Mars Iwai 45 Japanese Whisky

Of the five Japanese Whisky's I've had this is my fave. Strong toffee and caramel flavor.

Some caramel and toasted marshmallow. Bready. Fairly boozy and dry. Finishes smooth.

Nose: Earthy, sweet and fresh. Good balance. Notes of orange zest, toffee, hay, pear, caramel. The orange zest note is upfront and stronger than what I've experienced in most whiskies while the sweet notes of toffee and earthy notes of hay alternate in the background. Light hints of sulfur. The sulfur note seemed to disappear after the first tasting. Palate: Sweet, fresh and spicy. Orange zest, candied fruit, honey, white chocolate, steamed milk, herbal/medicinal, over-steeped green tea. Bitter green tea note is less present after the first tasting. The earthy notes from the nose were lost. Again, the fresh orange zest note was apparent and intermingled with sweet notes. I wasn't expecting the spicy notes Finish: Earthy and slightly bitter (green pepper?). Short and single note. This is a whiskey made for mixing so I had low expectations going in. The nose is decent though it lacks distinguishing notes. The taste is also decent with a distinguishing white chocolate/steamed milk note though I have to fish around for it. The spiciness was a bit surprising and similar to a bourbon's. For me, the finish was a bit lacking and forward on the bitterness. Would maybe be nice in a sweet cocktail.

Nose- 4 , gin, Front - 6 Middle - 6 Back - 2 Finish - tart Tasted after eating Tillamook cheese. Def didn't help. bittersweet, liquorice, barely 1 dimensional. Such a short, blunt finish. Very high alcohol flavor.

Cant remember what I paid for this bottle but I know it was sub 45. Honey, melon, not quite honeydew. Full bodied. Starts to go saline on the finish but the finish is too short for it to go salty. A great budget sipper, stands up neat quite well.