Kavalan Solist Port Single Cask Strength

The nose is super rich. It doesn't smell so much like port or fruit as it does like wood and smoke. There's a strong fireworks presence on the nose. This smells like Jamaican rum that means serious business. The nose holds hints of tropical fruits with enough swirling, with mango being the most prominent. It smells super rich and I hope it tastes rich. Just before sipping, some more fruits come out on the nose. Cherry in particular, but also a hint of tangerine (though maybe that's the mango). The nose is complex, interesting, and delightful. If the whiskey tastes as good, it will be worth the outlandish price. The palate has a surprisingly light mouthfeel and a surprising dryness. The flavor is incredibly full though and it just keeps developing. Itsysrts rich with smoke skin to fireworks, but some tartness makes its way in, giving way to fruitiness, which reveals cherry, mango, and astringent pineapple quite readily. The flavors are very good and the profile is quite unique. The balance and fullness of flavor are exquisite too. The fireworks are highly indicati e of rum and the tropical fruits are too, but having the cherry rather than banana and plenty of malty notes makes this taste like a whiskey with rum influence. There's quite a bit of tartness though, so it tastes sort of like a blended grain whiskey with malt and rye aged in rum and bourbon barrels. The fact that I can describe it that way and that it has distinct flavors means that it is a very good whiskey though. It lacks that mellow, rich integration that comes with age, but its flavors stand out on their own quite well and they are all good. This is assertive, as more whiskeys need to be. The fireworks are a bit strong though. Still, I appreciate that it has to be drunk a tad at a time because that makes it easy to savor and difficult to consume all at once. It's great, though possibly not worth the price. I almost wish that it had more PX sweetness, though in actuality it is sweet enough. There's sort of a metallic flavor that comes with the tropical fruit (I think) that is a. It off-putting. A few drops of water increases the fruit, though the highly tannic fireworks remain. Watering it down by half leaves dry, rich, bitter, tannic flavors with a bit of astringency present. It tastes good, but the tannins seem too harsh. It's thoroughly drinkable and I like it, which should be no surprise given my fondness of Plantation Trinidad. This tastes markedly inferior to Glenfarclas 25, whish is far more balanced with more immediate complexity too. This is much harsher a d depends upon an incredibly full flavor with a ton of tannins (and high ABV) to attain its position. Plantation Trinidad has more complexity and less fireworks. Interestingly, I prefer Plantation Trinidad a bit. This is fascinating though and it doesn't quite fit. On a more recent taste, this is delicious! Following Foursquare Premise, it is richer with a big amount of wood, chocolate, and fruit. As long as the wood can fade into he background without smoking out the whole thing and just provide a rich backing there is terrific complexity with a lot do sweetness that does not taste out of place. It's all quite in balance as long as that smoke can be held back. It has too much tannins and a bit much astringency on the back making its drying, but it is actually very good. It actually works better for the price than would be expected because not only is the ABV high, but also the flavor is really strong. One key problem though could be that it tastes more like a rum than a scotch. There's a lot of wood present with some sawdust on the nose, but the sawdust doesn't really come through into the palate. Instead, it has more of that red wine astringency. If you told me that this had been aged in red wine barrels, I would definitely believe you. Bladnoch 17 smells and tastes (weirdly) more like a strawberry poptart, but it does have a decent amount going on. Between the two, this is a bit better, but the difference in quality is not tremendous. This seems about a couple of points higher. This isn't delicate, but it is rich with some nice complexity in it. Weirdly, it's more like rum meets bourbon than it is like scotch. I prefer Foursquare Premise, which is pretty damning given the price differential. Still, this is a really good dram. It definitely doesn't have the Sherry of Joseph Magnus. Somehow, Joseph Magnus tastes a bit like cough syrup after drinking this. Not a good use of Joseph Magnus. Wow, following Joseph Magnus, this somehow tastes better. It's still quite astringent though (and this is following a bourbon). Glenfarclas 25 offers a relief with some chocolate and malty notes (though not much else beyond that somehow, I think Joseph Magnus is more sherried, though the Glenfarclas milk chocolate in these circumstances is quite nice). In comparison, Springbank 12 leaps out with balance and scotch complexity. This is competing with the big boys, but it doesn't quite make it. There's a huge amount of quality and potential here, but it was clearly rapidly aged to add too much wood. Kavalan has a ton of potential though. This lacks the delicate nature of Port Charlotte 10. Port Charlotte 10 packs a punch, but this kicks it's ass. Port Charlotte 10 may not be the most complex whiskey, but it is quite good. This seems on par with it. The complexity here is better, but the balance is off due to that backing flavor. Rich now, this seems better. I get why this is hard to drink though. Delord 25 is lighter and dryer with flavors that are more herbal with standard fruit flavors. Delord 25 is interesting and complex in its own way, but it doesn't stand up to the punch of this dram despite its strong flavor for its ABV. This has some of that Delord 25 tartness and dryness and acidity. Of the two, I prefer this, but only when able to appreciate the complexity despite the overwhelming backing. This dram is hard to judge, like a final boss with two stages.

