Whisky : Kavalan Distillery Reserve Peaty Oak

Country/Region : Taiwan

ABV : 50%

Cask : Ex-Peated Islay Scotch Oak Cask

Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ Home

Nose : Juicy tropical fruits and melted Melona bars.  There is a faint hint of smoke rather like a sweet honey ham or a jam made from grilled peaches.

Palate : The palate matches the nose and leads off with tropical fruit notes; starfruit and dragonfruit.  There is a bit of pepper and licorice spice along with a bit of heat from the alcohol itself.  Hiding in the background are faint notes of tobacco, cigar ash, and mint.

Finish :  Long and syrupy sweet maple syrup.

Score : 6

Mental Image : A bowl of fresh tropical fruits and canned peaches covered in alcohol and lit aflame.

Something Better : Amrut Peated Single Malt (more smoke, more tropical citrus, more mineral)

Something Similar : Arran 14 (no smoke or peat influence, similar tropical fruit juice notes & spice)

Something Worse : Hakushu 12/NAS Distiller Reserve (similar hint of mint, smoke, less tropical fruit)

Notes : A handful of these minis were the first thing my wife ever “BIN”ed off the location whisky scene.  A friend who always seems to have the most random and interesting bottles offered a collection of these to our group after he decided they were too peaty for his taste.  I was happy and surprised to see my wife jumping into action.

This was our second experience with Kavalan after previously tasting the entry-level Kavalan Classic.  I had been pretty impressed with that dram and intrigued to try some more, the wife was impressed but less interested in dipping our toes into Kavalan when there was still a whole (& expanding) universe of peat to explore.  This bottle seemed to offer the best of both worlds, a new Kavalan experience with a hint of peat.

On the whole I really enjoyed the mini and I am glad we have a few more as getting our hands on more ‘distillery exclusive’ bottles from Taiwan is certainly no sure thing.  The amount of peat influence that came off the cask was pretty surprising and balanced well against the tropical fruit notes and spice of the Kavalan spirit.  Taiwan has been on our list of places to visit; we plan our travel largely based on our stomachs, and the thought of getting more of this—and tasting a wider range of Kavalan— has certainly helped move Taiwan a bit higher on the list.