KAVALAN Rum Cask French Connections 55,6%

Tasting note

• Appearance : deep burnished gold.
• Nose : fresh, well-balanced. On the first nose, aromas of ripe banana, sweet almond, ginger and toffee create a particularly complex and profound opening. Allowed to breathe, it reveals candied citrus fruit (lemon, grapefruit), fresh walnut, aromatic plants (sage, verbena) and delicious vanilla. Like a beautiful coastal single malt from the northern Highlands of Scotland, it becomes salty and honeyed (acacia).
• Palate : lively, dynamic. Continuing on precisely from the nose, the attack is salty, herbaceous (cut hay), fruity (pear, apple) and milky (coconut, almond). On the mid-palate, strong spices (black pepper, curry, nutmeg) offer a lively and determined relay. Characterized by walnut husk, cinnamon and exotic fruits (banana, pineapple), the end of the palate is also roasted (black tea, coffee), slightly buttery and rich (financier cake).
• Overall : long, delicate. With impressive balance, the start of the finish reveals flavours of salted butter caramel, coconut milk and beeswax. The delicately mentholated flavour palette gradually moves into aniseed and spice (star anise, clove). Leaving a signature full of upstrokes and downstrokes, on the retro-nasal olfaction, malted barley decides to take centre-stage. The empty glass is at once medicinal, herbaceous (fennel, alfalfa) and vanilla.