Head to head · same category, comparable price
Ardbeg 10 Year Old vs Kavalan Classic Single Malt
They diverge on 3 of our eight axes, most of all peaty, 9 against 0.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Ardbeg 10 Year Old | Kavalan Classic Single Malt | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Single malt |
| Origin | Islay, Scotland | Taiwan |
| Age | 10 years | No age statement |
| Strength | 46% ABV | 40% ABV |
| Cask | Ex-bourbon barrel | American oak |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £48 | £60 |
| Per 10cl | £6.86 | £8.57 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £149 | £214 |
| Chill-filtered | No | Not stated |
What separates them
Different countries: Ardbeg 10 Year Old from Islay, Scotland, Kavalan Classic Single Malt from Taiwan.
Ardbeg 10 Year Old states 10 years; Kavalan Classic Single Malt states none.
Cask as each producer describes it: Ardbeg 10 Year Old in ex-bourbon barrel, Kavalan Classic Single Malt in american oak.
Chill filtration: Ardbeg 10 Year Old is not, Kavalan Classic Single Malt does not say.
Colour: Ardbeg 10 Year Old natural colour, Kavalan Classic Single Malt silent.
Kavalan Classic Single Malt: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Kavalan Classic Single Malt is £12 dearer a bottle than Ardbeg 10 Year Old.
Strength keeps that ordering: £149 a litre of pure alcohol for Ardbeg 10 Year Old against £214.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Ardbeg 10 Year Old is 18th cheapest and Kavalan Classic Single Malt 28th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Ardbeg 10 Year Old | Kavalan Classic Single Malt |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 9 | 0 |
| Sweet | 3 | 7 |
| Fruity | 4 | 8 |
| Spicy | 5 | 4 |
| Woody | 4 | 5 |
| Sherried | 1 | 3 |
| Cereal | 4 | 4 |
| Oily | 7 | 6 |
3 of the eight axes clear 3 points; after peaty comes sweet at 3 against 7 and fruity at 4 against 8.
Level only on cereal, 4 each.
Each bottle in its own right
Ardbeg 10 Year Old
Tar, lime and soot, then a long smoked-vanilla finish. Bracing rather than comfortable.
Ardbeg's own page states the whisky is matured solely in ex-bourbon casks and is non-chill filtered, with no sherry component at all — unusual for a flagship Islay malt. It is bottled at 46% where most competitors at the price sit at 40%.
Full record →Kavalan Classic Single Malt
Mango and coconut — subtropical maturation doing something Scotland cannot.
Matures in Yilan's heat, losing far more to evaporation each year than a Scottish warehouse.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Ardbeg 10 Year Old for first serious peated malt and value at 46%, Kavalan Classic Single Malt for something different and fruit-forward drinkers.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Ardbeg 10 Year Old and Kavalan Classic Single Malt: ardbeg.com, kavalanwhisky.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.