Kavalan Solist Amontillado
Single Malt Whisky
Bottled at Cask Strength 56.3% ABV
Cask #: AM110216009B
Bottle #: 367/377
This exploration into Kavalan started with a chat with one
of my co-workers who was about to travel to Taiwan to visit family and
friends. They are also pretty big fans
of whisky and said they were planning on taking an excursion to the Kavalan
distillery while on their vacation. The
Kavalan Solist Amontillado is what he brought back for me from his travels
overseas, thanks so much Wayne for picking this up for the club to enjoy.
First impressions upon seeing the packaging is wow! It’s a lovely, sturdy wood case, it’s lined
with a golden silk liner under the bottle.
On the inside of the opening cover there is a panel with a story of the
distillery and some basic tasting notes for this single cask expression. The packaging really takes this to the next
level and has an exclusive feel while protecting the nectar inside. Kavalan also include a rolled-up scroll that shows
additional tasting notes with a note that this expression won the World Whisky
Awards Best Single Cask in 2016.
Amontillado is a dry sherry characterized
by nutty aromas, tobacco, aromatic herbs and often ethereal, polished notes of
oak, these casks are certainly unique to the whisky world but still carry the
familiar sherry finishing notes on the whisky.
Some notes from the
distillery:
Colour: Dark rich bronze similar to, the darker brown
of the wood packaging box
Nose: Very rich and fruity, warm heat from the cask
strength, sweetness with notes of almonds and a touch of oak
Palate: Exotic soft sherry with a hint of caramel,
longer finish backed by nuts and pepperiness
This whisky packs a bit of
punch and you will be well served to let spirit breathe for a few minutes after
pouring it into your choice of whisky glass. You get the warming alcohol note
on the first waft from the glass. The sweetness comes through backed by a touch
of oak in the back end as you breath in the aromas. The spirit is quite dark taking
colouring from the Amontillado Sherry casks, it imparts some serious legs on
the glass as you swirl it in your glass. Once the spirit hits your lips you get
the immediate warmth from the high ABV, however that quickly dissipates into
the sweet notes of the sherry backed by caramelised nuts. It is so smooth for a
cask strength whisky. The finish imparts a sweet oaky wood backed by a bit of
pepper. I still got the flavour of the
whisky for up to 10 minutes after the first sips. The alcohol on the nose is
quickly replaced by the nuttiness and overall dry sweetness of the Amontillado sherry
cask finish.
There is no age statement on
this range of Solist single cask expressions from Kavalan, however some research
puts it anywhere from 8-12 years, notes on the Kavalan website show that the
warm climate and the heat in Taiwan allows the spirit to take on notes of the
casks at a much higher rate that the traditional scotch whisky processes. For me and the club members this expression
did not taste like a young whisky that was boring and was gone on the palate
instantly. This was a complex spirit
that would normally have an aging of over 20 years.
I have not seen Kavalan for sale in Ontario through the local LCBO, it is available in other parts of Canada so this was a fantastic and rare treat for us to taste and sample. I cannot wait to get a hold of more Kavalan expressions if they are all special like this one. Bottle was $300 Canadian after exchange. Highly recommend this expression and from what I’ve heard the other Solist expressions are just a great, well done Kavalan.
