Category Archives: Moods/Seasons

A World of Discovery, Karuizawa, Let's celebrate!

Karuizawa 32yr Single cask – 1977 – Cask number 4592

Japan – 60.7%ABV – full bottle is 70cl, my sample from Master of Malt was 3cl – $243 | £150 | €173

This is not available in US stores and not available in a full bottle from MoM anymore though, as of November 8th, 2010, you can still get a 3cl sample for $14 | £8.65 | €10 – I’d grab a sample while you can.

We in the United States of America are deprived.  Deprived and sheltered I tells ya!  When it comes to whisky, Japanese whisky that is, we in the US don’t have much to choose from.  Please do not misunderstand – I’m not discounting the Japanese whiskies we do have.  The Yamazaki 12yr and 18yr whiskies are fantastic.  So is the Hibiki 12yr blended whisky (to be reviewed soon).  We do not have, however, any Nikka whiskies like the cask strength beauty “Nikka Whisky from the Barrel” or any of their Yoichi whiskies like their vintage and younger single cask series, 10yr, 12yr, 15yr, 20yr, etc…

On top of this (and many, many other great ones out there), we do not have local access to any Karuizawa.  A crying shame.

These 1977 single cask Karuizawa bottles sold out from Master of Malt in about a day (update — these bottles sold out in 17 minutes!).  At £150 each, that’s impressive (if’n you ask me).  I had to get a sample – a mere taste of this stuff to see what I was missing.

Thankfully, the good folks at Master of Malt were kind enough to gift me a sample (todah rabah, gracias, danke, you rock).

Beyond the tasting notes I’ve read (I usually try not to read other people’s tasting notes prior to a review of a gifted sample as I do not want to be influenced in any way), I was intrigued by how the color of this whisky was described.  The folks at Master of Malt say “the whisky is tinged slightly green in colour, a product of the cask maturation.”  Let’s see if they’re right…

Color — Deep gold – no, green.  No… gold.  Perhaps the color of oloroso sherry but with a tricked-out iridescence to it.  Very cool.

On the nose – Big hot pokers up my big Jew nose – at 60.7% ABV, I shouldn’t expect much less.

Getting past this now…

Boiled red cherries and crushed sesame seeds.

Thick cut orange marmalade.

Sort of a meaty quality to it.

Swedish meatballs.

Deeply sweet and savory at the same time.

On the mouth – Not as hot as the nose but there’s a big sumo pepper fight going on in my mouth.

Light and bright in both flavor and feel then, a savoriness kicks in…

Roasted walnuts.

After the second sip, the mouth feel changes completely – this is some big league chewy stuff.

Unlit cigars with a side of Godiva chocolates containing ooey cherry and raspberry filling.

Finish – It’s all on bitter cherries and walnuts.

Long and pleasingly hot.

In sum – This is a G-d damn powerhouse of a whisky!  I’d say I only scratched the surface of its complexity.  Flavor-wise the balance was impeccable; everything worked.  It was so dead on with the palate but the nose was a bit hot for me.  While I wanted to add water to calm the nose down, I was a bit nervous to adversely affect the flavors & mouthfeel so I just manned up and dealt with the heat on the nose.  This is a contemplative dram, there’s no doubt about it.

Kavalan, Springtime, Takin' It Easy

Kavalan Single Malt Whisky “Solist”, ex-bourbon, cask strength

Taiwan – 58.2%ABV – 200ml sample (thanks to Ian Chang of Kavalan for the sample)

This is the final day Gal of Whisky Israel and I will be sharing our thoughts on the Kavalan range.  While I’m not tasting these whiskies blindly, Gal and I will not be sharing our thoughts on these whiskies prior to our posting them.  Be sure to check out Gal’s notes on this whisky (a link to Gal’s review is listed below my notes).

Well, so far, for the Kavalan range, I’ve really enjoyed their King Car whisky.  The “Concertmaster” port finished whisky was good (if a little off balance) and the Sherry cask “Solist” was quite the delicious pick-me-up.

This final “Solist” is also a cask strength whisky.  Kavalan have an ex-bourbon cask strength (this one I’m reviewing today) and an ex-sherry (yesterday’s review).

I am a big fan of ex-bourbon cask whiskies and if they’re cask strength… bonus!

Let’s see what we get:

On the nose – Big bright bourbony nose filled with vanilla and coconut (almost like a Sno-ball.

Also rubbing alcohol and tropical fruits (think pineapples and even a little guanabana).

Fresh cream (and creamy smelling).

On the mouth – Creamy mouth feel – very nice.

Vanilla and honey.

Birch beer with some high effervescence – it’s all fizzy in my mouth.

Finish – Long, more fizziness, lemon drops and vanilla ice cream.

In sum – A straight forward, light and fruity whisky.  Very impressed with the mouth feel – creamier than I expected, but with some lasting fizz to it – right up my alley.

This is a big, young sweet treat.  Early spring in a warming sun is just right for her.

I truly had a lot of fun reviewing these whiskies (and doing so with Gal!).  I look forward to their being more widely available and feel the world is ready for more “world” whiskies.

Be sure to read Gal’s review here.

Cold Winter, Kavalan, Need To Bundle Up

Kavalan Single Malt Whisky “Solist”, ex-sherry, cask strength

Taiwan – 58.7%ABV – 200ml sample (thanks to Ian Chang of Kavalan for the sample)

For the next two days, Gal of Whisky Israel and I will be sharing our thoughts on the Kavalan range.  While I’m not tasting these whiskies blindly, Gal and I will not be sharing our thoughts on these whiskies prior to our posting them.  Be sure to check out Gal’s notes on this whisky (a link to Gal’s review is listed below my notes).

