N: Fruit forward with light but rich smoke. The fruit is peach, pear, maybe some pineapple. Also red fruit, both fresh and dried. There's something else more pungent lingering at the back of it too - maybe a sour fruit, but hard to place. A nice base of caramel and vanilla sit under the fruit. The smoke is clearly a Yoichi smoke, which is quite recognizable - it's like a Japanese Johnnie Walker, which I like. This is not quite that - it is softer and sort of baked in in a way that comes through more as smoothed out background noise rather than primary note. Finally, there are also some harsher young grain notes that creep in in the form of a little mint and ethanol. Numbing and a bit distracting, but not overwhelming. P: Red fruit hits first, then gives way to a powdered milk chocolate around the sides of the tongue. Caramel and vanilla develop early on subsequent sips. A chalky mineral note builds mid-palate next to something like a sour pineapple, both still undercut and complimented by the chocolate - pretty nice. Smoke builds late and lingers deep into the finish. A sort of generic, but hot, baking spice also builds through the finish. There is also some chocolate still hanging around, little bit of wood bitterness, and just a hint of mint. I've heard this is no comparison to the aged Taketsurus that disappeared five years ago or so. That may be so, but it's also basically irrelevant to someone like me. I don't think I'm an average whisky drinker - pushing 100 reviews in less than a year - but I'm also not scouring auctions looking for dead whiskies like the aged Taketsurus. It is what it is, and I'll take what I can get (relatively easily). And, in the end, this is still pretty good. It's a fair entry for its price range. Not a great value, but not a bad one either. I'd buy it again. That said, I know this is discontinued now too. I have a new white label Taketsuru on the shelf too. Offhand, I think the new one is an improvement, but let's see where the review lands when I get there.