Nose: Caramel, vanilla, banana, creamed corn, bread dough, paprika. Also a fair whiff of base alcohol/acetone.
Palate: Banana, butter, creamed corn, licorice, bread dough. Not complex but that is often the norm with young, bourbon barrel aged grain whiskies. There’s alcoholic bite not from the abv strength, but from youth.
Finish: Is short on paprika, creamed corm, banana, licorice and base alcohol.
Last Word: Really not something to savor as a ‘sipping’ whisky and there are cheaper options in Japan that could be used in something like a highball.
Rating: 75/100
Quite different impression than we had from a small bottle I picked up July 2014 in Tokyo. We found a lot of ‘perfume’ and it was surprisingly delightful – not something any of us expected – particularly from a grain whisky. I understand what we had is a bit different than “The Chita” expression but had anticipated more similarities. Fascinating the differences!
Hi Carissa,
I have also tasted other grain expressions from the Chita distillery that were if not amazingly different in profile to my palate, certainly of a higher quality.
Regards
Brian