u may be right bout those, but
whiskyforeveryone.blogspot.com/2 … vinho.html
whiskyintelligence.com/2010/ … ting-note/
wantchinatimes.com/news-subc … inCatID=11 (didnt get to try this one)
[quote=“tommy525”]Made it out to Kavalan Distillery today . GOt there at 5pm in time to MISS the last tour at 4pm. However, luckily one can still venture into the factory and see the process as outlined by murals on the walls. Peek at the stills and get an idea.
Then walk next door to the sales orifice and even get about 2 teaspoons of their first whiskey as a sample. That was the only sample they provided (it was free). To see what the others are about, luckily they are on sale. Bottles of 700cc, bottles of about 200, and bottles of bout 48cc available of all their different series . Except the best one, the Fino, which is only available in 700cc size (far as I can see) and for bout 6600.
I bought 3 tiny bottles of their Soloist series. One each of the favored one matured in sherry casks, one of the vinho barrique and one light colored one matured in bourbon casks.
trying out the sherry one now, not bad, not bad.
Took the 9 over there. Full of big bikes on the road and took the 5 freeway back thru the snow tunnel . Kinda scary as thats a first time for me and the traffic was crawling at 25kph initially, then up to bout 55kph. Took over 20 mins to get thru the 12.9 km.[/quote]
I plan to going there sometime next month, so thanks for the tip about getting there before 4pm. I look forward to tasting the stuff, finally.
Kavalan actually rates quite high and is well respected in whisky circles. Not my favorite, but by far the quality alcohol produced on this island.
I like it, and I’m no whisky connoisseur. OTOH it’s pretty expensive considering. If you happen to find yourself in Scotland, you can buy something really good for the price of a mediocre (cheaper) bottle of Kavalan.
You can here too.
Too bloody expensive! What mentally challenged clown developed their business strategy? “We’ll produce and sell unknown local whiskey at prices higher than well known imports.” Brilliant!
It was brilliant. They understand their market well. The average Taiwanese buyer will spend money on it not because it’s good but because it’s expensive. This will prove to whoever he’s drinking with that he’s rich and high-class.
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I had to photograph a bottle of it for a magazine assignment last year. Not being a drinker, and not willing to fork out over NT$2000 for something that’d never get used, I went to a few bars around town around town to see if I could find one willing to let me photograph a bottle.
Well, they were all willing to let me except for the small fact that none of them carried it because they say that Taiwanese drinkers won’t drink local whisky, no matter how good or expensive it is.
Well, at least it makes for a nice, elegant present for folks abroad. My friend just took a couple of bottles for her customers in Europe.
First thanks to Icon y su amiga for a nice trip out to Kavalan and good company .
Muchass grassias !! 
Tres desole your amiga dropped her fone in the toileto 
meantime, I am still savoring the solist matured in sherry casks. U know? To me, its not like its whiskey. I generally , recently, am liking the speyside single malts (not so much the peaty highlander ones). Somehow, this sherry cask aged whiskey doesnt taste , to me, like whiskey.
BUt is it enjoyable? A resounding YES. I am liking it. Tomorrow will try the other two bottles con me amico.
And yes i tend to agree that its priced quite high. That said they want to claw back some of their 60 plus million US dollars invested no doubt.
The distillery looks great and I am glad Taiwan has such a thing.
I wish Kavalan very much success !!
I want one small bottle of FINO for a taste test… cuz me too cheap to pay 6600 for a 700cc bottle .
Some pics:
The grounds are quite open and beautifully kept.
There are some interesting exhibits inside.
The schedule for tours of the facilities. They have an “art palace” -sort of art gallery-, the distillery and a sales outlet.
This enterprise entails a huge investment. Those barrels were bought in Spain, France, Scotland, etc. hence we have the top of the line, 6 thousand plus bottle of Kavalan Solist:
The explanations are written in cringe-free, more than adequate English. But this caption made me laugh:
More exhibits -also parts imported. The barley if I read right is also dried abroad, then brought here for fermentation:
cool pics icon
ok so i tried the three bottles i got, all the SOLIST series, one matured in port barrels, one in bourbon barrels one in sherry barrels.
verdict? I find the port and sherry barrel aged whiskey to be unusual, not like whiskey as i know it. NOt bad, but unusual and would have to acquire a taste for them. Sort of crossing the feel of wine with the feel of whiskey. The bourbon one tasted like whiskey should but seems harsh due to its young, 3 year age. For the same 250nt for that 48cc bottle, one could get (at Jasons) an 18 year old scotch whiskey single malt for likewise money. I would venture to say the scotch 18 year old is likely to be a better drinking whiskey.
So to repeat, kinda weird tasting on the wine barrel aged whiskey while the bourbon aged is “normal” but kinda harsh and a bit too young to be bottled.
its back to speyside for me OR jack if i want bourbon.
i still havent finished that one tiny bottle of sherry barrel aged Solist.
kinda makes me cough too.
[quote=“tommy525”]
jack if I want bourbon.
kinda makes me cough too.[/quote]
JD isn’t bourbon…
It’s filtered through a maple charcoal filter which disqualifies it from carrying the “bourbon” descriptor. Filtering or additives to change taste or color aren’t permitted.
[quote=“squall1”][quote=“tommy525”]
jack if I want bourbon.
kinda makes me cough too.[/quote]
JD isn’t bourbon…
It’s filtered through a maple charcoal filter which disqualifies it from carrying the “bourbon” descriptor. Filtering or additives to change taste or color aren’t permitted.[/quote]
Yes something to that effect has been mentioned to me before. I dont care if technically it isnt bourbon because to me, its bourbon like at least so therefore its bourbon.
Its different , to me , then scotch.
Is it made with wheat or barley? AFAIK that’s the basic difference.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Daniel%27s
corn apparently figures in jack daniels
some whiskey arguments:
[quote=“tommy525”]ok so i tried the three bottles i got, all the SOLIST series, one matured in port barrels, one in bourbon barrels one in sherry barrels.
verdict? I find the port and sherry barrel aged whiskey to be unusual, not like whiskey as I know it. NOt bad, but unusual and would have to acquire a taste for them. Sort of crossing the feel of wine with the feel of whiskey.[/quote]
Sounds a bit like Edradour’s model – lots of small unusual batches. They dragged me, kicking and screaming, away from Laphroaig.
[quote=“Impaler”][quote=“tommy525”]ok so i tried the three bottles i got, all the SOLIST series, one matured in port barrels, one in bourbon barrels one in sherry barrels.
verdict? I find the port and sherry barrel aged whiskey to be unusual, not like whiskey as I know it. NOt bad, but unusual and would have to acquire a taste for them. Sort of crossing the feel of wine with the feel of whiskey.[/quote]
Sounds a bit like Edradour’s model – lots of small unusual batches. They dragged me, kicking and screaming, away from Laphroaig.[/quote]
udderly understandable 