April 7, 2015

Kavalan here, Kavalan there

Kavalan, after Yamazaki, Yoichi, Karuizawa, Amrut, or others, is one of the names that are making some of the Scots look a bit old-fashioned these days, but being the next best thing is not always the greatest thing for your future (hey?). Kavalan win many great awards (not only the U-pay-U-win ones, mind you), but in truth, they may send Ferraris while some Scots keep sending diesel Golfs. So today let’s have quite a few Kavalans, starting with the ‘cheaper’ ones, as usual. Oh and agreed, this little session was long overdue.

Kavalan (40%, OB, Taiwan, 2012)

Bottling date taken from inkjet code on bottle. I believe this is the entry-level Kavalan. I’ve never quite enjoyed earlier bottlings. Colour: gold. Nose: full on sawdust, vanilla, and overripe apples, not unlike some softer, less sweet young bourbon. A touch of coconut. As I sometimes write, this isn’t unpleasant at all, but we’re rather in Haig Club territories. Mouth: sweet and very fudge-y arrival. Maple syrup, corn syrup, caramel, butterscotch, then a bit of gingery oak, sour apple compote and Demerara sugar. Some toasted oak as well, plus a touch of varnish and some unexpected hints of rye. Finish: not too long, a tad bitter and dry. Bitter caramel. Comments: probably no show frog, this one, but I find it fair and loyal. Maybe a little more depth than in earlier bottlings. SGP:541 - 78 points.

King Car (46%, OB, Kavalan distillery, Taiwan, +/- 2013)

This baby bears the name of the owners, King Car. It’s a blend of various kinds of wood. Colour: gold. Nose: I find more walnuts, more beeswax and more raisins in this one, which makes it rather bigger and more complex than the regular Kavalan. Nice whiffs of bananas covered with custard and acacia honey. Broken branches. Mouth: starts as a punchier version of the Kavalan, with more tea, tobacco and walnut skin, before the sweeter counterparts come through, such as dried apple slices, a little pine liqueur, cinnamon cake… The oak starts to feel after a few seconds. The tea got stronger. Finish: rather long and oaky. White pepper, cinnamon, more tea… Green bananas in the aftertaste. Comments: just a little less oak and that would have been a 80. Modern style. SGP:451 - 79 points.

Kavalan 'Podium' (46%, OB, Taiwan, +/-2014)

This one’s matured partly in new oak and partly in refill Kavalan, so that’s more or less the cognac recipe (last time I checked you can’t use casks that have contained other liquids in cognac). Colour: gold. Nose: very close to the King Car. To tell you the truth, I find both almost undistinguishable on the nose. Maybe does this one have a little more custard indeed, but beyond that… Mouth: they’re rather different now. This Podium starts fruitier (bananas and plums, typical virgin US oak) and rather smoother and oilier (Benriach may have been benchmarked, if you ask me). Then more light honey and maple syrup, coconut water, and vanilla-ed buttercream. I have to say this goes down very well. Finish: rather long. The oak shows a bit but we’re way below the limits. Comments: not a huge lot happening on the nose but the palate’s pretty perfect. A consensual modern style that simply works a treat. SGP:551 - 85 points.

Good, let’s have a last ‘low strength’ version and then we’ll try a few competition bottles…

Kavalan 'Sherry Oak' (46%, OB, for La Maison du Whisky, Taiwan, +/-2013)

Colour: red coffee. Nose: yeah well, this is disconcertingly great. It’s great when you taste it blind (and think it’s a great 35 yo sherried Speysider, as I did twice) and it’s great when you taste it disclosed, provided you’re a bit open-minded. Long story short, had you asked me what this was, I’d have said an old oloroso-ed Glenfarclas. Very lovely chocolate, prunes, coffee, blackberry jam and all that. Very few tertiary notes, though, which is normal. Umami rather originates in Japan, doesn’t it? Mouth: makes you swear. Chocolate, tobacco, lemongrass, prunes, walnut liqueur, pipe tobacco… And there are even drops of brine, honest. Perfect mouth feel. This was one (or more?) great sherry cask. Finish: long, very chocolaty. A hint of coffee and orange liqueur in the aftertaste. Comments: I know, I know. SGP:461 - 89 points.

Now, onto the b****y Solists… How shall we tackle them? I propose bourbon first, then fino, then oloroso, then wine (vinho). Agreed?... And by the way, good people have been surpirse by the fact that awards have been handed out to NAS whiskies. First, remember those were blind, and second, the Solists are NOT NAS, the vintage's in the cask number. For example, a number starting with S08 means sherry, 2008.

