Kavalan Classic Single Malt

My first Taiwanese whiskey. I came in expecting it to be similar to Japanese whiskey, and while there are similarities, this one offers some distinct features. It's important to note that this is bottled at 43% and not the 40% the website suggests. Nose: Sweet. Vanilla, honey, toffee. Some unripe banana and mango. A bit of pineapple. Some of the syrupy and brown sugar notes I've gotten from the Nikka Coffee Malt, and even moreso in the Coffee Grain. Sandalwood and some macadamia nut, rounded out with some green, grassy, and woody notes. Promising start. Palate: Banana ripe off the bat, and this time it's ripe. This is accompanied by coconut, pineapple, and mango. It's a tropical fruit bowl. Chewy caramel and maybe just a hint of fudge. Some almond and macadamia. Toffee, vanilla, and honey. Carries many of the qualities from the nose, but is a tad riper, adds some darker sweet notes, and a bit of cinnamon and baking spice. Oak to boot. Solid. Finish: Getting another hit of pineapple, mango, and coconut, and then it's all cinnamon, baking spice, and oak. A nice warming sensation carries this one to a medium-length finish. Not quite up to par with the nose or palate, but still enjoyable. I suspect the 3% ABV bump plays a significant role here. Verdict? Taiwanese makes a good first impression. I know that Kavalan isn't the only native distillery, but to say it produces more than half of Taiwan's unique offerings would be an understatement. Undoubtedly, my next Taiwanese whiskey will be a Kavalan product, and considering that this seems to be their base offering, I'm excited to see what else the distillery has to offer. 4 stars flat for this one. The nose draws some significant similarities to Nikka's Coffee offerings, but the palate really sets this one apart and gives me a baseline for an exciting new genre of whiskey. Looking forward to my next Kavalan offering.

It smells rich and smokey. There's some fruit on the nose and also a little peat. The palate is solid. There is plenty of rich fruit but it is balanced by rich smoke. This is very robust for the ABV. I appreciate that it doesn't rely on high alcohol to deliver flavor. The fruit is predominantly dark cherry, but it also has a lot of nice tropical notes. It's a great sipper. It tastes somewhere in the 15 year range, but that makes it quite solid. The fruity notes also include orange blossoms that balance well with the vanilla and floral flavors. I would love to try a more aged version of this. It is very fruity, but it is also mature and avoids bad flavors. It could use some more punchy to it, but it compares favorably with Highland Park The Dark, despite being less complex. The clean finish is delightful. There's definitely a cherry flavor going on here. This reminds me of both Macallan 12 and Highland Park The Dark. It substantially outperforms the Macallan but also clearly underperforms Highland Park. The tropical flavors are reminiscent of Rampur, but this is much better. It might be a tad pricey at $60, but that is within the reasonable range for this whiskey.

Doing a re-review; it’s been months since I touched this bottle. On the nose: caramel cooking down when you make it home, dried mango, and vanilla On the palate: BIG caramel/brown sugar (made me think of wheated bourbon caramel notes even), big oak (aged in semi-tropical Taiwan so major barrel impact), vanilla and mango and pineapple in the background. Not a thing wrong with it, just wish it had some more complexity. It’s unique and makes me want to try out the higher tiers of Kavalan’s offerings, but this isn’t anything special in my opinion. Would be an awesome intro single malt if not for the price.

Nose: floral, like a parfume. I cannot find those tropical fruits. Vanilla sweetness in the background. Palate: sweetness for few seconds then pungent spices, bitterness, oakyness. Finish: long, tart, pungent, dry. Pungent even in the throat. With water: less floral and nutty notes on nose. Less harsh on palate. Overall too harsh for my taste, especially on the palate. Very much oak. Palate is not in sync with nose for me. I can imagine that others enjoy this expression more, but for me it was a wrong choice. Still, part of the journey, so it is allright.

Nose after about 10min rest: Caramel, orange, and spice seem to be most dominant initially. Darker fruits such as black cherry and butter, figgy raisin, almond, vanilla, butterscotch, strawberry, honey, ginger Taste: begins with medium caramel, a touch of salt before moving to vanilla and fruit. In the fruit there is black cherry, moving to strawberry, fig, then finishing again with black cherry. Some astringency in the taste, darker more aged type finish versus sharp bright found in younger pours. Moderate finish.

A complex, Taiwanese Single Malt Whisky by Kavalan King Car Distillery in Yilan County, Taiwan. It has an aromatic birth with notes of tropical flowers, tropical fruits & some hints of vanilla; while a full & creamy life adds notes of spicy barley, oak & fruits; that led to a zesty death of medium length with notes of allspice, pear skin, mango, meat & more vanilla. June 2020 / July 2022