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Kampai
Brian
Nose: Beautiful interplay of peat and fruits. Fishing trawlers, fishing trawler diesel, fishing trawler docks. Damp earth, tinned pears, apple sauce, Dragon fruit, burnt eucalyptus, vanilla bean, peach skins and a floral note. Some citrus and medicinal notes with water added.
Palate: Caramel chews, the best chocolate sauce, damp sweet earth, toffee apples, apple sauce, pears. Burnt eucalyptus, Ferrero Rocher, peanut butter. With water there is some tangy orange and medicinal flavours. Full bodied.|
Finish: Peanut butter, butter menthols, the best chocolate sauce, sweet damp earth. Is there such a thing as chocolate peat? Menthol, some oak tannins and some ash with water added.
Last Word: A cracking 7 year old whisky! Superb!
Rating: 91/100
Nose: The Red Wine Cask influence is definitely present. Figs, prunes, blackcurrants, strawberries, rhubarb, mango, oak, a floral note. Soft and elegant for 63%abv. More of the dark fruits plus dark breads with water added.
Palate: Rich and the power of 63% reveals itself on the palate. Not overwhelming though. Chili, fresh ginger, pepper. Raisins, currants, pumpernickel, brandy snaps, Brazil nuts, rhubarb. Caramel, honey and chocolate covered Cool Mints with water added. Full bodied.
Finish: Long on raisins, rhubarb, vanilla, pumpernickel, banana bread, brandy snaps and some oak tannins. Water brings out Butter Menthols.
Last Word: Dang……this is good stuff! Reminds me somewhat of an excellent batch of Aberlour A’bunadh. Certainly at the top end of the best White Oak Akashi Single Malts.
Rating: 90/100
Nose: Dulce de leche, warm apricot pie, nutmeg, sweet tobacco, vanilla, lemon curd, lumber yard. A big floral note with water added.
Palate: Hot! Chili’s, fresh ginger, wasabi. Once it settles a bit, on the mid palate there is vanilla, grapefruit, sawdust, fermented green apples, fermented pears, pepper, pie crust. Nutmeg, salt, oranges and more pepper with water added. Medium bodied.
Finish: Apple sauce, pie crust, fresh cut timber. Dry. Some caramel and orange slices with water added.
Last Word: The quality of the distilation is there but, too unbalanced on the young, hot and spikey side on the palate. Needs a lot of water to tame.
My least favorite of the Le Papillon series so far.
Rating: 84/100
Nose: Whisky soaked oak staves, caramel, vanilla, sweet peat, bay leaves, brine, stewed apples, stewed pears, pepper. More of the vanilla and some pineapple with water added.
Palate: Chilli and pepper spice. Green apples, tinned pears, sweet peat, vanilla, apple pie crust, sweetened lemons, brine. Just the right amount of cask strength punch. Pineapple and passionfruit with water added. Medium bodied.
Finish: Sweet peat, sweetened lemons, iodine, tobacco leaf, old leather, euchalyptus, butter menthols. Some passionfruit icecream with water. After a few minutes some pure smoke.
Last Word: Really well balanced. Very tasty and hard to stop at just one dram!
Rating: 90/100
Nose: Oak, red berries, pepper, currants, plum jam, dark honey, rose petals, nutmeg, mint jelly. Almonds, icing sugar and a light citrus note with water added.
Palate: Lots of jammy flavors, plums, strawberries, figs. Black currants, cinnamon, dark chocolate, coffee, rasberries. Almonds and lemon merangue with water. Medium bodied.
Finish: Plums, raisins, vanilla, menthol. A tart strawberry note with water added.
Last Word: A good whisky but comes off a little unbalanced towards the wine profile. I also think it lacks some punch for 47%abv.
Rating: 85/100
Nose: Whisky soaked oak staves. Caramel, vanilla, sweet peat, bay leaves, brine. Stewed apples, stewed pears, pepper. More of the vanilla plus some pineapple with water.
Palate: Chilli and pepper spice. Green apples, tinned pears, sweet peat, vanilla, apple pie crust, sweet lemons, brine. Just the right amount of cask strength punch. Pineapple and passionfruit with water added. Medium bodied.
Finish: Sweet peat, sweet lemons, honeyed oak, tobacco leaf, old leather, euchalyptus, butter menthols. Some passionfruit ice cream with water added. After a few minutes some long pure smoke. A really strong finsh!
Last Word: Very well balanced as I’ve found in all the young Mars and for that matter Chichibu, Heavily Peated Whisky I’ve tasted. Moreish, hard to stop at just one dram of this!
Rating: 90/100
Nose: Light for 61%abv and not particularly complex. Some vanilla, caramel, apple pie, acetone. A clay like note and a touch of peanut butter. Makes you work hard. Picks up with water added with some teak and a savoury BBQ note.