Kavalan 'Solist' (57.1%, OB, Taiwan, bourbon, cask #B080816080, 210 bottles, 2013)

According to the cask number, this baby was distilled in 2008. Colour: straw. Nose: sweet and soft (as a morning sunrise, really), with syrups and tinned fruits plus light honey and barley water. Extremely soft. With water: a few more herbs, but also more vanilla. I have to ay I worship these whiffs of fennel and celery that are yodelling in the background (excuse me?) Mouth (neat): it’s more syrup than whisky at first sipping, with a lot of marshmallows, juicy fruity, anything by Haribo, then coconut oil and, really, some kind of very powerful pina colada. One sexy whisky, I’d even say it’s a little girly, if I may. With water: stop it. An avalanche of tinned fruits, jell-Os and sweet bonbons. Finish: medium length. Multi-vitamin fruit juice and more of Haribo’s stuff. Vanilla and a little grass in the aftertaste. Comments: this style’s very excessive, and it’s not mine, but anyone fancying sweeter malts might well love it. At some point, I even found it a little Redbreasty. SGP:740 - 83 points.

Kavalan 'Fino' (57.8%, OB, Taiwan, cask #SO60814013, 558 bottles, 2012)

Colour: very deep amber. Nose: some walnut pie, plus ‘a new pack of untipped Camels’, plus a lot of mead or what the Bretons call chouchen, plus touches of strawberry and yellow plum jams, plus drops of soy sauce and lovage extract (akin to Maggi but that’s not Maggi). Hard to question, although it’s rather less dry than anything related to fino sherry, in my opinion. With water: more Maggi, walnuts and honey. Some kind of very old bottle of Malmsey, or something like that. It’s amazing that they created so much complexity within just 6 or 7 years. Mouth (neat): very punchy, and unexpectedly tertiary. Plenty of walnut liqueur and wine, tobacco, curry, mint sauce, pepper… This is one big beast, I can assure you. With water: gets a little dry and bitter, not too sure it swims extremely well. I had expected some kind of honeyed sultriness. Finish: long, great when unreduced – but a bit hot – and a tad tea-ish when reduced. Comments: a big beast that wouldn’t swim too well. But other than that, it’s rather fab. SGP:661 - 87 points.

Kavalan 'Solist' (57.8%, OB, Taiwan, sherry, cask #S060821049, 512 bottles, 2013)

Colour: coffee. Nose: it’s extreme, in all senses of the word. More oloroso than whisky, more prunes than barley, and more chocolate than apples (yeah, whatever). Plus flints. Not overly expressive so far, I’d say. With water: perfect old balsamico, parsley, tobacco, old rancio, pipe tobacco, chocolate… The acetic side is just perfect (you just have to like old balsamico). Mouth (neat): same feeling of old ‘Glenfarclas’ as before, but this has more spices and blueberry jam, which works very well. Walnuts, vindaloo sauce, blueberry pie, heavy pipe tobacco, bags of prunes and some very perfect earthy touches that bring some kind of wild herbalness to the combo. Near liquorice but this isn’t quite liquorice. With water: spicy prunes. Perfect. Finish: long, with more chocolate, prunes, Corinthian raisins and stewed blueberries. Comments: it got Gold at the Malt Maniacs Awards 2013. Well deserved! SGP:462 - 90 points.

Gold at the MMA? I may have gotten an idea…

Kavalan ‘Solist’ (57.8%, OB, Taiwan, sherry, cask #S060904031, 516 bottles, 2014)

Supreme Champion at the Malt Maniacs Awards 2014, plus Gold of course, this is the one. While I’m at it, let me remind everyone that the MMAs are done 100% blind. Nobody knows anything (not, for example, the fact that it’s Taiwanese whisky, and not even that it’s from the ‘new world’. In other words, could be Scotch!) The problem is that it’s not. Colour: mahogany/coffee. Nose: hello? This one’s more minimal, probably more elegant, and certainly more austere than 2013’s winner. A bit of pencil shaving, blackcurrant jelly, dark bitter chocolate, very old Madeira, and then some fantabulous notes of Chambertin or other great pinot noir. Really, cherries, civet cat, moss and all that. With water: these notes of old balsamico come out, a bit of wood (shavings), parsley, bone marrow in bouillon (yum), thuja wood… Mouth (neat): oh this is strong! Huge pepper on massive cassis jam and more pepper… I think water is needed. Urgently. With water: perfect. Orange liqueur, ginger, a bit of oak, herbs (chives and parsley), beef bouillon and other soups, crème de cassis… Great cask. Finish: long, splendidly bittersweet, with bitter oranges in the aftertaste. Comments: well done, compadres! (talking to the MMs). We were somewhere between an old Glenfarclas and an old Glendronach. SGP:562 - 91 points.

