It's been a while since I've absolutely raved about a bottle, but I feel like I'd be doing you guys a disservice if I didn't cue you in on this one. This is honestly a rarity for me. Unlike most of my bottles which sit 7/8ths full forever, I've had this one for 2 weeks and I'm 2/3rds of the way through. Today was my youngest daughter's first birthday, and, after a hectic day, I reached for this first and refilled several times. I hope that gets the point across about how much I like it. Bottom line: Many would say this bottle comes in at a perfect proof (107pf). Despite being a NAS straight bourbon with an undisclosed finishing time in Japanese Mizunara, the bottle drinks older than it's likely 4-5 year age statement, with a smoothness that goes down too quickly. At the same time, there is a spicy rye bite that shines. This doesn't suffer from being TOO smooth and boring. I begrudgingly deduct points for a lack of complexity, but it more than makes up for that with drinkability and burst in the front and delicious milk chocolate, dark cocoa and heavy cream notes throughout. It is the multilayered Lindt chocolate ball of bourbon and it gets better the more you drink it - says the guy on his third pour. Nose: chocolate malt, pumpernickel bread, rye bread, a faint hint of ethanol, raisinets, and sweet cream. The nose is light and faint and doesn't punish you for shoving your nose way in there. Taste: see above. I'm blown away. Smooth initial flavors of brown sugar and stovetop hot cocoa (the kind where you melt actual chocolate into milk in a pan) and a hint of fruit (cherry? raisin?) hiding somewhere within. At first sip, it is smooth, creamy, and milk chocolatey, but that quickly transitions into a bite on the tip of your tongue that I associate with 4-5 year old rye. That quickly fades, and what lingers is a chocolatey cream sweetness on the back of your tongue. Despite a little bit of searching, I can't figure out what kind of Mizunara Casks were used for the finish - new Mizunara or used Japanese whisky casks - but I suspect the latter because there is a definite Japanese aesthetic to how this drinks. I honestly want to write more, but I don't have any different descriptors to use. The more you drink it, the more it reinforces the same strengths over and over. If I can leave you with one thought, it is this: like most things done well from a Japanese standpoint, the beauty is in the simplicity, and it really must be experienced to be understood.