Welcome to Day 14. Today is one of the whiskies that I am most excited for and is the second of our international offerings. Although not quite as good as Solist Ex-Bourbon it is still quite tasty. I hope you enjoy it, I know I will.
History
Kavalan Distillery was the vision of Mr. T.T. Lee, the founder of the King Car Group, a large pharmaceutical / agrifoods business. Taiwan is one of the world’s hottest whisky markets, and it only took King Car four years to get the project rolling from concept to distillation. The distillery was built in Yilan province south of Taipei over a 9 month period in 2005. The founders vision was to create a world class single malt whisky in Taiwan, he spared no expense, sought the most respected experts and they achieved their aim in a stunningly short period period of time. It doesn’t hurt that Taiwan’s steaming hot climate supercharges maturation, in just three years they can loose up to a third of a barrel and develop flavours that take 10-18 years in Scotland or Ireland. In 2010, just four years after the whisky first started flowing from Kavalan’s stills, the distillery started racking up awards.
Taiwan is a very mountainous island, it has 286 peaks over 3000m, and a range of rugged mountains separates the distillery from bustling metropolis of Taipei to the north. The drive from Taipei to Yuanshan, the town nearest the distillery, used to take two hours, but a tunnel through the mountains cuts the journey down to an hour. It is a beautiful and easy drive if you are ever in Taipei, and a curiosity if you’ve ever visited a whisky distllery i Scotland. The distillery is named for the indigenous people who once inhabited Yilan’s “Kabalan plain”. The King Car Group built the distillery here because of the plentiful pure waters that flow from Snow Mountain and Central Mountain, but also because of the location’s proximity to Taipei. Kavalan receives over 1,000,000 visitors a year!
Kavalan produces a range of whiskies, but their most sought after are those in the Solist Range, consisting of: Solist Bourbon, Solist Sherry, Solist Vinho (Whisky Magazine World Whisky of the Year) and atop the range Solist Fino. Today we are sampling the Bourbon Oak 46%, who’s closest approximation is the Solist Bourbon. Each of the whiskies in the Solist Range has a general style, but as they are always bottled as single casks there can be quite a lot of variation. While they will be quite similar, the Kavalan Bourbon 46% we are sampling here is not the same as the one you can currently get from the shop. But then the Solist Bourbon you find in stock is always changing as each Bourbon Barrel Kavalan bottles will yield little more than 100 bottles. Chances are every time you buy a bottle it will be a different single cask.
Tasting Note:
Nose: thick cream, polished new leather shoes, French perfume and Jujubes; soft melon and gentle orange notes; marzipan and almond paste filled croissants.
Palate: creamy, round and velvety; loads cultured butter, more French perfume, Jujubes and Wine Gums; loads of citrus, soft melon, some pineapple and homey.
Finish: light, clean and honeyed; more Jujubes, Wine Gums, soft fruits and creamy buttery notes.