Review by: Maltrunners
Raygun’s Introduction: Been nearly a year since our last collective review. Where does the time go? Once again, a purchase from Taiwan. I had a small pour of Solist Moscatel at a tasting at a Kavalan shop years ago, where I got to try most of the higher-end sherry casks. It was one of my favorites, but at the time around $275, which I felt to be a bit much. However, when a deal came up for under $200, I wasn’t going to pass it up. Especially interesting because Kavalan doesn’t release much this old: I’ve never seen one anyway. This full review features a summary of what we found, a group score, and our individual notes and scores for those who want all the details.
Distillery: Kavalan
Bottler: Kavalan
Region/style: Taiwanese single malt
ABV: 51.6%
Age: 13 years. Distilled on June 25, 2010 and bottled on December 6, 2023. Ancient by Kavalan standards.
Cask type: Moscatel cask MO100625002B. 366 bottles.
Color: 1.8 old oak. Yep, it’s dark. Natural color. Non-chill-filtered.
Price: $190
The Group
Nose: Wood was the main theme here. Both wood itself and some bitter flavors that tasters variously described as chocolate or espresso, overbrewed tea, and the like. Mentions of cherries and orange, but mostly it presented as very woody.
Palate: Again very woody and tannic, to the point where a couple of us found it almost (or actually) undrinkable. Others again pointed to chocolate, strong tea, cherries, and raisins. Chocolate was another common descriptor.
Finish: Highly tannic. Tea, chocolate, and cherries were mentioned again, and a couple of us noted sassafras.
Conclusion: I’m not even sure what to make of this. 13 years of tropical aging is pretty long, and obviously too long according to some. One of us hated it, one was very lukewarm, and three of us liked it. Clearly a very divisive bottle, and requires tolerance for a lot of wood. Subtle, it is not. Probably not the best bottle for an introduction to Kavalan. Those familiar with and fans of their style will likely enjoy it. I think.
Average Score: 67.5 (25-86)
Ricebowl
Nose: dark chocolate, stewed prune juice, tobacco juice, leather, Darjeeling tea, dank wood, elderflower, fennel
Palate: overstewed earl grey, hot, jammy blueberry juice, blackberry compote, tobacco, leather, spiced chai, licorice
Finish: Arabic tea
A fine composition
Final Score: unscored
Raygun
Nose: Rich and dense. Smells about how you’d expect from the color: powerful. Cherries, figs, raisins, and prunes. A hit of dark chocolate and vanilla. Old wood. Lots of wood.
Palate: As dense as the nose suggested, if not more. Small sips are the way here. Dark fruits, chocolate, vanilla, and cherry brightness. Like a rich sundae. Or perhaps a cola float, as there’s that, too. Like cherry coke, considering the cherry flavor. This is just huge. Not as sweet as PX, but has some of that syrupy quality. Has an herbal touch as well.
Finish: Sticks to the tongue. Still very desserty, and there’s a hint of herbal influence that I noticed on the palate, too. Like sassafras. Cola, intense fruit, and a little stronger vanilla now. Dried orange peel. Very long.
Conclusion:A true bomb: this is a Moscatel punch in the face with nothing subtle about it. The cask influence is very strong, but doesn’t taste overoaked to me even at this age. Just requires time and small sips, because it can easily get overbearing otherwise. Not really the style I go for often now, but the cask quality is obviously there. Very tasty, if not something I’d reach for that often. I didn’t care much for the Oloroso Solists I’ve tried. I’ve much preferred the other sherry varietals. Too bad they’re about twice as expensive.
Final Score: 86
zSolaris
Nose: Smells very woody, as in some wood that has been soaked in a liquid for a very long time. It is also very nutty with candied walnuts and pecans coming to mind.
Palate: At full strength, I nearly had to spit this out as it is pretty hard to drink for me. It is very alcohol heavy, rather hot, and tasted like drinking wood varnish straight from the bottle. Adding some water turns down the heat but made it no less unpleasant to drink.
Finish: Mercifully short. Paint thinner.
