Extreme Kavalan part drei


July 19, 2017

Extreme Kavalan part drei

Because we weren’t done, while I’m sure we’ll never manage to try all the Kavalans that are washing up on our shores these days… Let’s see how far we’ll manage to go, randomly yet again…

Kavalan ‘Solist PX Sherry Cask’ (55.6%, OB, +/-2016)

PX! But don’t be scared, PX is not always dull… BTW this is ‘single cask strength’. I’m completely baffled. Colour: dark amber. Nose: pencil shavings, figs, gewürztraminer (roses, litchis), muscat (really, a muscaty PX), and Cadbury’s milk chocolate. I agree, that’s not really chocolate. With water: gingerbread and Ovaltine. Mouth (neat): good, sweet, with soft spices (ginger and friends) and raisins. A tad sweet. With water: gets thick and oily. Cranberry juice, gingerbread, speculoos, and strawberry liqueur. Not 100% sure. Finish: medium, sweet, slightly liqueury. Comments: I find this one rather ‘too much’. A little too sweet and liqueury, for starters. Not a fan of this one that’s unusually sweet. SGP:631 - 75 points.

Kavalan 2009/2016 ‘Solist’ (58.6%, OB, Taiwan, sherry cask, cask #S090306002, 495 bottles)

Very dark, so probably quite heavy since Kavalan aren’t using any caramel. Colour: indeed, that would be ‘espresso’. Nose: on full prune mode, with whiffs of pencil shavings yet again, cedar wood, touches of blood oranges, tamarind jam, and really a load of fruit ganache and dark chocolate. Ideas of walnut stain as well, but that feeling may be induced by the colour. With water: some heavy chocolaty and coffee-ish oak, and some pine needles in the background. Extremely extractive. Mouth (neat): hyper-rich, spicy, oaky, and almost totally on bitter chocolate and strong black tea, Russian-style. Not an easy baby, and actually quite a monster. A good monster. With water: fruits and Provence herbs. Barbecued apricots with some thyme and rosemary, perhaps. More pine needles as well (crunching some, which I guess we’ve all tried when we were kids). Finish: long, very ‘dark’, boldly chocolaty and dry. Raisins and cinnamon in the aftertaste, with a feeling of modern armagnac. Comments: a spectacular beast, full of solids. Warning, may wreck your tasting glass. SGP:362 - 85 points.

Kavalan 2006/2014 ‘Solist’ (58.6%, OB, Taiwan, sherry cask, cask #S060904039, 518 bottles)

Another very dark one, let’s proceed with caution… Colour: coffee. Nose: no, this one’s much fruitier, and so rather on prunes, oranges, raisins, and peaches. Once again a feeling of cognac rather than malt whisky, while we haven’t got anything against that. I remember well some old hyper-sherried Glen Grants from Italy that were a bit like this. Nice chocolate, hints of blue-green tea. Taiwanese wulong, perhaps? With water: ah it swims very well. Oak oils, orange liqueur, caraway, a little aquavit, Unicum… All that from the oak, most probably. Mouth (neat): my this is thick and brutal! Oranges and chocolate, bourbon (wood, varnish), cinnamon mints, and certainly bitter oranges. The ones that naïve tourists harvest in Andalucia and that will burn their gums. With water: flavourful, spicy, and Christmassy. Spice bread, cloves, marmalade, pomegranate jelly. An unexpected fruity almost-lightness. Finish: long, rather all on oranges and caraway. Comments: a very good one. They should ship these with small bottles of Taiwanese water. SGP:561 - 87 points.

Kavalan 2006/2015 ‘Solist’ (57.1%, OB, Taiwan, for La Maison du Whisky, Sherry cask, cask #S060821056, 496 bottles)

Let’s see what my compatriots had selected. Colour: coffee/walnut stain. Nose: this one’s plainly and totally on black chocolate and mocha, before more liquorice manages to make it through the chocolate. Some pleasant dustiness (old books in the attic). With water: a bit more oak-forward, a common trait amongst all these heavily oloroso-ed Kavalans. Mouth (neat): crushed oranges and raspberries mixed with tons of chocolate, and covered with the strictest ristretto (the ones that wouldn’t even come out of your cup). With water: cloves and caraway, plus juniper berries and blood oranges. Almost forgot to mention the obligatory chocolate. Finish: long, the raspberries being back. Raspberry eau-de-vie in your cup of coffee, like our old uncles used to do when their dear wives weren’t watching. Comments: not unlike the other olorosos, it’s a very big one that managed not to get cloying. SGP:561 - 87 points.

