Tasting Kavalan “King Car”
Tasting four Kavalan expressions in the past months (Kavalan,Concert Master, Single Cask ‘Solist’ Ex-bourbon, and Single Cask ‘Solist’ Ex-sherry ) left me wanting more. i was utterly impressed with the sheer quality, and innovative spirit of Kavalan and their head distiller Ian Chang. I was hoping more new expressions will be released, and having heard some rumours about two new expressions in the making, i eagerly waited for an opportunity to sample those.
And time has come, two new expressions were introduced, the first “King Car” named after the company who owns the "Kavalan” distillery, and the second named “Vinho”, which is equally exciting.
“King Car” is essentially a vatting of 8 separate types of wood casks (including ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and some others as well). This expression as opposed to the basic “Kavalan” and “concert master” is non chill filtered.
*****
Kavalan ,“King Car” , 46% ABV , NAS, Not yet available in Europe/USA
Nose: Starts off with the familiar “Kavalanish” notes ; Tropical fruit sweetness : bananas, Papaya, Melon , Vanilla, Oak. You can also find hints of Eucalyptus, and chocolate.
Palate: Sweet, sort of ‘Bourbony’ ,with the tropical fruits playing first fiddle here : banana-vanilla cream,Crème brûlée
oak, and also some bitter espresso , to balance all this sweetness. Yummy, mouth coating, and lovely balance.
Finish : Spices, bitter oak and espresso.
Bottom line:
This is a lovely whisky, well balanced, with the nice “kavalanish” tropical touches, as well the balancing bitterness of the wood, and espresso notes. Great mouth feel, and complexity. It’s clear Kavalan have chosen great casks for the vatting, and all the different types of casks well integrated to create further complexity and richness of flavours and aromas. Well done, Ian! . The only problem with thos excellent Kavalans is that they are not to be found anywhere.Neither in the USA, nor in the EU. I guess one can only get those if he visits the far east. I know most of the produce is aimed at Taiwan / China, but i wish more whisky lovers could enjoy this lovely whisky (and the other expressions). Let’s hope those become more widely available soon.
Additional tasting notes and more information about this expression can be found at the Whisky for everyone Blog.
Score : 86/100
Slainte!
Sincere thanks to Ian C. for the official sample.
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