Country: Taiwan
Brand: Kavalan Solist Fino
Type: Single Malt Whisky
Age: NAS (Probably around 3 Years)
ABV: 57 %
Date: 25/10/2013
Colour: Dark Amber/Reddish Brown. One of the darkest Whiskies I've tasted so far.
Nose: Very mature for a Whisky of around 3 years. It's evident that Whiskies mature much quicker in the warm and humid climate of Taiwan. If this was not the case, the production of whisky would probably not be economically viable there as you loose an average 10% per year to the Angels as opposed to the 2% in Scotland.
The good quality Oak and the Sherry are immediately present, making the Nose a bit Heavy and quite Sweet. In a blind tasting session I would have likely assumed that this Single Malt matured in an Ex-Oloroso Cask as Fino is dryer and less sweet. Bourbon, Rye Whiskey and Brandy came to mind as well. Still, not bad at all with Dried Fruits and Nuts, Toast with Salted Butter and Orange Marmalade, Mango Chutney, Caramel/Toffee, Treacle, Nougat, Rye Bread, Malt, Pepper, Honey and traces of Cinnamon, Menthol, Tobacco and Leather. There is some Alcohol present but you can work your way around it.
Palate: Very Sweet and Mature with Sherry, Cooked Dark Fruits, Treacle, Dark Chocolate, Malt, Oak, Toffee/Caramel, Vanilla, Red Wine, Brandy, Herbs, Pepper, Nutmeg, Dried Fruits, Nuts and Menthol.
Finish: Quite Sweet and Dry at the same time with Sherry, Fruit Candies, Toffee, Oak, Malt and Spices. Bit of Alcohol right at the end.
I added a few drops of Water and the Nose gets a bit more Fruit (Apples), Butter, Malt and Honey. Palate and Finish don't really benefit from added Water. But there's certainly room for you to play with a couple of drops and see where it leads!
Rating: 85.5
Nose: 21.5 - Taste: 21.5 - Finish: 21 - Overall: 21.5
General Remarks: The King Car's Kavalan distillery is a new and technically sophisticated facility, located in the city of Yuanshan on the Northern part of the island of Taiwan. The Kavalan is named after an indigenous tribe that lived in the region where the distillery now stands. It was built in 2005/2006 and has a current production capacity of 6 million bottles per year. The Kavalan Whiskies are usually bottled after a relative short time in the casks. In the humid climate of Taiwan, the whiskies mature much faster. The Kavalan Solist Fino matured in Fino Sherry Casks rather than in Ex-Oloroso Casks. It's expensive at around 220 US Dollars.
Drinking Experience Neat: Good
Conclusion: This is my second Kavalan and again I'm impressed. This one is not as good as the Conductor but nevertheless a high quality product. The Oak Management is very good. It's very Sweet and some people might even find it too sweet. The Solist Fino is an interesting mix of Scotch Whisky, Rye Whiskey and Brandy (Cognac or Armagnac). The Aroma and Flavours are very mature and only on the Nose and in the Finish the Alcohol shows us that it's a young whisky. But many people (including me) would probably judge this much older than it actually is. It is quite expensive. Still, personally I believe that Kavalan has a great future if it succeeds in maintaining this high quality. Gam-Bei!
Jan van den Ende October 2013
