Whisky : Kavalan SMWS 139.6 “Viscimetric funk”

Country/Region : Taiwan

ABV : 58.9%

Cask : First Fill Port Barrique

Age : NAS

Nose : Rich melange of fruit and wood.  Bubbling pot of stewed prunes, figs, purple plums, and whole tomatoes.  Sweet raisins to snack on, slices of crisp pear, and a Werther’s caramel from Grandmother’s purse.  Spiced licorice, vanilla extract, black vinegar, and shined leather shoes provided tons of complexity and depth to the perfumey aroma.

Palate :  Thick, syrupy, and dry.  Loads of tannins came through like a strong tea.  Spoonful of brown sugar, figs, raisins, leather, and syrupy fruit punch.  A kiss of salt appeared along with melon rind and meaty pork.  Lingering toward the end were notes of licorice, root beer, and cinnamon tea.

Finish : Long and lingering demerara sugar, crushed cane juice, and popsicle stick.

Score : 6

Mental Image : Fruit Punch in a Leather Chalice

Notes : Some of these SMWS Kavalans have been a bit controversial— the Society prides itself on a decent level of transparency on its bottles and has continued to move in the direction of making more information available.  As such, the series of NAS Kavalans that came out over the last year or so felt like a pretty big break, how could there be no age attached to them?  The age of the cask seemed like such a simple and easy detail to include.  While I am not privy to whether the lack of an age was at the behest of Kavalan, or whether there was no clear paperwork on the age, or any other factor that could have played a role (unlikely as some of them may be), it was an odd detail to be missing in action.

The lack of an age statement did not affect the quality of the whisky in the slightest and this was quite tasty.  I am not a huge fan of the sort of “wine hammer” that Kavalan wields with the might of Thor, so this was not entirely up my alley.  Members of our local tasting group with a stronger preference for heavy wine influence found this to be absolutely delightful and more complex than the typical Kavalan “soloist” or “vinho barrique” bottle.