Tastes

Islay is probably the Mecca of whisky. Everything I've had from here seems like a God Licquor. Bowmore came to me as a big surprise. I've never heard about this whisky until it was given to me as a birhtday gift. Clearly, this is one of the best whiskies I've ever had. It's peaty like Laphroig, it's smoky like Lagavulin, but the presence of peat and smokiness is so smooth that it makes a whisky that you can recurrently drink. What makes it great whisky is that you can one and two and not be overwhelmed by the taste. The Distiller Score is deserved.

For a 51% ABV whisky, this is quite impressive, due to the smoothness in mouth and also the flavor, which is quite present. Totally met expectations, best higher ABV whisky I've drank so far.

Disclaimer: this is both my first Hakushu and my first japanese whisky. Coming from tastings of Talisker, Lagavulin, Laphroig and other great single malt scotchs, I find Hibiki 12 a disappointment. The price led me to have high expectations that didn't met with the profile I was looking for after drinking other great whiskies. One thing that stroke me immediately was the lack of apparent sophistication. It had a profile closer to €20/€30 whiskies, not what I had in mind for this. Wrapped up, it's good. Just too far ahead from the expectations created by the price. This is the most expensive whisky I've ever had and far from being the best.