KWM Whisky Advent Day 5 – Kavalan Ex-Bourbon 54%
Posted on October 25, 2024
Welcome to KWM Whisky Advent Day 5!Day 5 of KWM Whisky Advent 2015 has us sampling a single malt from southeast Asia, specifically the island nation of Taiwan. Kavalan Distillery was the vision of Mr. T.T. Lee, the founder of the King Car Group, a large pharmaceutical / agrifoods business. Taiwan is one of the world's hottest whisky markets, and it only took King Car four years to get the project rolling from concept to distillation. The distillery was built in Yilan province south of Taipei over a 9 month period in 2005. The founders vision was to create a world class single malt whisky in Taiwan, he spared no expense, sought the most respected experts and they achieved their aim in a stunningly short period period of time. It doesn't hurt that Taiwan's steaming hot climate supercharges maturation, in just three years they can loose up to a third of a barrel and develop flavours that take 10-18 years in Scotland or Ireland. In 2010, just four years after the whisky first started flowing from Kavalan's stills, the distillery started racking up awards. This year Whisky Magazine Awarded their Solist Vinho expression World Whisky of the Year.
Taiwan is a very mountainous island, it has 286 peaks over 3000m, and a range of rugged mountains separates the distillery from bustling metropolis of Taipei to the north. The drive from Taipei to Yuanshan, the town nearest the distillery, used to take two hours, but a tunnel through the mountains cuts the journey down to an hour. It is a beautiful and easy drive if you are ever in Taipei, and a curiosity if you've ever visited a whisky distllery i Scotland. The distillery is named for the indigenous people who once inhabited Yilan's "Kabalan plain". The King Car Group built the distillery here because of the plentiful pure waters that flow from Snow Mountain and Central Mountain, but also because of the location's proximity to Taipei. Kavalan receives over 1,000,000 visitors a year!
Kavalan produces a range of whiskies, but their most sought after are those in the Solist Range, consisting of: Solist Bourbon, Solist Sherry, Solist Vinho (Whisky Magazine World Whisky of the Year) and atop the range Solist Fino. Today we are sampling the Ex-Bourbon Oak 54%, who's closest approximation is the Solist Bourbon. Each of the whiskies in the Solist Range has a general style, but as they are always bottled as single casks there can be quite a lot of variation. While they will be quite similar, the Kavalan Bourbon 54% we are sampling here is not the same as the one we are currently stocking in the shop. But then the Solist Bourbon we have in stock at KWM is always changing as each Bourbon Barrel Kavalan bottles will yield little more than 100 bottles. Chances are every time you buy a bottle it will be a different single cask.
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Scotch Malt Whisky Society Canada - December 2015 Outturn
Posted on February 28, 2023
For the second month in a row the Canadian arm of the world's largest whisky club released eight new single cask, single malt Scotch whiskies. We had four full tastings at Kensington Wine Market to launch the release. irThey were broadly popular across the range. I had a lot of favourites this month, 55.25: "Scrumdidlyumptious" (which I think is a Ned Flanders reference) was so layered and delicate. 76.119: "Christmas Day in the Morning" lived up to its name, and 72.43: "Bunsen burner and burnt capacitors" (AKA Christmas in Voytek's house) was also a standout. My favourites were the two Campbeltown Malts, 27.109: "Guns on the grouse moor" and 93.63: "Unapologetic non-conformist" were also great.
