Taiwan’s Kavalan Distillery has unveiled a new expression in its premium whisky range – Solist Palo Cortado. Bottled at between 50% and 59.9% ABV, the wine becomes the seventh finished product in the distillery’s line-up known for its Sherry aged flavour, joining previously released expressions such as Fino, Oloroso, Amontillado, Manzanilla, Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel.
The Solist series upholds Kavalan's commitment to exquisite craftsmanship. Each product uses natural color, is not cold-filtered, and is presented in single cask strength, ensuring that each bottle shows unique personality and quality. Kavalan CEO YT Lee described this series as the "Sherry Cask Encyclopedia", meaning that the series fully presents the various variations and characteristics of sherry-flavored barrels. The Palo Cortado launched this time is even more unique because less than 1% of the world's sherry production comes from Palo Cortado barrels. This extremely rare and unique barrel is even deliberately reserved by Kavalan for final use.
As YT Lee said, “We kept one of the rarest and most unique sherry barrels in the world until the very end.” Palo Cortado combines the elegance of Amontillado with the richness of Oloroso, exuding a multi-layered and delicate aroma of cocoa powder, citrus, dried fruits, pastry and toffee. These barrels come from Spain’s famous Sherry Triangle region, making this whisky particularly eye-catching in the global high-end whisky market.
Official tasting notes:
The wine has rich mahogany and caramel colors;
The nose offers layers of cocoa powder and citrus, with ripe dried fruits and toffee, and subtle hints of nuts, vanilla fruit cake and cardamom.
After taking a bite, it presents the characteristics of orange pound cake, intertwined with the rich aroma of dried fruits, vanilla and baked biscuits, and then finished with caramel toffee and crushed walnuts, making the overall flavor endless.