Single Malt Solist Vinho Barrique - New Year Single Cask No W130204039 Bottled 2019
⏳ Drinking Window & Cellar Guidance
Ready to enjoy now; spirits do not mature further in the bottle and will remain stable for decades if stored upright and away from direct sunlight.
🍽️ Culinary Pairings
Dark chocolate, roasted duck, blue cheese
✨ Technical Specifications
Kavalan's Solist Vinho Barrique is a legendary expression that put Taiwanese whisky on the global map, famously winning World's Best Single Malt in 2015. This specific single cask release, Cask No. W130204039, was bottled in 2019 as a special New Year 2020 release. It showcases the distillery's signature STR (Shaved, Toasted, and Re-charred) cask maturation process, a revolutionary technique pioneered by the late Dr. Jim Swan. Using American oak wine barrels that once held premium red and white wines, the STR process coaxes out intense wood sugars. Maturing rapidly under the extreme subtropical heat and humidity of Yilan County, the spirit develops an astonishingly mature profile characterized by rich notes of caramelized brown sugar, dark chocolate, ripe mango, and delicate baking spices.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded in 2005 by the King Car Group under founder Tien-Tsai Lee, Kavalan Distillery is located in Yuanshan Township within Yilan County, Taiwan. Named after the indigenous Kavalan people of the Yilan plain, the distillery pioneered world-class Taiwanese single malt whisky production using mineral-rich meltwater sourced from the nearby Snow Mountain range. Kavalan capitalizes on Taiwan's intense subtropical climate, which accelerates the wood maturation process to yield remarkably complex, rich, and mature flavor profiles in a compressed timeframe. The distillery is globally renowned for its multi-award-winning Single Malt Solist series, celebrated for exquisite cask-strength releases matured in Sherry, Port, Ex-Bourbon, and Vinho Barrique casks.