I finally managed to track this down. It's been on my list for a while, but it's come in and out of the stores so quickly here that I wasn't able to get my hands on it last time it showed up. I'd spent my whisky budget for the month when it appeared, and by the time the month rolled over, it was gone. A shame too, because back then it was $65.99 and now, when I managed to get my hands on it, it had gone up to $73.99, but I figured, this is what everyone's talking about right? Got that 2019 Whisky Advocate #1, backed up with an A rating on Drinkhacker, backed up with a 92 expert rating here and a 4.1 community score. So how could it be bad? And it isn't. It is, in fact, the opposite of bad. It is very very good. Let's temper my judgment here by revealing a pet peeve. I read reviews here sometimes that annoy me. They're usually reviews of islay or islay finished whiskies that begin, "I don't like Islay, but..." let me give this 2 stars. It reminds me of mainstream critics who have never seen a horror movie they liked who end up reviewing the latest horror movie and giving it 1 star out of 5 when fans of horror would give it 4 out of 5. It's like, if it's not in your wheelhouse, leave it alone. Don't pull down the rating by talking about something you don't know the first thing about! That said, it's possible I'm going the opposite way and inflating the rating here. While I'm familiar with many styles of whisky, Japanese is the style I'm probably least familiar with. In fact, my only experience with it, prior to Nikka from The Barrel is Suntory Toki. But I have an understanding that one is superior to the other, and...well, at least if you're going to throw your hat in the ring, it's better to inflate the score on something you're unfamiliar with but find you really like than it is to deflate the score through simple ignorance. Are you feeling me? (Maybe I'm just mad because Islay gets judged like it's anchovy pizza and lots of people don't like anchovy pizza but I LOVE anchovy pizza). That said, I popped the Nikka open for a spin this past Sunday when my dad and I were watching the Eagles opener in Detroit against the Lions. And it was a hell of a game. Lot of people throw shade at the Lions because they haven't had a lot of luck in recent years, but man, they fought tooth and nail in that game, and though I'm glad the Eagles pulled it out, much respect Detroit, much respect. But enough about the football, onto the whisky. I had told my dad that I'd be opening Nikka from the Barrel, and in that spirit, he showed up with a bottle of Suntory Toki so that we could compare and contrast the award winning Nikka with a more run-of-the-mill Japanese whisky. Now the Nikka itself has a delightful nose that that begins savory and salty. I've seen some places that liken the saltiness to soy sauce, and that's fair. Umami is likely the more accurate term for its saltiness, but there's also an oak aroma, something vaguely vegetal and an underlying sweetness that comes to the fore the longer you nose it. It's like seaweed wrapped in toffee I suppose, with a faint trace of smoke or barrel char that wafts in now and again. I imagine some people might find that whole mixture a little weird, but I'm really into it. And I guess with the ratings this gets, a lot of other people are into it too. But it's not something I'm used to and certainly something I've never experienced with any other whisky. On the palate, the savory continues initially with the oak prominent but not overwhelming. This then gives way to a burst of orchard fruit that reminds me of highland scotch like Highland Park or Loch Lomond. And the finish brings back the smokiness and seaweed flavors on a fairly spicy and long finish. I'd say that I enjoy the palate and finish a great deal, but I feel like we're on more familiar territory here than the nose. Overall, it's a damn fine whisky with a good deal of complexity, and that came through more strongly when we transitioned, later in the game, to the Suntory Toki. I can't say the noses were worlds apart. That was something that actually surprised me. The Toki has the savory aroma, but it was missing some of the smoke and toffee present here. The palates were where the differences were more prominent with the Toki being two note: it was like liquified pear with a dash of vanilla thrown in and pretty much no finish at all. Though honestly, for $30 the Toki is a perfectly tasty whisky if you like pears. But the end of the game I was pretty tipsy, so while I'm writing this with a glass of Nikka in front of me, I'm trusting to memory on the Toki. When it comes to Japanese whisky, I would like to expand my knowledge, but I find they're not very good when it comes to value for money. While I don't regret spending $74 on this bottle, it's not necessarily going to be an everyday thing, and the other Nikka varieties in my area are all around $100 with no age statements and no discernible reason why I should pay that much when From the Barrel is their best reviewed bottle. Other than Nikka, there aren't a lot of options. Hatozaki and Fuyu are available but don't have glowing reviews here. Suntory Hibiki is also available but just went up in price by $10 to be $84, which is the same price as Ardbeg Uggie and Talisker Distiller's Edition. And Yamazaki 12 just went up from $125 to $150, and so...um, really? $150 for a 12 year? Unless availability goes up and pricing comes down I don't see this expansion of my knowledge happening anytime soon when there are whiskies of equivalent or higher quality at cheaper prices within reach. Oh, and as for the twist cap, harkening back here to my review of Alberta Premium Cask Strength ( I'm looking at you here @angstrom ), the metal top here vs. the plastic top with that elicit different emotions for me. A plastic cap makes me feel like a hobo on skid row. A metal top (coupled with the shape of the Nikka bottle) sort of make me feel like I bought this from a bootlegger in 1920s NY and am hanging out in a hotel with F. Scott Fitzgerald. So I guess I can say that it's not necessarily a screwcap that makes the Alberta's packaging feel cheap so much as the material its screwcap was made of? At least spring for metal is all I'm saying. PS. I just remembered that I've also had and reviewed here the Mars Iwai 90 Proof, so I misspoke when I said Toki was the only other Japanese whisky I've had. That said, the Iwai is more in the Toki range than it is in the Nikka From the Barrel range, but it was still good for what it was. Not quite up to this level, but good. So, there you go...I've had three, not two. PPS. Because whisky lovers everywhere abbreviate Nikka from the Barrel as NFTB, it will forever be the NKOTB of whiskies for me. Can't help it. That just springs to mind every time I see the acronym.