Palate: Much better here. Icing sugar, vanilla, caramel, oranges, mango slices, sweet peanut butter. Pepper, candy cane, peanut oil. A few sips in and some crystalised ginger. Toffee and more of the candy cane and apple pie with water added. Medium bodied.
Finish: Peanut butter, peppermint tea, candy cane. Fades quickly sipping neat but lengthens with water added.
Last Word: A really early example of a Single Cask Chichibu. Decent enough, but there are better example out there even if none of them are worth anything like the secondary market prices they fetch.
Rating: 82/100
Nose: Red Grapes, plums, sourdough, raisins, mixed nuts. Orange slices, red apples, all spice. With water various coffee beans and quite aromatic.
Palate: Prunes, raisins, currants, sultanas, seared orange slices, red apples, all spice. Pepper, salt, roasted chestnuts, Brazil nuts. Full bodied. The fruits are jucier and more concentrated with water added.
Finish: Prunes, raisins, oak, coffee beans, cacao paste, red apple skins, chocolate thickshake. Very good length. More of the chocolate thickshake with water added.
Last Word: Another beauty from this young distillery. Every bit as good as #0149 with enough subtle difference to be worthwhile having both.
Rating: 90/100
Nose: You can smell this is Heavily Peated from a couple of feet away! If you’re familiar with many Japanese Heavily Peated Whiskies you’ll notice the backbone of bourbon cask sweeter elements. Pears, apples, honey, vanilla, lychees. The peat is of the briney and earthy kind. There’s is citrus notes of lemon and grapefruit. Some bushfire ash, burnt euchalyptus and wood shavings. Bread yeast with water added.
Palate: Punchy spices! Lemon cough drops, lychees, mango slices, vanilla bean, wood shavings, burnt euchalyptus. More tangy with water added. Medium bodied.
Finish: Lemon cough drops, vanilla, bonfire ash, spearmint, mentos, wood shavings. Even mintier with water added.
Last Word: Another solid effort from this new distiller. A bright future ahead indeed!
Rating: 88/100
Nose: Quite herbaceous and spicy, licorice, cloves and pepper immediately come to mind. Also toffee, cranberries, red apples, acetone, grapefruit, leather, tobacco and a slight medicinal note.
Palate: Quaffable at 63%abv. Vanilla, vanilla custard, pears, red apples. Cloves, chilli paste, pepper, bay leaves, oak, sawdust. Water adds spearmint and enhances the herbaceousness. Medium bodied.
Finish: Leather, tobacco, charred oak, cinnamon bark. Quite dry but certainly not unbearably so. Water brings vanilla and butter to what is a long finish.
Last Word: An interesting and fairly complex White Oak Akashi.
Rating: 88/100
Nose: Raisins, currants, pepper, Christmas cake, blueberry muffins, black plums. Brandy, euchalyptus, leather, sweet tobacco, Ribena. Water adds vanilla, pork crackling and fresh chopped lemon rind.
Palate: Creamed sherry, guava, raspberries, oranges. Macadamias, cashews, almonds, pepper, pickled ginger, pumpernickel, varnish. With water the vanilla and pork crackling plus iced coffee.
Finish: Maraschino cherries, cashews, menthol, toffee apples, oak, peanut butter, minerals. Water enhances the toffee apples. Full bodied.
Palate: Young Mars sherry cask matured whiskies are proving to be more consistant that the old sherry cask matured stuff. This one is super!
Rating: 91/100
Nose: Plums, raisins, pepper, blood oranges, shoe/leather polish, pecans, brandy snaps, incense. With water some short black coffee and an extra dash of pepper. Composed and well balanced.
Palate: Juicy dried fruits of raisins, currents and plums. Pepper, maraschino cherries, licorice, ginger, nutmeg, blood oranges, dark chocolate. Nice balance of bitter and sweet. With water becomes sweeter overall with a dollop of dark honey and sticky toffee. Full bodied.
Finish: Cappuccino, raisins, mint, plums, pipe tobacco, pecan pie, cacao paste, dried papaya, oak. Water adds dark honey to the finish. Good length.
Last Word: Lots of classic sherry cask notes and flavors. Zero sulphur and excellent balance. More velvet glove than steel fist. Can definitely go toe to toe with some of the hyped and very expensive sherry cask whiskies from other Japanese Distilleries(which I tasted along side).
Rating: 90/100
Nose: Starts on stone fruits such as peaches and apricots. Malt, dusty oak, stewed apples, nutmeg, vanilla. Earthy peat, sump oil, hospital disinfectant. There’s a floral element that presents with time, roses/carnations? Water enhances the floral note.
