Nose: Very medicinal for a Japanese whisky. Bonfires from different woods. Malt, yeast, sea spray, moss, pie crust, stewed apples, butter menthols, overripe peaches.
Palate: Medicinal with a background sweetness to balance. Pineapple, toffee, preserved peaches, salt. Water tends to flatten this one.
Finish: Dry, but not a woody dryness, more ash/peat. Pineapple, bonfire, toffee, salt, pepper, vanilla.
Last Word: The most Islay Scotch like Japanese whisky I’ve tried but with underlying elements that are intrinsically Japanese in style.
Rating: 90/100
* Notes taken from a purchased sample.
Interesting to hear that this was the most “Islay Scotch like Japanese” dram you have had to date. Often some of the older 80’s Japanese whiskies have very Scotch like qualities, as you know, but I’ve never personally had the experience of having an “Islay Scotch like Japanese whisky” experience. Well, the closest would have to be Nikka’s Pure White, which I guess is very Islay like…..so I guess I have, but some how I think the experience is a little different. Tasty review, Brian. I feel like a very peaty Japanese dram right now.
Nikka Pure Malt White is and obvious candidate Clint because it contains a portion of Islay malt. However, this experience is not just a ‘little’ different to that one. It’s hugely different in my opinion. It’s not that it’s more heavily peated than other heavily peated Japanese whiskies I’ve tried. It’s how heavily medicinal this one is. I’d buy a bottle if I could afford one and I in no way a peat head. Normally I like heavily peated Japanese malts because they are not heavily medicinal.