It’s Friday night which means one thing. Actually means a lot of things. Like checking my oldest’s homework that I assign her for the week (yes. That’s right...I assign her my own math, science and reading because our public schools teach at the lowest common denominator. Which doesn’t help when your kid will need to compete with those bright kids from India, Singapore, China, Norway, Finland, and pretty much 50 other countries with better public schools than ours). Friday night also means sitting back and watching Netflix. Today...season 3 of that ball busting, ass kicking, whiskey drinking hottie Jessica Jones. But most importantly, Friday night means I get to sit back and enjoy a pour. Now, watching Jessica Jones, one must strategically choose the right drink. Some pansy ass rose’ just won’t do. You need something stronger. So...was deciding between a pour of Booker’s Kentucky Chew, Elijah Craig Barrel Strength, or a Kavalan Solist Port cask. We’ll go with a pour of this Taiwanese beauty. It’s matured fully in port casks in the hot (but not as hot as Amrut’s Bangalore ) climate of Southeast Asia. It’s gotta be first fill. The color is dark, like that Crayola burnt sienna. Nose is amazing; sweet clotted cream and strawberries. The nose alone is 5 stars. The taste is down a notch, but still carries a sweet berry and burnt sugar taste. Really oily and viscous...I guess that 55+% ABV does that. I paid about $10 for a pour, but I think the full bottles are close to $300. Not sure I’d pay that much, but if you can find a pour, it’s really well worth it. You won’t be disappointed. Oh...and Jessica Jones has upgraded from Tincup whiskey to Michter’s...a respectable notch up.

The nose is bold and dense with a syrupy richness that starts with caramelized figs, balsamic syrup over diced strawberries and antique leather bound armchair followed by vanilla creme brûlée and a spicy mocha then cherries jubilee, anise spiced baked pears and raspberry jam that transitions to candied ginger, cloves and slightly burnt pie crust with high ethanol burn. The taste is a rich and syrupy mouthfeel starting with blackberry jam and slightly soured tropical fruits that quickly veers towards a high peppery bitter and sour spice that slowly fades to figgy pudding, strawberry syrup and freshly lit pipe tobacco then vanilla cupcake and chocolate covered espresso beans followed by raspberry sorbet, anise spiced baked pears and lemon zest that transitions to cloves, candied ginger and a moderate ashy oak spice with high ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with moderate ashy oak, black pepper, pipe tobacco, diced strawberries, sour cherries, leather bound books and bitter black tea. Overall, this was a very good whisky with rich and dense flavors of red berries, tropical fruits, citrus and earthy spices, but the balance is off with a high bitter spice that throws off those dense fruity flavors and finishes moderately bitter with those red berries slightly peaking through. At a price of $250+, this is priced far too high for me to be willing to purchase, but I'm extremely grateful that @ContemplativeFox was generous enough to share this with me.

57.8% ABV Cask #0090714056A | Bottle #030/184 Nose - (w/o water) Sharp syrupy sweet dried prunes/figs, dark chocolate, strawberry preserves, oaked cider (w/ water) Tiny bit less cloyingly sweet but otherwise similar. Taste - (w/o water) Drying, yet syrupy sweet, dark dried prunes, white pepper heat, cloves & cinnamon (w/ water) Less syrupy, more balanced dark berry/stone fruit preserves, heat is greatly reduced. Finish - (w/o water) Long lingering dark dried stone fruit syrupy sweet, light spice bitterness, mouth drying (w/ water) Still sweet but less viscous, less burn, less bitter, tiny hint of sour berry at the end. Score - 83/100 Final Thoughts - This one was just overall cloyingly sweet. It felt like it was dominated by a thick dried dark stone fruit syrupy sweetness like they used a wet port cask or something. It was quite one dimensional and was just purely sweet until the addition of a tiny bit of water which in this case greatly helps it out. Sadly the tropical/floral notes I get in their other offerings is completely hidden by the port and therefore makes this quite one dimensional in a bad way. I think based on what barrel/bottle you get, you'll need to add a tiny bit of water to get it to taste not like a super strong port. On another note, at the very very end of the finish, a tiny bit of dark chocolate notes do appear making it feel like a dark chocolate dipped dried dark stone fruits. This definitely feels like a dessert dram.

Nose: a shocking power, fortified wine, raisins, plums, spicy wood. It gives the idea of long aging in a humid place, it is very enveloping and intoxicating. Palate: it immediately strikes for its softness, but also for the alcoholic degree of cask strenght and for the powerful spiciness. Confirms the sense of smell with port and raisins, but also candied orange peel and marzipan. It almost looks like an exotic liqueur more than a whisky. Perfect, long and soft finish. Nothing to say, a great product. But I see a flaw and not just: in my opinion it is far from the concept of classic whisky. Perhaps too exotic, it is still an Asian whisky! Still a solid 4.50 rating __________________________________________________________________ Naso: una potenza sconvolgente, vino liquoroso, uvetta, prugne, legno speziato. Da l’idea di lunga stagionatura in un luogo umido, è molto avvolgente ed inebriante. Palato: colpisce subito per la sua pastosità, ma anche per il grado alcolico cask strenght e per la potente speziatura. Conferma l’olfatto con porto e uvetta, ma anche scorze d’arancia candite e marzapane. Sembra quasi un liquore esotico più che un whisky. Finale perfetto, lungo e morbido. Nulla da dire, un grande prodotto. Però ci vedo un difetto e non da poco: secondo me è lontano dal concetto di whisky classico. Forse troppo esotico, è pur sempre un whisky asiatico! Comunque un solido voto 4,50

** Disclaimer: This review is what I would consider a “Quick Hit”- meaning I won’t have my usual in-depth notes that I usually like to take. The reason: this sample was poured at Whiskyfest DC on 4/17/18. All of these reviews will not be scored and I am actively looking to try them again at some point to do them more justice. This was the second Kavalan I tried at the festival and it had some serious, yet weird, flavors going on. Heavy raisins and grape sweetness and it bounced around from dry to oily all during the same sample. It left a lingering oak note on the tongue and that was the only negative aspect I recall. I’d be interested in trying it again to give it another go. I have a feeling the Soloist series is the highlights from Kavalan. Maybe I’ll divert some scotch funds over to these bottles, as I think they’d make a great addition to my collection of Asian whisky. Cheers.