Perhaps this sister cask?...

Kavalan 2006/2015 ‘Selection’ (57.1%, OB, Taiwan, for La Maison du Whisky and The Nectar, Sherry cask, cask #S060821055, 491 bottles)

So a Franco-Belgian bottlings this time. Colour: coffee. Nose: a slightly heavier and jammier version, with rather less coffee and chocolate, and rather more tamarind jam, prunes, mint liquorice, and cedar wood. Perhaps even a little incense? With water: yeah yeah yeah, some earthy old Pu-erh tea! And cigars… Mouth (neat): extremely rich this time, and very fruity. Crush all fruits, let them macerate in kirsch, add a cup of coffee, and spread some cloves, pepper, caraway, and juniper. And then please crunch some very dark chocolate, like 90% cocoa. With water: water does not make it tannic, greatest of news. Blood oranges, chocolate… Finish: long, with this earthiness again. It would be an utter scandal to blend Pu-erh with coffee, but this is what you would get, more or less. Comments: I think we’re bordering perfection this time. What a little earth can do! SGP:562 - 89 points.

Kavalan 2009/2016 ‘Solist’ (58.6%, OB, Taiwan, for Malt Whisky Paradise, sherry cask, cask #S090102026, 513 bottles)

A Malt whisky paradise? I’m asking you, who could be against that? Colour: dark amber. Nose: gunpowder, dried parsley, and smoked tea are back. Maduro cigars, roasted chestnuts, mole sauce, a little game, proper wine sauce, wood fire, coal tar… This is not a fruity one, and I like this quite a lot. With water: old wine cellar, must, old apples, tar, menthol, natural rubber… This one really rocks! Mouth (neat): there, we may have found our 90 or more! This is rich ‘of course’, but it’s got these complex old sweet wines, Madeiras, Ports… And more cigars, roasted nuts, various herbal teas, a wee touch of mustard, walnuts… In short, some perfect dry sherry that’s not ridden with either chocolate or coffee. With water: perfect. Clove biscuits and pumpernickel, plus ripe peaches. Love this one. Finish: long, exactly where it must be between the fruits and the spices. That’s called balance, I suppose. Perfect walnuts in the aftertaste. Comments: hurray! (expurgated comments). SGP:662 - 91 points.

We’re in!

Kavalan 2009/2016 ‘Solist’ (58.6%, OB, Taiwan, sherry cask, cask #S090606010A, 521 bottles)

Sherry sherry sherry (bravo, S.)… Colour: brown amber. Nose: a sweeter and rounder one again, rather on jams and compotes. Peaches playing first fiddles, a bit of rubber on the big drums, jars of marmalade, bags of raisins… It’s an easier, pretty simpler one, it seems. With water: Jaffa cakes all the way. Mouth (neat): very good, sweet sherry (PX?), with some peppered honey, more peach jam, and always bags and bags of raisins. Easy-peasy. With water: one of the smoothest Kavalan we tried these days. Liqueurs and a moderate spiciness, around ginger and pink pepper. Citrusy hops. Finish: medium, easy, compote-y, and rather honeyed. Comments: sherry from Sauternes? Only half joking… Another very good one. SGP:641 - 86 points.

Perhaps change wines?...

Kavalan 2009/2016 ‘Solist’ (59.4%, OB, Taiwan, for Asia Palate Association, Port cask, cask #O090619037A, 187 bottles)

Port is back. Colour: amber. Nose: a little rubber at first sniffs, then a wheelbarrow of oranges of various sorts. Which would include tangerines and mandarins. Then a feeling of old chardonnay, with this buttery side and many roasted nuts. Very nice. With water: nice and clean. Marzipan and plum jam. Mouth (neat): it’s not the first time we’re noticing that Kavalan’s Port Casks do not taste of Port wine. In this case, we’re rather having oranges, soft pepper, and perhaps quinces. Mirabelles for sure. With water: cinnamon rolls and other fine patisseries. Perhaps baklavas. Finish: medium, rather on halva while in the middle-east (as far as flavours are concerned), and marmalade. Comments: a very good, very easy one. Much easier than the darker olorosos. SGP:551 - 87 points.

Hold on, it seems that we’ve had eight of them today. So time to call this a tasting session, see you tomorrow…

Check the index of all Kavalan I've tasted so far