First Impressions
Pour a Kavalan Vinho Barrique and the glass practically detonates with fruit. This is the cask that put Taiwan's whisky industry on the world map when it took Best Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards 2015.
Distillery & Heritage
Founded in 2005 by the King Car Group in Yuanshan, Yilan County, Kavalan was Taiwan's first whisky distillery. Master blender Ian Chang and consultant Dr Jim Swan engineered the distillery for the subtropical climate. The Vinho Barrique uses American oak barrels that previously held both red and white wine, then re-toasted and re-charred to Swan's specifications.
Tasting Notes in Detail
The nose is unmistakably Kavalan — that signature tropical fruit explosion of mango and papaya — but the wine cask layers in dark cherry, raspberry and plum. The palate is enormous, oily, fruit-stewed and chocolatey.
Verdict
One of the great single casks in world whisky.
