Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique, w120727141a, 149/250, 57.8% abv.

Another infamous Kavalan product that won a bunch of whisky awards as well as the "World's Best Single Malt Whisky" at the 2015 World Whiskies Awards, well perhaps not this cask since each cask could potentially be different in the Solist product line. King Car distillers supposedly re-toasted casks that previously held both red and white wines to mature their new spirit. If I properly interpretted the both red and white wines description, it makes me wonder why someone would store/mature white wine in a cask that was previously used for red wine and vice versa... or did they just vatt/blend a bunch of red wine cask matured Kavalan with a bunch of white wine cask matured Kavalan? I'm not sure.

Nose: young grapes, wine, majority red apples, golden apples, dull river wood debris, easy on the olfactory senses. (Better than the macallan edition 3 I just had!!!) Palate: that macallan-esque taste...., but a sour note pops up, a woody bitterness pops up, slight smoke at the end.

Finish: moderately long, numbness from abv, slight smoke lasts at the end, but after a few sips the smoke element disappears.

Dry glass: dry leftover honey, not much.

Its not bad, but not good either. Very different from the other Kavalans. Now I'm wondering which cask won the award.

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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