I recently received as a gift a bottle of Kavalan Concertmaster single malt whisky which is considered a top Taiwanese whisky. Top Taiwanese whisky? OK, let’s give it a try.

The Kavalan brand was the personal project of a whisky enthusiast and head of the King Car Group. Founded in 2002, the first distillery opened in 2006 and by 2017 the company had two warehouses with 130,000 casks. Along the way, the brand won numerous international awards and was well received by most markets. The Concertmaster brand is first aged in American oak casks, then finished in Portuguese Ruby Port barriques. This is designed to create a mixing of flavors and a smoother taste.

Upon opening the bottle, a pleasant hint of ruby port was noticeable and continued through my first tasting. Smooth and tasty. The Concertmaster has hints of several flavors including chocolate and raisins. What a pleasant surprise! As I tend to do in a first tasting, I went back a couple of hours later for another taste to see if the initial reaction could be duplicated and lo and behold it was!  I enjoyed the second tasting as much as the first and was very happy with the smooth ending.  I had one more tasting, this with a White Band Montecristo robust cigar and found that they made a nice match; there was no fighting between the two, no hint of bitterness and again, a nice smooth finish.

If you want to offer your guests something new, you will be complimented after they taste the Concertmaster single malt whisky.  Give it a try!