Rating: 17/23 N: Wow, there's a lot of dusty wood. It's a lot like 15 year old Dickel. I didn't see that coming. There's a tannic layer with a hint of orange peel aggression to it. Faint malty richness and sweetness, but they unfortunately aren't as strong as the kind of mild but definitely present raw chicken meatiness. Some spiciness featuring black pepper, along with some cinnamon and ginger with a numbing clove backing. Maybe a touch of cardamom. This has a lot more aged bourbon notes than I'd expected, yet it somehow seems both a bit over-aged and a bit young. P: There are a lot of tannins here. Lots of wood with spices. A substantial amount of vanilla. Not so much of those tropical fruits that I usually associate with Kavalan, but they are there. Pineapple up front, then orange, passionfruit, papaya, mango, and banana. I really like those tropical fruits and I was a bit worried at first that they wouldn't be there. This tastes like Kavalan discovering that whisk(e)y ages faster in the tropics. It's like they threw whisky in a bourbon barrel, planning to let it age for 20 years, then sampled it after 8 years and were like "oh, no! we need to dump this now!". As I stated, it isn't over-oaked, but it tastes like it's pushing the limit. There is rich maltiness with sweet nectar here, and I'm so grateful for those flavors. The oaky tannins seem to be pushing just a hair into over-oaked territory. Fortunately, there are still those tropical fruit flavors too. I do taste a little of the ethanol, but it's an appropriate amount for the proof. F: Dry wood with some spices that tend toward bitter and numbing. Hints of vanilla. I'd love to say that there's tropical fruits as well, but if anything there are ghosts of tropical fruits. It's not that good of a finish, but those phantom tropical fruits really do help a lot. - Conclusion - Considering the oakiness, Resilient 15 (18/23) comes to mind for comparison. The Resilient is a bit lighter with more minerality, but it also has more apples and just definitely more depth than this does. I would take the Resilient in a heartbeat. The amount of tannic oakiness is pretty similar between the two, but I think that this is just starting to pass the optimum level. I'm inclined to place Kavalan Distillery Select (Batch 1) (16/23) above this. Sure, it clearly hasn't aged as long, but it does a great job of of balancing its tannins with tropical fruits and malt. This is less interesting and unfortunately just doesn't seem to be as well executed. The gap isn't huge, but I think I have a preference. And I can even taste the alcohol here a bit, which isn't a great indicator. Kavalan Concertmaster (16/23) is more complex than this, but it's certainly less full and rich. They're quite different styles. Still, I'm inclined to put this below the Concertmaster. Or maybe it does reach the level of a 16. There's just a bit of an apricot flavor that reminds me of Bushmill's 21. The complexity here does eventually come out, but it it's a bit of a struggle. This also seems decidedly better than Kavalan Podium (15/23). There's no question. Coming back around for some more tastings, this is more complex and balanced than The Distillery sElect. The Distillery Select is more bright an approachable, but this is more mature and refined once that slightly excessive oakiness subsides a bit. Still, this isn't winning by a lot. It's interesting how putting this against the Distillery Select and the Concertmaster really highlights their different styles in a way that showcases the advantages of each. I spent a while thinking that this would be a 15 or a 16, but after all of this side-by-siding, I'm thinking that it's more of a 16 or 17. I'm inclined to place it above the Concertmaster and Distillery Select based on its surprising nuance mixed with richness and maturity. It's still battling with some flaws and Resilient 15 still seems definitely better to me, but this is better than I'd initially thought. While I'm kind of tempted to give this a 17, I think that a 16 is the most reasonable choice here. If I had to rank the three Kavalan's I've given 16s to from best to worst, it would be this, then the Distillery Select, then the Concertmaster. Whatever the situation, there is no doubt that the Resilient is better. A final round of tasting puts this much closer to the Kavalans than to the Resilient. I can still imagine a 17 for this, but it's a little less likely than a 16. Yeah, in a finally round of sipping, I'm not so sure that this beats the other Kavalans (aside from the Podium) anymore. OK, one final side by side. This is more complex than the Distillery Select, but it also has less bold tropical character. This still tastes like it was barely saved from the barrel in time, but I am concluding that it was saved in time. This isn't quite on the same level as ThatBoutique-y Whisky Company's Auchroisk 19 (18/23), but it's not that far away. I think I'll up this to a 17. The Resilient still definitely beats this.