Japanese whisky tasting evening, Sydney 28 March 18, Whisky #2 Nose: Sweetly fragrant light citrus, faint melon, soft incense wood, vanilla, very mild oak. Palate: A soft velvety arrival, smooth and creamy with honeyed notes. As it develops a little ginger, vanilla and mild spice emerges. Reminiscent of a freshly-baked and very lightly spiced sponge cake. Good texture. Finish: Short. Cereal and light wood flavours, a touch of spicy bitterness in the end. An agreeable single grain with no particular flaws but in the end it's a bit lacking in character. Almost totally spirit driven apart from the floral fragrant note and spices from the casks. Hard to dislike, but there are better whiskies. Adding a dash of water causes it to become over-spicy and lose the fragrant note, and worse it loses its creamy mouth-feel. This is an issue because the texture of this whisky is at least half its charm, so I'd recommend taking it neat. The official score here seems too generous. "Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)