Conclusion: It has been a long while since I’ve had a Kavalan. Normally, I’ve really enjoyed what they’ve done and particularly so what comes from their Solist line. It was a struggle to work through even a few sips much less an entire pour of this. The nose had some promise with those candied walnut and pecan notes but everything after that was rough. Shame really.
Final Score: 25
Whiskery Turnip
Nose: Massive cask notes of new leather shoes, espresso martinis, and Christmas cake crème brûlée arrived on the woodsy and very punchy aroma. It was all very classy with charred oak, cedar, oak moss, and resin providing background music for big stewed plums, lacquered wood, and leather.
Palate: Medium-bodied, the palate was bursting with juicy stewed plums, licorice, and cinnamon spice. Plenty of leather, lacquered wood, espresso, and dark chocolate filled in the gaps with a touch of sour cherries.
Finish: The finish was medium to long and drying with cherries and chocolate lingering alongside new leather.
Absolutely pure Kavalan, this was a cask bomb like no other— and few do it quite as well as Kavalan. This style of whisky is not my favorite, if it is yours, I have no doubt you might score this a bit higher. The aroma was particularly nice with its deep, roasty, almost savory notes that were not at all what I expected from the moscatel maturation. The mouthfeel was another highlight with a syrupy quality that elevated some of the fruit and never drifted toward the sort of bitterness that can accompany espresso and dark chocolate notes.
Final Score: 81
Demi Tastes
Nose: My first impression before resting it: a sharp shiny grain-whisky-like nose, with wood lacquer and wood shop lumber… a bit concerning. After a long rest with a cover on, it’s more balanced. Rich bourbon-soaked cocktail cherries. Blood orange juice. With some air and time the rich oxidized fruity profile of the sherry comes through with warm syrupy dates. French vanilla bean. Floral Mexican milk chocolate (more floral than American or European chocolate). Hint of pomelo citrus. Hint of bubble gum with a tiny touch of mint.
Palate: A slightly harsh tannic bitterness but not unbearable. Red fruits but dehydrated, sticky, shriveled, raisin-like versions of cherries and dates. Black cherry without sweetness. Everything is coated in bitter tannins. There’s more here that prompts me to push past the tannins. At that point the sweetness is more obvious and balances the fruits, bringing those flavors into focus. Hint of Red Vines. The sweetness is like a wood-heavy bourbon rather than a malt in a sweet sherry cask. Acclimating to the drying tannins a bit, the mouthfeel is mildly effervescent like a flat sparkling water.
Finish: The tannic burn lingers in the back of the mouth and down the throat – the burn on the finish doesn’t improve with more time or more sips. A bit of bubble gum, touch of mint. Later, root beer develops, from a sassafras note combining with the mint. More on antique candies: horehound candies – I knew that bag of weird sweets would come in handy someday as a tasting note. Retronasal have a bunch of Red Vines on a heavy exhale through the nose.
Conclusion: A bit unapproachable at first with some harshness that needed to dissipate before I could enjoy it. The nose is good but the palate and finish largely let it down. Ultimately the sherry is good here but where is the malt? The faint floral and citrus character buried in the cask perhaps was the original malt character, but some of those notes could easily come from the sherry as well. I wanted to get more from the palate but initially found it difficult to dissect because of an unpleasant, somewhat harsh bitterness that negatively impacted the mouthfeel and made me want to put this away. It felt like it had more to say so I patiently dug more into the profile more. This exploration gave significantly more than the first impression, so it was worth it, but the net result of the experience was still a whiskey I won’t reach for that often. Not an “easy” relaxing dram by any means.
Buy a bottle? 1/5 – meh. It’s ultimately a rich cask if you can handle digging through a few layers. Consider the discount, and accounting for age, and if you really want to own a Kavalan and this is the only (or maybe cheapest) option available. Maybe budget is no factor. Then if all those things align, it’s still a 2/5 maybe at best. I think it’s far more likely there’s a better Kavalan within arm’s reach.
Final Score: 77/100 – “good” but short of “very good” – it’s challenging to interpret beyond a surface level harshness.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 