Extreme Kavalan session part deux


July 18, 2017

Extreme Kavalan session part deux

Didn’t we say we’d have more Kavalan? One should keep to one's word, come hell or high water… And of course we’ll have them at total random… And…

Kavalan 2008/2016 'Solist' (54%, OB, Taiwan, for YKE Taiwan, bourbon cask, cask #B080825038, 160 bottles)

Ah, a regular little bourbon barrel, it will be sort of a vacation after the very good but heavy wine bombs… Colour: full gold. Nose: bomb! Vanilla and sucrose, Haribo’s best, marshmallows, and litres of custard. With water: sweet planks (are made of this, who am I to disagree… oops excuse me…) Mouth (neat): between bourbon, Ireland, and Auchentoshan. Coconut balls, vanilla aplenty, wine gums, marshmallows… I’d call this ‘elementary’. Certainly quite lactone-y. With water: they recreated Haig Club, only at cask strength. They should make David B. fly in… Finish: medium, sweet, vanilla-ed, and really a bit narrow and too sweetish for me. Comments: not quite for me, there’s way too much American oak. Tuffnellian. SGP:631 - 76 points.

Kavalan 2009/2016 'Solist' (58.6%, OB, Taiwan, for 3rd Taiwan, Port cask, cask #O090615011A, 182 bottles)

I guess ‘O’ stands for Oporto. Colour: mahogany. Nose: lovely. Tree bark, coffee, cigars, chocolate, gunpowder (not that much), black tea and dried porcinis. Nothing bad to say against this. With water: some pencil shavings coming out, also some rosehip tea, which is obviously nicer. Garden earth. Mouth (neat): raspberries, blood oranges and green vegetables, on a bed of sulphur and black pepper. Less terrible than it sounds, by far. With water: nice bouillony touches, black tobacco, tea, chocolate, and a drop of brine. This was very dry Port, apparently. Finish: long, rather spicier. Chives and lovage, cloves, and dried beef meat. Bitter oranges in the aftertaste. Comments: a cool Kavalan that’s quite intriguing and, well, a little challenging. Taking off slowly… SGP:462 - 82 points.

Kavalan 2008/2016 ‘Solist’ (55.6%, OB, Taiwan, for Drink Fun, sherry cask, cask #S081229028, 511 bottles)

Drink Fun? How could we be against that? Colour: coffee. Nose: back to normal heavy sherriness, with prunes, chocolate, black raisins, and the faintest whiffs of menthol. A touch of earth and tobacco, and almost no sulphur this time. Classic. With water: tends to become a little shier, which is a little unusual. Christmas cake and black earth. Mouth (neat): very good, easy despite the high strength, with bags of raisins and wheelbarrows of prunes. In short, another one that’s quite armagnacqy. Like these notes of dried pears, any alpinist’s preferred food. With water: touches of mineral sulphur coming through, quinine, bitter oranges, Ricola (and, yeah, indeed, ruccola)… Finish: long, and rather more leathery. Raisins, ruccola indeed, and leather. Comments: by all means, it’s a good one. But starting to wonder if it was good idea to have this many Kavalans… SGP:461 - 85 points.

Kavalan 2008/2016 ‘Solist’ (58.6%, OB, Taiwan, for Asia Palate Association, sherry cask, cask #S081217016, 518 bottles)

Bored? Why would we get bored? Colour: dark amber. Nose: ah nice! Bénédictine and Cointreau, with touches of Chartreuse and middle-eastern fig-based arrak. We’re somewhere between bourbon and sherry, with raisins, vanilla, and a good glass of good Sauternes. With water: straw wine and other easy sweet wines of good quality. Even Canadian ice wine. Mouth (neat): ah, good, sweet, raisiny, with a nice pepper/ginger mixture, and a feeling of good PX (as in real PX that can be found in a proper bottle of old PX). With water: really sweet, rounded, raisiny, with touches of pecans and maple syrup. Finish: medium to long, with a little more spices. Mulled wine. Comments: that sherry, wasn’t it PX? A good, easy, uncomplicatedly sweet dram. SGP:641 - 83 points.

This little session has a bit of trouble taking off… Let’s try harder…

Kavalan 2009/2016 ‘Solist’ (59.4%, OB, Taiwan, for Sherry Whiskies Fans Soc., sherry cask, cask #S090306015, 519 bottles)

That the (most certainly) very honourable Sherry Whiskies Fans Society would select a sherry cask doesn’t quite surprise us, does it? Colour: coffee. Nose: ah there, these Glenfarclassy smells… Or wouldn’t this be Aberlour? Classic sherry with prunes, raisins, peonies, and bits of violet-flavoured liquorice (that’s very nice, check the brand ‘Zan’ if you can find it). With water: ouch, pencil shavings and sawn pinewood. New wood? Wee whiffs of turpentine, which I do enjoy. Oil paint as well. Mouth (neat): mega-good sweet sherry, with walnuts, raisins, touches of curry, prunes, and raspberry ganache. Cloves and black pepper all around that, but softly so. With water: some good Demerara rum, some sweet molasses, and some oranges. Finish: rather long, on orange zests dipped into chocolate and fir honey. Comments: a good and pretty easy one, quite sweet and uncomplicated. SGP:551 - 86 points.

Kavalan 2006/2012 ‘Solist’ (57.8%, OB, Taiwan, for Red On Tree 4th Anniversary, sherry cask, cask #S060904050, 519 bottles)

I’m sure Red On Tree is a gathering of great people – and I’m sure you’ll have noticed that this is an older bottling. Colour: almost espresso. Nose: with litres of molasses and drops of pine liqueur, that’s how it starts. Then there are more prunes than in a bag of prunes, and as many rose petals as on a rose (are you proud about that one, S.?) This is almost liqueury, while even a blend of Zacapa and Diplomatico would be less liqueury. With water: a touch of concrete, and perhaps leather. Other than that, it remains very molasse-y. Mouth (neat): rum, cognac, and pineau des Charentes. Some are good, really! Totally prune-y and raisiny, with some excellent notes of liquorice and a few drops of orange liqueur. Luscious and decadent, as thy say in brochures. Chestnut honey in the aftertaste (try chestnut honey if you haven’t!) With water: almost a liqueur. Where does all this sugar come from? Finish: medium to long, on coffee and orange liqueurs. Comments: perhaps a little too sweet for my tooth, but quality’s very high. SGP:641 - 85 points.

Kavalan 2006/2016 ‘Solist’ (58.6%, OB, Taiwan, for Drink Fun, sherry cask, cask #S060821035, 512 bottles)

There, our good friends at Drink Fun are at it again. But when you’ve got this many solists, it all starts to feel a little philharmonic, doesn’t it? Colour: coffee/mahogany. Nose: prunes, roasted chestnuts, black Corinthian raisins, and a spoonful of strawberry jam, plus whiffs of newly sawn oak (but we remain way below the limits). With water: oranges, chocolate, oranges, chocolate, oranges, chocolate… Mouth (neat): excellently Speyside-y. A blend of A’bunadh and GF 105, plus a drop of Cointreau. Caramelised apples and orange zests, covered with chocolate sauce. With water: yep. Getting tired. A wee bit. Less oak than in others. Finish: medium, chocolaty, and, well, rather Dalmore-y (with apologies to Whyte & Mackay and dear Richard). Comments: forgot to mention prunes. Now not sure anyone’s expected to try this many sherried Kavalans in a row. SGP:651 - 87 points.

Good, they were all very good, but not sure any of them really stood out this time. We may have to try even harder in the (very) near future, stay tuned…

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