Kavalan Concertmaster - Port Cask Finish

Complicated without being enjoyable. Fantastic nose, and then the palate is just confusing. You can taste a very immature whisky in there, way too diluted (40%, it needed to be cask strength to keep the flavours), and the port finish just barges its way in, as if it's not had time to meld together. A strange whisky I'd have been pleased to buy for £20-30.

18th June 2020

In 3 years I tasted more than 100 whisky's. This one is horrible. Smells very chemical, tastes chemical. Better buy a Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban!

29th September 2019

Nice finish but ultimately pretty weak and unremarkable taste. I'll pass.

21st November 2018

Fantastic, wonderwull, smooth and aromatic. Its a kind of taste. I love it!

5th April 2018

Very smooth ... if you like portcask finish dont hesitade and buy it.

24th December 2017

Beautiful rich aroma. Lovely contrast of sweet and dry on the tongue. More than adequate finish.

23rd April 2017

I have tasted almost all the Kavalan whiskies with a personal collection of their Solist series & distiller's edition. Kavalan got everything right with cask strength, sherry cask finish & intense and robust whiskies.
But this one is a poorly made whisky. Good on the nose (sweet, fruity & mushy pipe) but very ordinary on the palate with a poor finish.
Overpriced. Almost 70$ even at its cheapest.The port pipe finish does add to the flavour but that's it.
Just one tip: If u open the bottle, finish it. If it evolves, it loses its flavour and turns worthless.

10th March 2017

My hubby loves malt whiskies and gives kavalana rating of 5 very good whisky. Thank you

17th October 2016

tried this at a recent tasting, plenty of dried fruits and spices both on the nose and palate, long drying finish. Will be buying this in the near future.

21st August 2016

Good nose. Lots of port (of course) Tad musky to me. Something medicinal - antiseptic? band aids?
I was a bit surprised by how hot it was for 40% which I didn't mind. Good malty, sweet flavor up front and a tad sour. Bit of a flat finish, even watery - it had a sort of sugary smoothness on the finish that made me think "blend" too (like another reviewer). Hard to get a handle on its age - feisty start, smooth/flat finish....Well there it is. A bit all over the place and never settles down. Cost me $90 here in the US.

5th August 2016

I think some of the reviews here are way too harsh. I tried this at a whisky festival today along with many award winning whiskys and this definitely stood out. For port cask finishes I think Glenmorangie Quinta Ruba is better (and cheaper) but this is still a very good and standout whisky, maybe just not quite worth the asking price in certain countries. But hey, we're so spoilt aren't we? Maybe we just shouldn't expect to have whiskys from all over the world delivered to our door for the same price as something that's only travelled a couple of hundred miles. We're not talking about mass-produced consumer electronics here, we're talking about whisky, where even some big name producers still only have employee numbers in double figures !

18th June 2016

Odd the discrepancies between reviews. I've never rated anything below a 4 before I think (of probably 40 reviews). This one was utterly horrible though. Tastes not far off from Jagermeister (or what I remember from college years). Certainly it's better than that, but come on, I paid $99 here in USA/MI which would have gotten me a Laphroaig 18, A'Bunadh, or Redbreast 15 with $10 to spare.

2nd March 2016

I really enjoyed this! It's finished in Port casks so you can imagine what it's going to taste like...no surprise. The surprise is how luscious it is. Full of rich dark fruit and oh so smooth. Agree that the finish is a bit short, but excellent overall.

16th February 2016

I'd be disappointed at half the price.

Simple with a hot cheap finish.

12th February 2016

How this can remind anyone of blended scotch is beyond me? My 5th Kavalan tried and all have been 8-9 out of 10 and the fino solist one the best so called new world Whiskies I have tried out of over 1400 odd in my life. Dark charred tropical fruit, hot chocolate, malty caramel,anise, sweet oaky red berries, kirsch & Black Forest gateaux on the nose.Plenty to chew on here with stewed red fruit, spicy plum, aromatic oak, red wine tannins, anise and more choco/black cherry. Only critical note would be the short finish but this with a bit more age would be a world beating port cask offering. The Whisky Flaneur

19th May 2015

If you like The Macallan Fine Oak 10 or 12 yr, you will like this one. but It's not for the peat fan.

15th May 2015

Sorry but this hype over Asian whisky is getting old. Not a great product, taste is very bland and reminded me of blended scotch. Not even any unique qualities, very disappointing product especially considering the price. I have a very open mind when it comes to the world of whisky but my money will be spent on real scotch whisky, not poorly crafted impostors.

25th April 2015

Nose: a lot of different aromas coming through. The initial sniff had fruitiness and a sweetness to it. As it had time to breath, a hint of coconut began to reveal itself, a scent of dry coconut.
Palate: rich taste but hard to say what exactly it is. A hint of wine or port coming through.
Finish: once you swallow it's as if the whisky evaporated. A dry finish which leaves your mouth wanting more.
Overall: it's a unique taste and quite a good dram. However, it's overpriced and not the easiest to get a hold of.

22nd January 2015

Not a strong or smokey whiskey, more dry and fruity. Was skeptical before trying but was pleasantly surprised. Too bad it's hard to find outside Taiwan.

21st November 2014

I don't have a clue to what the other review is about because this really is a very good port finished whisky from a very good distillery. Well worth a try

6th November 2014

Quite possibly one of the most tasteless whiskies I have had the displeasure of drinking. It goes down easily enough but without any flavour apart from a bit spice this could just as easily be labelled any other kind of spirit.

6th June 2014