Hibiki 17 Year

What a beautiful decanter styled bottle, the cork is mounted in a glass knob... Nose is delightfully rich, full and complex, opening with intense rum raisin and creamy bourbon-oak vanilla atop a seam of caramel. The rest is just mysterious and ephemeral enough, I can't describe it without using silly subjective Pigeon-English, so I'll spare you, savvy? Palate follows suit with tart fresh pineapple and exotic spices, hint of salt, soft floral mint and just a touch of bubblegum fruitiness, but in a good way. Medium finish with spicy/zesty kiwi-like astringency, so unusual yet satisfying. Not only does this dram like a long while in the glass to open up, but the bottle improved noticeably after about 4 months. A special gift from my mother, a whisky drinking wanderlust world traveler, with a son who didn't fall far from the tree. Dry glass: buttery malt, hint of juniper.

Sweet, fruity and smooth, easy down with spices to follow

Just a taste at Swallow Bar, Maylands. This was good shit. Should have jumped the bar and cracked some clam smacker's skull for the bottle. Real good and felt like it had so much going on