The relationship developed over visits to Scotland and cask makers. However, an accident deepened the ties. Chang has never before talked about the time he nursed and cared for him after Dr Swan fell and fractured his hip in Taiwan. The fracture required immediate surgery in a foreign country, and Chang stayed by his side, inadvertently forming a lasting bond with his patient.
In his interviews, he recalled Dr Swan frequently and shared that he considered Jim Swan like his second father. “In Mandarin, we say, ‘Once a teacher, forever a father’.”
UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE JAPANESE ALPS
The next stage of Shu-Ha-Ri concept, Ha, Chang explained, relates to detachment, innovation and adapting to new environments.
After a fortuitous 15-year spell at Kavalan, Chang had come into his own and developed his blending philosophy. But he was also ready to move on.
“COVID started, and I thought that was a perfect timing to stop,” he said, reflecting over his decorated career’s inflection point.
His dream was to create an age-statement whisky, an impossible feat to accomplish in the heat of Taiwan, where whiskies mature too quickly.
Serendipitously, in Japan’s husband-and-wife team, Koji and Yoshi Shimaoka had just set up a new distillery in the Greater Karuizawa region and were looking for a master distiller to take on the new project. They sought out Chang and offered him complete creative control.