Kavalan 'Solist' (59%, OB, Taiwan, sherry, cask #S081217038, 523 bottles, 2014)

A 2008 after the 2006. Remember, the first figures in the cask number relate to the year of distillation. Colour: dark red amber. Nose: the oak’s a little more present, and there are rubbery notes that make the whole less ‘clean’. Struck matches, brake pads after Monza (whatever!)... A different cooperage? With water: truffles and gas. That’s right. Mouth (neat): not an easy one for sure. First, it’s extremely strong. And second, these very leathery notes, bordering on sulphur and graphite oil are not everyone’s favourites. On the other hand, I also find notes of old Cuban cigar, which is just very ‘especial’. With water: falls apart. Kirsch in a blend of chicken soup and coffee. You’re right. Finish: long, very leathery, with ‘weird’ spices and quite some tobacco. Comments: strictly for Taiwanese intellectuals, I’d say. Some parts are funny, others are interesting, others are too whacky, in my opinion. Sure beauty is in the eyes of the beholder (or buyer of a bottle), but there are limits. SGP:462 - 73 points.

Let’s try a ‘vinho’…

Kavalan 'Solist' (58.4%, OB, Taiwan, vinho barrique, cask #W080225020, 192 bottles, 2013)

What this ‘vinho’ thing means, I don’t know. A barrique is what they use in Bordeaux, but they sure make no ‘vinho’ there. Sounds rather Portuguese if you ask me. Wait, Macau? BTW it’s a sister cask of the one that just won the World Whisky Awards 2015. I was a judge, and I’ve got a sample, but since it was blind, I’m not 100% sure and couldn’t use the remains of my competition sample without being 200% sure that’s the one. Please bear with me, but we have ethics (yeah yeah). Colour: red. Really, red. Nose: not un-nice I have to say, and far less winey that what some Scots have done using barriques, cabernet or else. Peonies and pencil shavings, plus an ‘idea’ of raspberry jam and an unexpected bourbony side. Fine. With water: noses like some well-aged Canadian, really. Even a sweet rye-ness is there. Mouth (neat): no, this works, despite this huge spiciness that sound very ‘European’. Grenadine and cinchona, tamarind, strawberries, cranberries, gingery oak, pepper… To be honest I find this a little unlikely, even if I very well know that Marilyn Monroe used to love strawberries with pepper. With water: we’re in terra incognita. Fruity spices? Peppery strawberries? Caraway infused in persimmon juice? Finish: not that long. Sweet, slightly syrupy, but rather spicy. Concentrated sangria? Comments: haven’t I just spent seventeen minutes of my life tasting some Taiwanese Scotch-like whisky that was matured in some Bordeaux-like cask? Please don’t tell my family. SGP:751 - 76 points.

We could go on and on, but let’s just have a last one. Like, a peater.

Kavalan 2007/2014 'Distillery Reserve' (55%, OB, Taiwan, peaty cask, 300ml)

A wonderful wee bottle of very early Kavalan. It was bottled on January 21, 2014. Rare stuff, this. I guess it’s the cask that was peaty, not the distillate. Let’s see what gives… Colour: gold. Nose: I often find wood smoke in whisky but here, it’s loud. And that would rather be pinewood, in fact, or even cones. Some kind of green lapsang souchong, or smoked Japanese seaweed, then flowers that wouldn’t be completely open (esp. roses), a touch of eucalyptus, a feeling of rye and juniper, caraway, clay… An unusual combination but I wouldn’t say it doesn’t work. With water: grass. Doesn’t swim too well. Mouth (neat): great! It’s fat and oily, curiously fresh, between crème de menthe, Mandarine Napoléon, ginger liqueur and… truckloads of tannins and peaty pepper. The peat never stops growing. With water: yes, it swims well now. It’s not easy to find a point of comparison in Scotland. Sadly, it tends to become dry and greenly bitter. Overinfused green tea. Much more peat in the aftertaste. Finish: long, rather astringent. Comments: many ups and many downs. Very careful with water, Eugene. SGP:463 - 81 points.

Yeah, we may have had enough.