They’re getting a lot of recognition. I read something recently that suggested the heat inside the facility (a natural result of its sub-tropical location) could be helping things along. They’re bottling very drinkable whiskies without the years of aging that are typically desired. I think this was it:
Amontillado won 2016 best something award so they are selling for as much as 700 a bottle in USA and Europe
Get me one if its like a hundred or something
Can’t afford more then that
There are so many whiskey awards that it’s difficult to know which is which.
I follow The Whisky Bible blindly drunk.
Following up on Kavalan shopping: I wound up buying a Solist Ex-Bourbon Cask at duty free in Taoyuan airport. It cost 2,550 TWD (this was the end of July 2016); I was actually looking for the Solist ex-Vinho Barique, but the airport didn’t have it. They also had the Solist ex-Sherry for 2,975 TWD. They also had the … Fino? … for a few thousand more. The selection was indeed somewhat limited. If you just want “Solist, any Solist” (which was basically me), then you’re fine, but if you want a specific one, you may be out of luck.
For comparison, the Solist Ex-Bourbon at Jason’s in the basement of 101 cost 3,000 TWD, and the Ex-Sherry 3,500 TWD. I assume it’s available for cheaper around Taipei, but I didn’t spend the time looking, and I’m guessing you can’t get it for much cheaper than the 2,550 that I spent at the airport. (And the Solist Ex-Sherry costs CAD200 / 5,000 TWD on the BC Liquor Store website, which would be a truly insane amount of money.)
And the whiskey itself? I thought it was great, but I don’t know that much about whiskey. My father and brother both thought very highly of it, and they know whiskey fairly well. It was nice to bring something from Taiwan that was actually good quality, rather than valued mainly for cheapness or exotic qualities. I’ll probably be buying a bottle for myself, but maybe the ex-Sherry or ex-Vino (not out of preference - just to try something different), for Christmas or some other occasion when I feel like spoiling myself.
Oh, and this being East Asia, it came in a big fancy box that included a nice whiskey glass. And the duty free shop guy spent five minutes looking for the “official” heavy-duty paper bag, which he then put, folded up, in the same paper bag as the whiskey itself. So that amused me. Free little bottle too, of the same ex-Bourbon type.
I’m curious about those duty free shops you see at Taoyuan upon arrival. Since I’d already spent way too much money in Canada and was rushing for immigration, I didn’t shop in them at all, but can arrivals in Taiwan buy duty free goods there? Or are they just for people transferring?
And I’m definitely eager to get out to the distillery with a few friends.
Yes, I sometimes do. Although the duty is so low in Taiwan that there’s often not much of a saving - if you like popping into the local offies and keep an eye out for promotions you’ll often find slightly better deals than the duty free. I do like the 1-litre bottles though 
I know no one will do this but i just wanted to point out that if you buy a whole cask worth of a solist bourbon you can get it for cheaper than the 2550.
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I went to a Kavalan shop today to buy the Soloist Blue Bottle, the single malt that was best in world last year.
They said ONE YEAR WAITING LIST.
I mean, it’s expected. When you win “best” or “no.1” in the world, people flock to buy it, just so they can flaunt it in front of their friends and never drink a drop of it.
1 year waiting list? I went a little over a year ago and bought 10 bottles before they had a quota per person. I gave a few to my friends back in the US who drink a lot of whiskey and they weren’t impressed. They were more impressed with the JW Year of the Monkey bottle I had.
Yep, put yourself on the waiting list. Ive been on the list for 6 months already
Lols a 120 USD bottle of whisky is nothing to flaunt about…
When it’s as rare as it is, anything is worth flaunting to your friends.
i follow the saying of nothing is rare if you throw enough cash at it and this is one of those items. Pay double the price and you can get it shipped to your house at the click of a button.
Costco - or at least the Beitou/Guandu branch - has a big display of Kavalan available. Prices for some of them:
Solist Ex-Sherry cask, 700mL: $2,999.
Solist Ex-Bourbon cask, 700mL: $2,649.
Port cask, 700mL: $2,999.
A mix of six different 50mL bottles, $1,739 (that looks like a terrible deal!).
Single Malt Whisky, $3,199.
Concertmaster Port Cask Finish, 1L, $1,699.
So those prices are a bit higher than what I paid at the airport for the ex-bourbon cask a few months ago, and a few hundred lower than the prices I saw at Jason’s. Which I guess is no surprise.
I tried the stuff over a year ago, finally, and was not at all impressed. (Don’t remember which one it was.). I tried the Concertmaster last night mostly because of the talk on this forum. The stuff is mediocre at best. It’s not even as good as the Nantou Omar stuff. The Omar folks will never win any awards with their crappy label design though. But I’m no expert as I think Cragganmore is the best whisky you can currently get in Taiwan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12y4FPWUCoE
practice Francais anyone? Here’s your chance to listen and learn.
Another Solist to try !
Now i have to try (in no particular order)
Moscatel
Amontillado
forgot the others…fill me in.
p.s. I think only the Solist range is worth (maybe) the money. The rest is probably not.
A friend of mine visited it before Christmas and reckons that every ingredient is imported and then mixed together and distilled on site only. He’s from the scottish highlands so I took him at his word.
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