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Kavalan King Car

An 8 Cask Balancing Act.

0 386

@hunggarReview by @hunggar

17th Mar 2013

0

  • Nose
    20
  • Taste
    21
  • Finish
    22
  • Balance
    23
  • Overall
    86

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

Number six in my ongoing Kavalan adventure is called the "King Car Conductor." This is apparently a combination of 8 different kinds of casks. The distiller, Ian Chang, has mentioned that the typical bourbon and sherry casks make up for two of those casks. As for the rest, it's anyone's guess.

Nose: Light honey and vanilla. Fresh tropical fruits. Apples, bananas, pears, papaya, mango, coconut. Malt and hints of oak. Very Kavalan.

Palate: Malty and fruity with a semi-dry tang to it. Lovely creamy consistency. Some oak and pepper. Mango and coconut dominate the fruit notes here, but there are others dancing about.

Finishes on vanilla, roasted dark coffee beans and white pepper, which linger reasonably long.

This is a good whisky. But I don't detect anything out of the ordinary that might account for the remaining 6 casks which aren't described. The bourbon cask seems to have done most of the work here. The sherry notes add a bit of spice. Perhaps some kind of wine cask was used for tangy dryness here? Not a strong wood presence, so I doubt any fresh casks were used, but I could be wrong. Speculation on my part, but I'm admittedly curious as to what elements were combined here. I'll have to ask them when I visit in a few weeks.

Regardless, it's good. It's not on par with the Soloists, but it's a step up from the introductory releases. At its core, it's basically a bourboned whisky. But the peppery kick and the bitter, semi-dry tang give it a bit more clout. The three elements combine nicely, and the result is a balanced, quite complex, and enjoyable dram.

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3 comments

@Pudge72
Pudge72 commented

Very interesting review. The heavy tropical fruit parade on the nose does seem to be beyond the range (pear, apple, honey, vanilla) of a typical bourbon cask bottle, imho. I would be interested in others thoughts on this point.

Have you learned any further info about the other six casks? I would guess/assume that port would be in there, almost by default. I also wonder if a variety of wine casks would make up the rest (maybe to include a Sauternes cask, a la Glenmorangie Nectar D'or?). Just a couple of random thoughts.

Do you happen to know if this one will cross the Pacific to Canada in the future? If so, I would guess that it would hit the shelf for $115+ as the Concertmaster is at $113 at the LCBO.

10 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

Maybe some rum cask in there...they can give tropical fruit flavours also.

When I came back around to the Kavalan table at Spirit of Toronto 2014 they had already finished pouring out the King Car. I did sample the other 5 on hand, though. Trying these Kavalans was great fun, and very educational. One day I'll get a taste of this one too.

9 years ago 0

@hunggar
hunggar commented

Rum is possible. But tropical fruits are very much a part of Kavalan's house style, so who knows?

9 years ago 0

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