Palate: Mixed nuts, vanilla, grapefruit, pepper, oak, raisins, orange juice. Earthy peat and hospital disinfectant. Water adds some burnt apple pie crust.
Finish: Quite bitter, a mineral element and some drying oak. Water adds some tangy citrus and the earthy peat and hospital disinfectant make a return combined with mint candies and bonfire smoke.
Last Word: Nose shows a lot of promise but the the palate and finish are somewhat unbalanced on the bitter side. I do note that my palate felt quite sensitive/raw during this tasting so the score might have been a touch better on another day. Or, does Muzunara Oak and Peated Malt clash? I believe this may have been the first whisky I’ve tasted with this combination.
Rating: 81/100
Nose: Sweet with lots of honey, vanilla, toffee chews, almonds. Tinned pears, apricot jam, white flowers, white grapes. There is also a decent amount of oak for a young whisky. Water brings out some brine, black olives & varnish.
Palate: A huge hit of wood spices! Surely a first fill cask. Quite mouth coating, not so much oiliness but butter/cream. Honey, toffee, tinned pears, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, Saville oranges, peanut brittle. Water brings out some sherbet zing. Medium bodied.
Finish: Nutmeg, leather, tobacco, baking spices, Danish pastry, oak. Water brings out a mineral element and white grape skins. Medium length.
Last Word: Really solid young whisky that basically says yep, we might be a new distillery, but we already know how to produce good whisky.
Rating: 85/100
Nose: Dark chocolate, lemon cough drops, BBQ pineapple, diesel fumes, coal, creosote. Damp earth, Bay Leaves, mechanics work shop, ripe pear skins, vanilla pod, stables. With water even more diesel, plus tar in Betadine.
Palate: Pepper, chili’s, paprika. Soot, 90% dark chocolate, dried pears, mandarins, vanilla, coal, raisins. Water adds lemon, salt and Bay Leaves. Full bodied.
Finish: Mint, 90% dark chocolate, pepper, chili’s, cacao paste, short black, balsamic, soot, dry. Water lengthens the hot spices and adds trailing lemons.
Last Word: A whisky that brings a sledge hammer to a knife fight. While maybe not as balanced as some of the other Mars Heavily Peated Whiskies I’ve tasted it’s certainly entertaining. The nose it the highlight.
Rating: 86/100
Nose: Barley, vanilla wafers, banana, apple pie, dried pears, almond flakes. Dried mango slices, demerara sugar, orange peels. Sweet and mellow. With water some wild flower pot pourri.
Palate: Starts with a big hit of spices both hot and baking. Barley, apple pie, vanilla, butter, fresh baked scones. Oak, custard, tinned pears, apple sauce, olive oil. Water turns up the hot spices and oak and adds some orange juice. Medium bodied.
Finish: Custard, apple sauce, stewed rhubarb, oak, pennies. Water doubles the length and ramps up the oaky dryness and those metallic pennies.
Last Word: It will be interesting to see how the team at Chichibu manages their older stock as there is already some strong oak character even at 10 years old. Prefer this one sans H2O. A sweet, malty, spicy delight. The label is a drawing by the daughter of the owner of Bar Te-Airigh.
Rating: 90/100
Nose: Barley, lemon cough drops, sawdust, vanilla, custard, malt, orange zest, some acetone. With water oak and more citrus.
Palate: Icing sugar, sweetened lemon, white chocolate, orange zest, toffee. With water fig paste, tangy citrus, mint chocolate.
Finish: Long and sweet on melon, vanilla, icing sugar. Water addds length, some warming spices, malt and menthol.
Last: Best with water that adds complexity and length to the finish.
Rating: 87/100
Nose: Butter, malt, dried apples, pears, cantaloupe, apple pie crust, pepper. With water lemon merangue, green apple peels, apricot jam.
Palate: Pecans, dates, apples, vanilla, butter, malt, marzipan, fermented pears, lemon zest, limes. With water lemon merangue pie. Full bodied.
Finish: White pepper, white chocolate, green apples, lemon zest, lemon merangue pie. Some late apricot jam. Good length especially with water added.
Last Word: Nicely balanced between sweeter notes and some citrus bitterness. A very good Chichibu!
Rating: 88/100
Nose: Quite savoury plus cashews, incense, custard apples, pepper, nutmeg, peppermint, marsala, hint of struck match. Complex! With water some grilled pork.
Palate: Cherries, seared orange slices, cashews, marmalade, pepper, chili flakes, marzipan. With water raisins, sweet baking spices and gummy bears. Full bodied.
Finish: Savoury, baked pork belly, cashews, cherries, gummy bears.
Last Word: Great complexity! One of the best Chichibu Whiskies I’ve tasted.
Rating: 91/100