Tastes

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.

Something about travel changes perspective and alters course of …everything, I guess. I’m not trying to be poetic, but had I not been in Taiwan and been curious about local distilling everywhere I go, I may not have found this brand. Truly it’s an instant favorite. I wish this were a cologne. Words come to mind that I don’t think I’ve used in a tasting: earthy, mineral, reminiscent of grain teas (like the coffee alternative kind.) Immensely drinkable, probably owing to low proof but really pops on the nose and palette. The locals seem to be sleeping on this one in lieu of big name imports. In this case, the accolades are warranted and I trust the global community of proponents and honest single malt lovers. Highly recommend you try this at any price point, ideally on a good night where you are open to something novel but familiar. Looking forward to other cask configurations in their subsequent offerings.

Solid solid burb. Intense. Corny caramel on the nose, with a hint of herbal licorice. Subtle up front with a slight spicy finish. Maybe a sticky syrup on the back end. Unique but comfortable.

Solid solid burb. Intense. Corny caramel on the nose, with a hint of herbal licorice. Subtle up front with a slight spicy finish. Maybe a sticky syrup on the back end. Unique but comfortable.

Not much to look at, but I’m a sucker for interesting cask profiles. Wild nose. Front end palette has a weird spike of something, but follow up is a treat. Overall really enjoyable. Damn. Gonna procure.