Tastes

NOSE: Starts with a bowl of hot oatmeal, changing to a handful of dirt and black tea leaves. That evaporates to expose orange peel, sea spray, and charcoal smoke. PALATE: Starts with a sweet cream, developing into some nutmeg and ginger after 5 seconds, and finishes quite strong with peach, dark chocolate, and cinnamon bark. OVERALL: You can’t do this without expertise and blending! People rave about Hibiki blends, but if you want that complexity with the punch of Scotch it’s right here at 1/10th the price!

NOSE: Sharp green apple and lemon. PALATE: Butterscotch and cereal. OVERALL: Great slick texture. Finish is short but neutral. It’s light in flavor but perfect as a casual drink neat.

With water. NOSE: Strong deep pineapple and melon. Undertones of butter and biscuits. PALATE: Starts with butter, moves to fruit and cinnamon. Finish with salted taffee, exquisite. OVERALL: Very similar to Hibiki.

NOSE: Butter, petrol, shortbread (Chita) + pear PALATE: Fresh fruit and spice, walnut, finishes sweet and long OVERALL: The heart is clearly Chita grain, with added fruit and spice from single malts.

NOSE: You get salt and a whiff of cigar fumes. Very light. PALATE: Very sweet, some fresh fruits. It’s full-bodied and spicy at the end. OVERALL: In a blind tasting this underwhelmed among 18-year olds. It’s great but subtle. For the price I’d go elsewhere.

NOSE: This is super smoky. Ardbeg levels from Speyside. There’s a thick sweet date and plum scent. Wet leaves provide funk. Heavy heavy nose. PALATE: It’s less of an uppercut than the nose, but delivers dry, sweet fruit and mellow spice. The finish is strong again. Dry, salty, then cigar fumes and dey leaves. OVERALL: I had this in a blind tasting amongst 18-year heavyweights, and it came out swinging. Probably the most heavy, full-bodied whisky I’ve tried.

NOSE: It starts fresh, almost Japanese style. Green grass. Green tea. Ocean spray. Wet campfire hints at the end. PALATE: It’s strong suddenly with fresh peach and finishes with sea salt. OVERALL: It scores high with great balance and a unique fresh nose.

NOSE: You get a delicate profile of ocean spray and apple cider vinegar. It works a treat. PALATE: Starts sweet toffee, then turns to salty toffee, then to sweet and sour ginger. The finish is salty and fruity all of a sudden. OVERALL: In a blind tasting this initially felt flat among other 18-year olds, but by the end I found it very appealing and the one I’d most like to have again. Super balanced and interesting to explore slowly.

Pretty special to taste a vintage closed Japanese distiller’s whiskey. Try it if ever possible, there’s nothing like Karuizawa on the market today. NOSE: Cigar smoke, heavy rich dates and plums. Rancio is gentle, more like a wet cigar. PALATE: Deep hard hitting flavor of plum jam and barbeque char, strong ginger spice, ending in a cigar fume. OVERALL: It’s really ahead of its time in 99/2000, as heavy sherry with peat is now en mode. Imagine a Japanese version of a sherry Islay, crafted into harmony while maintaining a punchy character. It’s a beautiful thing!