Kaiyō Japanese Mizunara Oak

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived in harmony; then, everything changed when the Fire Na...wait, wait, wrong intro. If there is only one thing I've gotten out of the last year and a half's collective misery, it was finally watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, and then watching it become my oldest daughter and my's favorite show to watch together. The titular Avatar's principle task is to achieve balance in the world between its four nations, defined by which element they are able to manipulate, and the Avatar alone is able to master all four elements. If balance and harmony are the goals here, this whiskey nails it. Everything is in its right place; granted, this is a general goal of Japanese whisky as a rule, but Kaiyo manages to tick off all the boxes without any element overpowering another. Sandalwood and spice from the mizunara oak, sweet and creamy vanilla, an earthy smoke, lemon peel, light fruitiness, a lingering finish of cereal grains - somehow, all of these elements harmonize with each other, each noticeable but nothing overpowering the other. If I have a complaint, it's only that the finish is a little short and I wouldn't mind a richer mouthfeel...guess I'll just have to get the cask strength next time I see it. I also love the pricing on it, too - Japanese whisky is slowly coming back down out of the stratosphere as production at both the historic distilleries and the newcomers has started keeping up with demand, but even prior to that, this was a great value at around $50/bottle by me. Compared to $100+ for bottles of NAS replacements for unavailable aged stocks of big name brands like Yoichi and Miyagikyo, this is a steal. Try it if you can find it - it'll quench ya! Nothing's quenchier! It's the quenchiest!

Heavy smoky flavors with nice peety after taste

Very light. Minimal burn. Oak aftertaste. A little ice smoothes the flavor even more.

Nose: floral, peppermint, vanilla extract Palate: sweet, a little spicy, a little smokey Finish: muted, cigarettes Overall: sweet with a smokey finish