Dewar's Japanese Smooth

The second of @cascodes selected Dewars ‘smooth’ offerings. An acceptable but unimpressive open from the ‘Illegal Smooth’ now the follow up from ‘Japanese Smooth’. Mizunara casks are pretty special, rare, expensive, and with great heritage. But they can be very easily used poorly. I am hoping that the sandalwood aromatics, and coconut-honey sweetness and lightness of body that Mizunara can bring are well integrated into this pour… N: A vaguely tannic and earthy-sweetness are first and foremost, along with a little alcohol prickle. I get the bare minimum suggestion of orange oil through a light biscuit malt and gentle honey. This is surprisingly light and ‘aromatic’ but I wouldn’t go as far to say anything specific about what the aromats are past malt-honey and slightest orange. Certainly none of the Mizunara excellence I had hoped for. P: A little thin but heading towards creamy. The most obvious thing early on is an almost potpourri like perfume. Sandalwood, sweet plum, herbal aniseed and cinnamon. The texture and flavour becomes toasty over time and spice builds to a raw ginger warmth. So much floral-aromatic oomph going on makes this quite unique to me. F: Short. Sweet malt, watery honey, feint peppery spice and a grainy exit texture. Wow, I think thats the most extreme case of aromatic-florals on the palate I have experienced in a whisky. Honestly, like getting perfume sprayed onto your tongue. @cascode are you sure you put the right stuff in the bottle?! There is obvious carry over in this dram to the ‘Illegal Smooth’. The mass produced elements of a weak nose with a little burn, thinness to the palate texture, and short finish with a grainy exit texture are all directly comparable. Where the Illegal Smooth had a subtle Mezcal influence the Mizunara seems to be more strongly applied here. The aromatics are present but not in the way I had expected and not with the refinement I would expect for such sanctified wood. Still, I quite enjoyed this and would happily have a bottle on the shelf to pour freely as a curiosity with no worries over price-tags or savouring. Thanks, yet again, Overlord @cascode Distiller whisky taste #249 [Pictured here with a replica of H0mo habilis (KNM-ER1813). This replica is of a 1.9 million year old specimen discovered in 1973 at Koobi Fora, Kenya. Despite there being arguments over whether this small 1.3 m tall primate belongs to H0mo or Austalopithecines they are remarkable for likely use of stone tools. Despite their ‘ape-like’ morphologies multiple remains of the species have been found alongside primitive stone tools. These tools are often stone flakes used for butchering and skinning animals. Coincident with a major climate shift that saw forests and water-ways replaced with arid savannahs, these tools gave H. habilis a fitness where other primates could not survive. Despite the controversy over correct genus attributions it is commonly thought that H. habilis is the ancestor to the H. ergaster which in turn led to the human-appearing H0mo erectus.]

Nose: A rather shy and undemonstrative nose at first but it gains some momentum after a while and becomes quite sweet. Light honey, light vanilla, light malt, a little peach and apricot with a slowly emerging buttery note. There is not much mizunara wood aroma but the whisky is a little softer and more rounded than other entry level Dewars and it has a fragrant touch. In a blind tasting line-up of Dewars blends you would notice that this has a soft quality to it but you would probably not identify it as due to mizunara casks (well, I wouldn’t anyway). Palate: Light, mainly cereal and thin honey with some soft stone-fruits in the arrival. Mild ginger spice in mid-development but it flashes into view briefly and then disappears. Very easy to drink and the texture is pretty good for an affordable blend, with a full almost creamy quality. Finish: Short. Semi-sweet cereal with a faint spice aftertaste. This is an average blended scotch but to be fair there is nothing objectionable about it and it’s very approachable. You can enjoy it neat as a sipping whisky so it’s definitely on the high side of average. It works well as a mixer but in that context the slight mizunara influence is obscured. If I was going to a barbecue with friends who like the occasional dram but are not particularly fans of whisky it would be a great session bottle to share. It would also be fine as a last dram of the night if you wanted something really soft and easy to relax with. I sort of agree with some of the official Distiller tasting notes but I think Jake is a little hard on this and the score is a bit low. I was initially going to give this 79/100 but I found myself enjoying my tasting dram more and more as I was typing this so I’m boosting it up by a percentage point. For the money this is fair value. I missed out on picking up a bottle of the Dewar’s Caribbean cask when it was around but I do have the Ilegal mescal and Portuguese port cask finished blends. Reviews incoming soon. “Above Average” : 80/100 (3 stars)

Surprising amount of leg down the sides of the glass. Looks like it should be quite oily. The nose to me is highly sulfuric: broccoli or cabbage water. Even though it's only 40% ABV, the alcohol isn't hidden; it has a distinct rubbing alcohol aroma. There are secondary notes of coconut, lemongrass and even a citric sting in the nostril. The flavor is coconut and sugary creme brulée. A grassy and earthy component. More of that indeterminate citric stuff that has a real bite to it. There is more burn on the way down than expected, but the burn is encased in a slick and buttery texture. The finish is dark chocolate and chocolate orange. Bitterly astringent and metallic; like putting your tongue on a 9-volt battery. (You know you've done it.) There is a hint of tobacco ash, but it's mostly sharp and bitter long after the swallow. This is a surprisingly bitter sipper. It's certainly not unpleasant, and it's a decent value. Probably a one-off purchase but a decent one.

Oaky, tannic bitterness at the end of the palate ruins the otherwise pleasantly plain 8yr dewars base. The mizu influence is very minimal, although it does have a touch (more sweet mango and allspice than sandalwood, but barely there it is) It's very buttery and that with the honey in dewars base redeems it a little. Would rather grab 12yr for the same price, paid $24.99 but will still probably skip this again, just nothing going on here. I recently learned Chivas mizu is discontinued, so that is sad as I have grown rather fond of it. This couldn't even carry those shoes, much less fill them, but is $25 cheaper.

The fourth in the Dewars ‘smooth’ series, Japanese Smooth is eight year Dewars that’s finished for an additional six months in Japanese mizunara oak casks. $25 — 40% ABV. Just like the other smooth releases, this is very easy sipping. Initially, I wasn’t very keen on it as the palate seemed too bitter on the finish with some oaky dryness, but after being open a few days the bitter-oaky notes seem to have mellowed out and the floral, honey and toffee notes have come forward along with a touch of cinnamon on the finish. Overall, I like it. It’s an inexpensive way to try a mizunara-finished whisky.

This Whisky punches well above “77”. There is a nice impact from the Japanese Mizunara oak on both the palate and the Nose. It’s an almost toasted sandalwood and brown sugar note. Very rounded palate with the core scotch flavors of butterscotch, hay, oak and grain but with that wrapper of Mizunara flavors and aroma. Overall it is a great budget blended scotch to introduce yourself or others to the impact of Japanese oak without the cost of a Japanese whiskey or even some of the other blended scotches with a similar oak finish. I’d say 8/10. But would be happy to have this anytime it’s poured.