Kavalan Solist Ex-Bourbon Cask

Kavalan distillery is located in the northern part of Taiwan, 60 kilometres south of Taipei. It was built over an eight month period in 2005 and 2006 and uses copper stills that were constructed in Scotland. The distillery boasts an annual capacity of approx. 3.9 million litres. The name of 'Kavalan' is taken from a group of indigenous people who once lived in Yi-Lan County where the distillery is based. The Solist Bourbon Cask is a three-year old cask-strength whisky that was released in 2009.

The nose is rich and fresh at the same time: sweet vanilla and coconut are followed by heavy, nutty notes. With water there are more tropical fruits such as mango, pineapple and banana. This nose is young and fresh, and I like it!

The palate starts off being quite peppery and oaky, before again vanilla sweetness appears. Next, other fruits such as apples and pears come into play and help to alleviate the tannic bitterness a bit. With water the body becomes quite light, with some pepperiness remaining.

The finish is long, mouth coating and dry. I also got hints of vanilla and some woody element in the background.

As was the case with the other expressions from the Solist series I was impressed by the fact that this single malt is only three years old. While I very much enjoyed the nose, the oak is rather heavy given the whisky’s young age. This is certainly a good whisky but the tannic bitterness put me off a bit.

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