Review #118: Kavalan King Car "Conductor" Taiwanese Malt Whisky, NAS, 46%, OB

What is this, anyway?

It's single malt whisky from Taiwan, obviously, but I don't understand the range. The single-cask bottlings, that may or may not be called "Solist," are easy enough to understand; the others are more confusing. But I think it goes like this: the one called either nothing or "Classic" is mostly ex-bourbon barrels with a few sherry barrels; the one called "Concertmaster" is all ex-bourbon, and then finished in port barrels (definitely either barriques or pipes); and this one is a vatting of eight different barrel types, including a lots of different wine casks, but is mostly just Classic with a higher proportion of sherry barrels.

nose: soft sherry fruit with a little banana and coconut. It's a little young and grassy, but there's are some nice almonds and marshmallows, too. Some oak and that's about it. Very clean gentle nose.

palate: still very soft and maybe a little prickly, but the flavor is nicely rounded. the profile adds some toast and a lot of buttery toffee, but otherwise stays the same.

finish: the sherry fruit becomes juicier for a second and lingers nicely.


This is nice whisky -- very pleasant drinking and nothing objectionable. It's hard to see how it's worth the $110 or so that it costs, but I guess that's the way of the world.

score: 83