Kavalan Sherry Cask Single Malt Taiwanese Whisky (700ml)

This is the diluted version of "Solist", the cask strength ex Sherry matured whisky produced by Kavalan.

Tasting note: Impressive polished mahogany / copper colour. Fleeting flashes of sulphur are dissolved into layers of dried fruits as fig, apricot and vanilla vie for attention; levels into a lower-key fruit cake focussed bouquet in the later passes. A light entry leads into a mildly tannic fruit cake-like profile, with the sweetness tempered by balancing spices and drying oak. Tannins reassert at the finish as the fruit cake flavours subside. Nice textural qualities and plenty of ‘old school’ sherry influence here. Think GlenDronach in mid to late teens and you get the picture. 46% Alc./Vol.

Other reviews... Two out of three ain't bad. While Kavalan doesn't quite pull off the hat trick, this is no album filler either (can we still say that?). It is Karaoke Kavalan, Taiwanese X Factor whisky: a perfect reproduction of a big, plummy, pruney, tannin-soaked rich fruit compote with late fall damp forest notes. It says a lot about this distillery that five years ago we'd have marveled at this. Today, and by its own standards, it's Kavalan doing an Aerosmith ballad.
87 points - whiskyadvocate.com, reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Summer 2013)