55.25: Scrumdidlymptious - 54.3%- 20 Year - 2nd Fill Hogshead - Speysider - Profile: Deep, rich & dried fruits - Outturn: 199 Bottles -Â Panel's Tasting Note: ""This lavish dram oozed with honey and mead, and was perfumed with oiled sandalwood and rose petals. Aromatic aniseed mingled with carrot cake with frosted icing and chunks of roasted sweet potato. The flavours at full strength were deeply indulgent and the texture chewy and creamy. Juicy Jamaica cake laced with plump sultanas and coffee and walnut gateau topped with fudge. With water, cranberries and pomegranate tussled with plump prunes and honey soaked raisins. Peanuts and praline coated with caramel, and butterscotch jostled for supremacy. The finale delivered rich fruit cake and Black Forest gateau. Ravishingly indulgent and wickedly good."Â Drinking tip: "Great for a treat on a wet Monday night" - $203.99
123.8: In the Spanish mountains - 59.2% - 12 Year - Refill Port Pipe - Highland - Profile: Spicy & Sweet - Outturn: 743 Bottles - Panel's Tasting Note: "From the nose, we conjured an image of Spanish mountain villages – horses, hay-wains, orchards, citrus groves, rose gardens, sunshine on rosemary and rustic farm-labourers whittling wood. We also found plentiful sweetness in plum jam, juicy raisins, chocolate, toffee,marshmallows and fig rolls. Water brought out raspberry notes and Sangria. The palate was fruity, winey and tasty, with various jams, dried figs, vanilla sponge,Soreen and granola, but spicy notes ofginger, clove and chili tweaked our tongues. Water sweetened it further resolving those tweaks into tingles –cranachan, jam tarts, Pavlova and posh Pimms. The distillery is near the West Highland Way." Drinking Tip: "Will get a conversation going for sure." - $142.99
76.119: On Christmas Day in the Morning - 56.7% - 18 Year - Refill Butt - Speyside - Profile: "Deep, rich &...
KWM Whisky Advent Day 4 - G&M Connoisseurs Choice Ledaig 1999
Posted on October 25, 2024
Welcome to KWM Whisky Advent Day 4!The 4th day of KWM Whisky Advent features our first independent bottling, the Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice Ledaig 1999. Independent Bottlers are firms that bottle whiskies from a range of distilleries under their own label. Some of these firms, like Gordon & MacPhail (G&M), are over a century old having gotten their start as grocers. It may come as a surprise to many single malt drinkers, but prior to the 1960’s single malts were not easy to come by outside the Highlands of Scotland. Distilleries almost exclusively produced whiskies for blending, iconic brands like Glenffidich, Glenlivet and Bowmore only started promoting their own whiskies as single malts in the 1960s. However in the Highlands, grocers like Cadenhead and Gordon & MacPhail purchased casks which they sold to customers through their shops.
Most independent bottlers today bottle casks that they purchase on the secondary market or direct from the distiller, when they are willing to sell them. Unfortunately there is not as much care going into cask selection as some might like to believe. Many of the have to bottle whatever they can put their hands on. Gordon & MacPhail has a special and longstanding relationship with many distillers giving them special access to top quality whiskies. In many cases Gordon & MacPhail will have filled their own cask(s) with the distillery’s whisky, rather than rely on the latter’s supply. This is one of many the reasons why Gordon & MacPhail is regarded as one of the most respected independent bottlers. More reasons to come in a future post.
This Gordon & MacPhail has been bottled under Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseurs Choice line. From the Distillery: "In the mid-1960s Gordon & MacPhail took the unprecedented step of launching a range of single malts under the brand name 'Connoisseurs Choice'. Until this time, many of the whiskies the range featured would not have been available as single malt. Today, Connoisseurs Choice retains this exclusive nature with a range of rare and sought after single malts from distilleries throughout Scotland."
Our day 4 whisky is a peated Tobermory, which the distillery and G&M call Ledaig, pronounced Led-chig. Tobermory Distillery is one of the oldest in Scotland, founded in 1798 in the town of the same name on the island of Mull. The town is built around a beautiful small bay which has been safe anchorage for millenia. In 1588 a Spanish Galleon, allegedly the Florencia, took refuge in the harbour. It caught fire under suspicious circumstances and sunk after the powder magazine caught fire. Legend has it the ship was laden with gold the Spanish would need to pay their soldiers and buy local allegiance...
KWM Whisky Advent Day 3 - Wemyss Malt The Hive 12 Year
Posted on October 25, 2024
Welcome to KWM Whisky Advent Day 3!Day 3's selection is a Blended Malt Scotch whisky, Wemyss The Hive 12 Year. Blended Malts are a category made more confusing by the SWA (Scotch Whisky Association), when a number of years back when they changed the rules governing the categories of Scotch Whisky. They abolished the centuries old terms Pure Malt and Vatted Malt, which referred to a blend of two or more malt whiskies, but no grains, and replaced them with the confusing term Blended Malt. The confusion comes in the association most consumers draw between Blended Scotch Whisky and Blended Malt Scotch Whisky. Rightly or not, the Blended Scotch Whisky category has some negative connotations surrounding it.
