Category Archives: ~ Booze news / new products ~

KAVALAN Single Malts

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So, a whisky from Taiwan?? The main thing i saw in that country were some fruit wines!

But am open-minded, so i didnt think twice and wasn’t skeptical when i was invited to taste a range of Taiwanese malts. In fact, i sacrificed a much-needed nap. Haha

Was it worth it? For sure. All KAVALAN whiskies i tried were good. It was tough to pick a favourite.

Gobble up!

Gobble up!

On the firing line that evening at Whisky Tango Foxtrot in Damansara Heights were four varieties, out of a total of seven expressions! Quite a range.

The welcome drinks were the KAVALAN King Car Conductor (46%) ABV. I didnt ask how it got its name.

Ridin with The King

Riding with The King

An easy-drinking whisky, a lil spice, a lil sweetish, with a medium finish. Good balance. Actually all the whiskies are easy on the palate.

The Classic is the best-seller, and gave me a nose of liquorice. It tastes clean and pleasant, with some fruit-spice in the mix.

Style

Style

The Concertmaster has a weird bottle. It looks more like absinthe than anything else. It’s richer than the rest, with some sweetness and some complexity. It was a lil difficult to figure out as i had a damn cold.

Tripped-out

Tripped-out

An interesting drink is the Solist Ex Bourbon Cask. The name says it all – it’s aged in those barrels. This deep whisky does give you a quick bitch-slap, but it passes quickly, and you’d never guess it rolls in at 57%.

Champ

Champ

Unsurprisingly, this is Taiwan’s first single malt, and it’s only been tickling livers since 2008. Very young.

But it’s whooped ass. Between 2010 to 2013, KAVALAN won an incredible number of gold medals – at the highly-respected IWSC (International Wine & Spirits Competition) and SWSC (San Francisco World Spirits Competition). It was also in the best-selling whisky guide, 101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die. Prices however are on the high side, more than most Scotch whiskies.

It’s named after the earliest tribe that ran the show in the Yilan Valley.

The barley is sourced from Scotland, and the distillery is an hour from Taipei.

Takes a million visitors a year

Takes a million visitors a year

You can get them at certain bars (Barn Thai, Whisky Tango Foxtrot) as well as retailer Single And Available in BSC (Bangsar Shopping Centre), where there are monthly tastings.

The whisky has no age expression, and since it’s not a Scotch, they can legally be younger than five years.

As long as they taste good and are balanced, I have no issue with age!

 

Brain damage: 7.5/10

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Glenlivet’s new one

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One of my favourite whiskies is The Glenlivet. It rocks.

The single malt from a glen near the river Livet (the t is not silent) in Scotland has been producing good stuff since 1824, and is the no 1 single malt in the US. It’s light-tasting and agreeable to most palettes, combining well with Asian food too.

It’s now owned by Pernod Ricard, who recently seem to be making up for their lack of Glenlivet events, fortunately. The latest was held at Barn Thai in the new Jaya 33 Tower.

They had pizza. Nice.

That's the one

That’s the one

Glenlivet is whisky from Scotland’s rugged east coast, putting it under the Speyside category, whose whiskies are typically either light, grassy whiskies such as Glenlivet; or at the other end the rich, sweet, sherried ones like Macallan.

I’ve had various Glenlivet versions, but dig the 12 Years. Fruity nose, well-balanced in the mouth with no particular spicy tinge, ‘cept maybe a lil vanilla, and a smooth, medium-short finish.

The Glenlivet range consists of 12 Years, 15 Years, 16 Years Nàdurra, 18 Years, 21 years, and 25 years, with a number of limited edition whiskies, such as…..

.. the Glenlivet Alpha! A totally limited edition Scotch, with only 3,500 bottles for the planet, and 40 for Malaysia.

Special one

A special one

It’s awesome. Complex but smooth, with hints of  fruit. Sweetish, but spicy as well. ABV is 50%. Power.

The black bottle is definitely not whisky-like, and all it says is that its from the Glenlivet Distillery – no cask details, no age statement. (Those keen can get it at $868 from Pei Wen –

peiwen@millennium.net.my / 017 282-4844)

We also enjoyed the 15 and 18. Both score, with the 18 being particularly bold and spicy, if you’re into that; and the 15 quite rich.

The Glenlivet 12’s got my back. I think it’ll always be a close buddy to me!

