Tastes

Feels like scotch in training, oddly young and missing the sweet maltiness. On the nose, you expect something other than what shows up on the pallete. Hit it with a shard of ice and it immediately freaks out… then raisin emeges, then tannin, followed by industrial solvent.

Still got it… just popped an old bottle that has had time to air out and evolve. Everything I’ve loved about it in the past is still there with a hint of swirly pipe tobacco now. Still a huge fan, enjoying this more than ever.

A sweet, tannic, spicy brew. Good enough for neat. A classic mass brew that has a syrupy ludens cough drop finish minus the cherry. For the aesthetic angle, the bottle adds a lot to a collection.

Depressingly pale, we got this as a low risk filler to a Waterford crystal decanter that wouldn’t break the bank or be a shame to oxidize. The nose is all the best qualities of a beautiful malt. The palette is a confusing one: numbing on the tip of the tongue, frenetic ups and downs of tannins and conflicting notes. Oddly enjoyable but would be disappointing to pay for at typical bar upcharge prices. Otherwise, no regrets but not wildly inspiring either.

Still got it. Elegant. Rich. Hard working. Requires a hard day of work beforehand to enjoy properly.

Bought mine in Taiwan, so worth noting mine is a 58.6% bottle. Damn. I love single malt. People in Taiwan sleep on Kavalan. They think it’s lesser quality because it isn’t from the UK. Friendly people, very polite… but wrong about Kavalan. It is excellent. Deep amber hue. Nose is sweet and complex. Syrupy, tropical and rich. Actually smells like money. Like a crisp clean $100 bill. Tip of the tongue is almost maple. Sweet oily mouthfeel. Rich and complex, it’s a cop out to site tropical fruits because it comes from a literal tropical island. This is more a deep refreshing apple juice. Oak bites your soft palette so bite it back. This sip punishes you for rushing. Take your time and it rewards you. The water here is interesting… Taiwan’s water appears to be among the best and worst in the world. My hotel warned against drinking tap water. I’m a tap water aficionado and scoffed at this.. that is until I was informed that a globally recognized testing operation found elevated levels of arsenic in it… which explains the copious bottles of water that would appear daily. At that point I learned the bottled water was free. It the mountains it is a different story. And I believe it. I personally like the contrast. It’s a lot like Taiwan, beautiful but precarious. At any rate, try this.

Taiwan has a thriving convenience store scotch culture. People here love their single malt. Picked this up on a whim and it’s not offensive or remarkable. Twist the cap and the nose assaults you from across the room. Everything about this screams “booze that wants to convince you it’s a booze” or at least “take me serious.” I don’t know what’s on the nose. Booze? Maybe a sneaky hint of licorice. Palette hints with herbs and dime store potpourri. It sounds like a cut, but it’s not. This bottle is fine. The price is right. Nice to have on hand in the hotel.

I wish I had taken better notes on this one but having polished off a Glenlivet bottle just prior. So really I should revisit.. what I recall was the volume set to 1 or turned up to 11 by comparison with not much in between. Delightful surprise, nice tropical notes popped up unannounced at regular intervals. I’m not mad at this, I just didn’t have the bandwidth to give this a fair shake.

On the nose, a mix between honey and dentist office furniture… but in a good way. A golden hue, almost too golden but I presume no artificial coloring was used. Just striking. Front of the palette is dangerously soft and rings of currant with a splash of sea spray on the back end. Overall, inoffensive and not the main event. Personally, I’d save this for a night when socializing is the priority and you just need something to do with your hands. Water is detrimental to this bottle. The smallest splash only unleashed tannins for me, not much else.