![]() ![]() The mouthfeel holds up well to iceįinish: Short and sweet without the warm spice from the neat finish but with the same caramel note ConclusionĪh this was a hard one. Taste: Clear pear and caramel notes with some citrus as well though the spice is gone. Nose: Brighter than the neat nose but with the same sweet pear and floral honey notes Excellent mouthfeel that I have come to associate with most 100-110 proof whiskiesįinish: Short, warm and sweet with caramel and baking spice notes, almost like a bourbon On a rock Taste: Floral honey and pear notes with just a bit of caramel and baking spice. Nose: Soft and sweet with floral honey, sweet pear and vanilla notes. SO let’s see how the whiskey of the year stacks up! Review Kallaskander on Macallan The Harmony Collectio…Īntihero7 on Glen Grant 15 y.o.In August 2018 Nikka from the Barrel was finally released in the US! I had the good fortune of being able to grab a few bottles between the release and Whiskey Advocate naming it whiskey of the year killing the availability. Paul M on Highland Park Cask Strength Re… On the other hand they sell the Coffey Malt in the EC, a malt made with continous stills – forbidden in Scotland by the Whisky Rules. if EC laws allow sell the products if they are labeled differently. As to labeling… the Whisky Rules do not apply, Japan could be doing different than Scotland…. The From The Barrel has always been NAS I think. Really not enough whisky to go around to sustain single malts and blends at the same time. That was the first Japanese blend to cross the company borders.Īnyway, it is one of the reasons that Nikka cancelled age statement bottlings of established offerings and went NAS. With one exception afaik Gingko by Chichibu. And in a Suntory blend there is only Suntory whisky – no cross overs. In a blend by Nikka there is traditionally only Nikka whisky. Japanese blends are all in house products. One thing is a Japanese speciality which make things worse. There are less then 10 producing whisky distilleries in Japan so demand – fuelled by the one man one vote verdict of a Jim Murray over a Yamazaki single cask of 2013 – is easily outstripping production. Not that it was rough off the cork, but the time spent mellowing was well-invested.Īs to Japan… it is true that the Japanese whisky production is miniscule in comparison to Scotland. Thoughts: This one benefitted from a fair bit of breathing time in the bottle. Fruits and milk chocolate, like a Cadbury Fruit & Nut bar. Palate: Arrives with spice and clean oak. Chocolate, soft balanced spices and poached fruit. Nose: Definitely noses like a Japanese whisky. And though I don’t know the current pricing, this one was about $55 Canadian when I grabbed it a couple years back. Long and short of it is that this 500 ml bottle of 51.4% blended whisky is a hell of a drink. Unfortunately, the reality is that Japan has sort of positioned itself as the legitimate heir to the Scottish empire, inheriting (if unofficially) its standards, conventions and, in a way, exists almost like a Platonic ‘form’. Let’s face it…it’s not like the SWA will come a-knocking on those eastern shores. Tell us it is young and delicious, share the age on the bottle and concede the cask make-up. Japan relies less on historical governance and adherence to legislated restrictions than does Scotland, ergo less need to cowtow to the party line. I’ve read a few whisky wordsmiths suggest they raised early cautions, but 5, 6, 7 years ago is not the sort of early caution that alleviates pressures on a spirit that relies on the advancement of years for development of flavour profile.ĭoes this mean we’re more forgiving of Japanese NAS whiskies than Scotland’s sleight of hand? Nah, not really. ![]() If this was Scotland I would suggest it had to do with poor foresight, but I don’t think anyone realistically could have foreseen the rise of Japanese malts to the world stage (or even blends, for that matter!). Japan is dealing simultaneously with serious overdemand and vastly understuffed warehouses. Perhaps we’ll hit the Red, Black and White series too. Now, being couch-bound and only three days out of surgery, I figured it was maybe time to hit up a few of the outliers in the collection. I meant to get to this review a couple years back, actually, as a few bottles of this one have been dust-gathering in my basement ‘whisky warehouse’. We’ll be a little more lenient in this case, as Nikka From The Barrel is actually a blend, in spite of what your senses may lead you to believe. Sadly it would seem that Japanese age-stated whisky is becoming even more scarce than its Scottish brethren. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |