A few weeks ago, we bought two different bottles of Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask. At opening the first one, it was love at first sip.
The colour of #S100209030A immediately stood out: intense darkness, almost like Coca Cola. The other one, cask #S100205011A was slightly lighter and redder. There’s slight difference in taste too, but both are incredible in terms of quality. While the first one is very heavy, dark and bold, with lots of raisins and tobacco, the second one is fruitier and more tropical. It’s almost like autumn and summer. The latter is on the picture right here, let’s have a look at the tasting notes!
Deep red
Heavy and sweet, cooked cherries, stewed pears, wood, vanilla, brown bread and a tropical hint.
Dry wood, heavily infused with sherry, it’s fruity and there are lots of tannines from the wood, there’s even a hint of pineapple. The interplay between the wood and sherry notes reminds us of A’bunadh Batch 47, but a lot richer.
Woody sherry, hay, raisins, lots of fruits: apricots, peaches and pineapple. It’s sweet and warming, the finish lasts forever.
We read lots of notes of the alcohol being (too) present, but we don’t share that opinion to be honest. We found both bottles easily drinkable without the addition of water, but playing with it is recommended. The dram changes with every drop of water.
It’s hard to give both bottles a score lower that 92, so.. there you have it! Now we’re very curious for the other Solist expressions, especially the Port matured one. What would you recommend us?