Yup, we were blindfolded. Got a bunch of blindfolds at home now. Haha

Yup, we were blindfolded for the Alpha tasting. Got a bunch of blindfolds at home now in case of kinky parties. Haha

 

 Brain damage: 8/10

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Stoli joins da party

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Russian vodka Stolichnaya has officially and finally hit Malaysia, thanks to Carlsberg Malaysia, which now has several liquors in its growing stable.

The guys from CMB and Luen Heng threw a great party at Changkat’s Mango Tropical Cafe. There were good varieties of cocktails, using several variants of Stoli.

The early bird gets the eye

The early bird gets the eye

Impressive selection. Cocktails were prepared by BarPro

Impressive selection. Cocktails were prepared by BarPro

I’ve been having Stolichnaya for a long time, but it’s presence was never big here. It’s actually the pioneer in flavoured vodkas, kicking off the trend way back in 60s.

It’s a vodka made of wheat from the black soils of Tambov in Russia, where the company still owns its own farms. It’s triple-distilled, utilizing only the middle segment of the spirit distillation, rejecting the volatile heads and oily tails of the process.

It’s then filtered four times, before spring water is added.

Lined-up

Lined-up

The flavoured vodkas are really interesting, and more than just them regular fruit stuff. There’re varieties like Chocolat Kokonut, Chocolat Karamel, and Chocolat Razberi.

They sound like liquid desserts. It opens the possibility for some new and interesting flavours never experienced before. I really couldn’t describe some of the tastes my taste buds were subjected to from certain cocktails coz they were entirely alien and confusing. Awesome.

They have a jalapeno one too. Haha. However, they arent big in the RTD scene.

Situation pickin up

Situation pickin up

Sean and Henrik taking their meds

Sean and Henrik taking their meds

Here we go

Here we go

Acquiring Luen Heng was obviously a good call by CMB, whose portfolio is getting impressive. It’s definitely not just a lager player anymore.

You can stalk Stoli on FB here.

 

Brain damage: 8.5/10

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Kirin launches

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Japanese lager Kirin has hit our shores officially, via GAB.

Good mix

Good mix

The launch party was awesome. And huge, taking place at Zebra Square in the city.

Party kicked off just before sunset about 7pm, the best time to start drinks.

Some welcome thing goin on

Some welcome thing goin on

There was Japanese cuisine awaiting guests as soon as we stepped in, with an outdoor BBQ goin on. A friend passed me some yakitori (meat & seafood), which went well with the beer.

 

Keep 'em comin buddy!

Keep ’em comin buddy!

The main party was actually indoors. The set-up was like a mini food street, with lil stalls serving up good Japanese stuff. Swallowed them all, ‘cept some green tea dessert shit.

Bumped into the bartender that kept us happy during my last event at Zebra Square. He did a super job this time too.

The Japanese ambassador launched it in front of about 400 guests.

Party goin on

Party goin on

We enjoyed Kirin from bottles all night. The beer is 100% malt, as many beers are. This means it’s all-barley malt, with are no adjuncts like rice or corn. Some brewers like Budweiser add those to help the beer taste lighter, and coz it’s cheaper.

However Kirin Breweries (which was established in 1869) uses only the first-press of the filtered malt, which means the malt mash is filtered only once, then the wort sent to fermentation. The first-press is usually lighter, so this makes the beer taste lighter as well. Dont panic coz alcohol content is the same at 5%.

Easy

Easy

I’d put this down as a pale lager / pilsner. Characteristics of Kirin – light start, quiet finish, no lingering taste, medium-high carbonation. Bitterness is minimal. I’d say it’s a beer you can enjoy at anytime with most meals. Breakfast included of course. Goes down easy.

There was a limited amount of Kirin draught available, which was enjoyable. Smooth.

I do think they should drop the ”ichiban” for the export market, coz itchy bun means something else in English. Cracked us up each time the MC said it! Doesn’t sound cool. I overheard some trade guys near me sayin sumtin about itchy bawah.

Kirin Ichiban Launch Event 22

I’ve always thought GAB needs a wider portfolio. As for bringing in Kirin (they have a 5-year deal), it would be facing-off with (and is probably a reaction to) Asahi from Carlsberg (CMB). Which has years’ head-start.

An advantage GAB has is CMB has done all the groundwork as far as making Malaysians try Japanese beer. So the consumer-education spend and effort will be a lot less.

However, CMB now brews Asahi here, so they price it reasonably. GAB does not have that advantage yet.

Look out for Kirin at bars and supermarkets in Peninsular Malaysia. It’s available in bottles and cans. and possibly draught in the second half of the year.

 

Brain damage: 7.5/10

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