My first foray into Japanese whisky. A grain whisky not used for blending certainly stood out in the crowd last time I was at the store. Time to see what this is all about. Nose: very sweet, almost like cake frosting. Also a good bit of alcohol makes itself known Palette: the sweetness continues. A creme brulle is the best way I can describe the sweetness. Vanilla is also very present on the palette, Finish: sweet that fades quickly and leaves some barrel spice and bitterness, which is nice. Up to this point there was no give away, other than the golden color, that this was a barrel aged spirit. Not a lot going on, but what is there is pleasant. The biggest draw is that I can’t think of anything else out there like this. How many times have you seen “creme brulle” as a tasting note in a whisky! For its mid ranges price and uniqueness I enjoyed this, certainly not my favorite, but it’s a nice change of pace in my rotation. Kanpai!