The Kaiyo Japanese Mizunara Oak was a bottle I reviewed a few months back and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had tropical fruits and cinnamon sweetness in spades and was well presented at 46% ABV. I picked it up for just under $55 and even though it’s NAS- it was really, really good. Well, this is it’s hot-headed brother- same whisky, just bottled at near cask strength of 53% ABV. It’s not that much hotter, but it did add $30 to the price point. This whisky is non-chill filtered, but does have added coloring that makes it appear as new gold with copper highlights. It’s rather oily, with huge droplets and fast forming legs in your tasting glass. The nose begins with freshly crushed, cinnamon sticks and less citrusy, tropical fruits: think papaya and mango, instead of oranges and lemon. There’s some faint pineapple in there, too. There’s a nutty quality at play and a heavy sense of the ABV heat. The palate delivers on the tropical flavors, again before the harsher notes of youthful spirit barge in and take over. Red Hots candies supply the cinnamon and crazy good, sugary sweetness at the midpoint. The healthy dose of lingering heat is supplied by the extra ABV and it ultimately leads to a drier than anticipated mouthfeel. The finish is lingering heat and cinnamon candy with oak barrel astringency. It finishes very dry. Overall, I love the balance between tropical and cinnamon notes, but I think the regular version does a better job at presenting this in the perfect light. The Mizunara casks add a depth of flavor, but either the whisky is just too young to allow those flavors to shine or it’s just a little too strong. This was still a very enjoyable bottle, worthy of 3.5+ stars, but the dilution to 46% puts it closer to a beautiful, NAS offering. Not to mention you can save yourself $25-30. As this is presented, I’d give it 3.75 stars. Cheers.