges, to ensure the spirits are judged fairly without any biased influences. Furthermore, these judges also took down very in-depth notes at every step of the competition, so that the notes could ultimately be compiled by the tasting panel committee to make a decision.
Over the past 2 years, we have won many awards such as: The 2022 USA Spirits Ratings, Tastings 2022 – Highball Highlights, Beverage Testing Institute 2022, International Whisky Competition 2021 (Best Malaysian Whisky), International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) 2021, San Francisco World Spirit Competition 2020, and The International Spirits Challenge 2020. And we’re looking forward to winning more competitions to come… Click here to view more Timah Whiskey reviews.
Today, our products are available across all the hypermarkets in Malaysia such as Jaya Grocer and Village Grocer and more. Our signature product is Timah Whiskey.
If you are wondering where to buy Timah Whiskey, you can also click here to buy Timah Whiskey from our online store today. We’re sure you’ll enjoy it, whether you’re a seasoned whiskey drinker or someone who has just recently started trying whiskey.
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