I haven’t mentioned this is previous posts – the Kavalan range of whiskies are young.  Maturing in Taiwan where it’s hot as hell and humid as can be, the whisky’s maturation process is incredibly accelerated!  Given the weather conditions in Taiwan and the fact that they lose about 10% of their alcohol content every year (as opposed to the average 2% the Scots experience), the folks at Kavalan bottle this whisky at just three years of age (and they still get that beautiful deep sherry color!!).

So, let’s see how quick life in the cask translates to the final bottled product:

On the nose – Big thick, rich and fruity nose.

Dried apricots soaked in sherry.

Stewed prunes and household cleaners.

Some interesting notes of buckwheat honey.

Hot sugary cinnamon.

Dark chocolate shavings.

On the mouth – Young and hot (get your mind into the gutter, I mean out of… out of the gutter.).

Decent mouthfeel.

Ghirardelli cherry chocolate covered cherries.

Alcohol-logged Lincoln Logs.

Burning dry grass.

Chocolate Necco wafers.

Finish – Short in flavor (quick bursts of cherry, honey and oak), long in burn.

In sum – The youth in this whisky is obvious though not altogether bad.  I actually quite like the youthfulness.  If you’re a fan of the morning dram, this may be up your alley.  The perfect whisky to get you pumped up to shovel the snow in your driveway – winter is coming and here in Connecticut, it can be a doozy.  Now I know what to sip on when the snow piles up.

Be sure to read Gal’s great notes here.

Autumn, Kavalan, Springtime, Takin' It Easy

Kavalan Single Malt Whisky – Concertmaster – Port Finish

Taiwan – 40%ABV – 200ml sample (thanks to Ian Chang of Kavalan for the sample)

For the next three days, Gal of Whisky Israel and I will be sharing our thoughts on the Kavalan range.  While I’m not tasting these whiskies blindly, Gal and I will not be sharing our thoughts on these whiskies prior to our posting them.  Be sure to check out Gal’s notes on this whisky (a link to Gal’s review is listed below my notes).

Before I got into whiskies, I was a true lover of port and madeira wines.  The fruity spice of port and the earthiness of madeira turned me on like a light bulb.

Being a portaphile – I just made this word up and would hate to utter it aloud as port-a-phile sounds like something else entirely…

Ok, moving on.  Loving port & madeira like I do, I often find myself seeking out whiskies which are finished in these types of casks (such as the Balvenie 17yr Madeira Cask or the Angel’s Envy Bourbon).  When I opened up my sample package from Mr. Chang, I was excited to see a port finished whisky from Kavalan.

So, let’s dig in.  Can you dig?

On the nose – Lightly spiced with wafts of mangos.

Spices come back – cinnamon & nutmeg.

Fresh pears and over ripe pineapples.

A youthful nose with some hints of mushrooms and soured milk – earthy.

Pencil shavings.

On the mouth – Hits you hard with loads of spice.

Lightly sweet – watered down pear juice.

Good mouth feel but the flavors are a bit elusive.

Buttered rye bread.

A touch of honey.

Oh, actually, there’s a lot of honey here.

Finish – Wheat biscuits, side of honey and butter, shortish.

In sum – An enjoyable nose on this whisky.  The fruitiness was a welcome thing.  I was a bit let down by the flavor side of this – a touch off balance (or maybe I’m a bit off balance here!) from the nose and, quite honestly, I was hoping for a bit more from the flavor/palate.  The finish was quite nice just a bit too short.

Make sure you read Gal’s notes here.

An everyday dram, Kavalan, Summertime

Kavalan Single Malt Whisky – King Car Whisky

Taiwan – 40%ABV – 200ml sample (thanks to Ian Chang of Kavalan for the sample)

I first heard about Kavalan single malt whisky back in January when Luxist posted the details of a blind taste test with Charles Maclean as a taster:

“In a blind taste test organized as part of Scotland’s Burn’s Night festivities a Taiwanese Whisky shocked everyone by coming out as the clear winner over its Scottish and English rivals.

The contest took place in a hostelry north of Edinburgh and when the results were announced whisky connoisseur Charles MacLean exclaimed “Oh my God, is this an April Fools?” The scores tallied up with Taiwan’s Kavalan receiving 27.5 points out of a possible 40, with the next place (the premium Scottish brand Langs) scoring only 22 points.  The other competitors were Scotland’s King Robert (20 points), England’s St George (15.5 points), and Scotland’s Bruchladdich X4+3 (only 4.5 points out of the possible 40).

Kavalan comes from Taiwan’s first distillery, which was built by a firm from Banffshire, and uses Scottish malt in its production.”

This is the beauty of blind tasting.  Take away the label and all presumptions dissolve.

For the next four days, Gal of Whisky Israel and I will be sharing our thoughts on the Kavalan range.  While I’m not tasting these whiskies blindly, Gal and I will not be sharing our thoughts on these whiskies prior to our posting them.  Be sure to check out Gal’s notes on this whisky (a link to Gal’s review is listed below my notes).

On the nose – Light nose.

A touch grassy and very honied.

Hints of pears.

Coconut soup with all of the fixings but mainly some lime leaf.

Sugared hard candies.

On the mouth – Perfect mouthfeel – almost succulent.

Citrusy.

Fresh ground coffee.

Cooked sugar.

Finish – Sweet finish.

Medium length and traces of tropical fruits.

In sum – While not an overly complex whisky, it’s balanced quite nicely and dangerously drinkable.  Though not an everyday dram, I can picture myself reaching for this any day I’m looking for something light.  A nice summer dram.  Enjoy in warmer weather.

You can read Gal’s notes here.