The Wemyss family are of ancient Scottish stock. They have been in the wine trade for generations and it was on their land that John Haig, founder of 'Haig's', built his distillery in the late 1700's. The Wemyss family has been in the whisky business for a number of decades with both blended malts and independent bottlings of single malts in their stable. They just recently built their own distillery, Kingsbarns, which we will start seeing bottled in the years ahead (2-8). I visited the distillery in June and it is a wonderful addition to the expanding stable of boutique Scottish distilleries. The Hive 12 Year is a Blended Malt Scotch Whisky consisting of Speyside whiskies matured in First Fill and Refill Sherry casks, bottled at 40%.
Wemyss The Hive 12 Year -40% - Refill & First Fill Sherry -Andrew's Tasting Note: "Nose: the nose is very honeyed and fruity with some earthy tones and musty oak; a touch of fruit leather and freshly polished shoes; there are some delicate spices, orange and Demerara notes too;Â Palate: the palate is very sweet, honeyed and fruity with building dark spices; the fruits becomes darker (dates and figs) as the spices darken to licorice and clove, but the honey is ever present; the orange and Demerara notes are still in the mix along with some coarse leather and soft earthy tones;Â Finish: honey and spices linger long on the tongue, some thin creamy elements coat the palate with faint traces of dark fruit, leather and spice disapear;Â Comment: when I think honey, I think American oak, cream, vanilla and honeycomb, but there is a lot of honey here event with the weighty sherry! - $76.99 (Presently Out of Stock in Alberta)
If you are wondering where the above photo was shot I'll give you a hint, I'm in Vancouver tonight for a tasting. At an old hotel...
Pre-Order it Here for Next Shipment!
Stay tuned for Day 4 of KWM Whisky Advent Tomorrow
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KWM Whisky Advent Day 2 - Amrut Fusion
Posted on November 21, 2022
Welcome to KWM Whisky Advent Day 2!Today, day two's whisky is from Amrut, India's first export quality whisky which has been well known and respected by malt whisky connoisseurs for some time now. Even thought the distillery has been operating since 1948, it only started producing whisky in the 1980s and when it launched its single malt in 2004, it was only for export markets.
Amrut is an enormous family owned firm that sells over 50,000,000 bottles of spirits a year consisting of rum, gin and vodka as well as whisky. The Amrut single malt was first launched in Scotland, because the product is an homage to Single Malt Scotch. Because it is not distilled, matured and bottled in Scotland, it is just a Malt Whisky, the term Scotch can only be applied to Scotch Whisky. Amrut was introduced to the Indian market in 2010 and is now available in more than 20 countries around the world.
Amrut uses barley grown in the north of India near the Himalayas, malted in Jaipur and Mumbai and finally distilled in Bangalore where is also matures in casks. Bangalore's climate supercharges the maturation of the whisky, and while most Scottish distilleries lose 1-2% of their spirit to evaporation (the Angel's share), Amrut loses 8-10%. After just 3-4 years most casks have lost a third of their volume. The distillery's oldest release to date, Greedy Angels 10 Year, would have lost 80-90% of its volume before it got to bottling.
For the Advent Calendar we selected Amrut Fusion, which is one of the distillery's most respected whiskies. Bottled at 46% without colouring or chill-filtering the whisky is produced from a recipe of 75% unpeated Indian malt, and 25% peated Scottish malt.
Amrut Fusion - 46% - Andrew's Tasting Note: Nose: butterscotch and pecans, juicy malt and a touch of gentle peat; fresh picked oranges, a faint hint of melon, beeswax and green garden notes; wet coffee grinds and some baker's chocolate; Palate: creamy, very honeyed (more beeswax), juicy malt and loads of white chocolate ( it is sweet); the darker peat, coffee and chocolate notes are there but balanced along with some crisp smoke and gentle peat; the palate remains fresh, fruity and layered with late spices and more butterscotch; Finish: light and lively but long with fading sweet notes and fruits; Comment: tasting this is a reminder of how much I enjoy this whisky, it is truly superb." - $75.99
Order it here!
Stay tuned for Day 3 of KWM Whisky Advent Tomorrow
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