Mars Iwai

Jesus Christ this whiskey smells awful. I don't know what others pick up but it smells like sharpies and rubbing alcohol to me. By far and away the worst smelling swill I've ever caught a whiff of. Luckily, the taste isn't nearly as offensive as the smell. There's not very much depth of character and this whiskey tastes dirt cheap. But usually dirt cheap can lean either too heavily into no taste at all ( watered down ) or too heavily into disgusting alcohol burn. This doesn't possess either of those qualities. It's got a light taste that is decidedly blended of cheaper malts. There is a heavy corn presence but an odd sourness toward the end of the taste. It has a very strange tongue numbing sensation going down and the after taste reminds me of the same sour qualities you may get after taking a swig of warm coke. Is it worst thing in this price category? No, not even close. But to say there are much better choices in the $30-$40 / bottle range is the understatement of the year. You could do worse, but there are so many better choices.

The nose is extremely light and very hard to pick out flavors outside of cinnamon, caramel sweetness and light pear with light ethanol burn. The taste is just as light as the nose with a thin mouthfeel with flavors of pear, cinnamon, caramel and icing sugar with light ethanol burn that finishes short with a slight bitterness with caramel, icing sugar and light pear. This is a lackluster whisky with light sugar flavors and faint fruit that is better than the Mars Lucky Cat “Mint”, but only because there are no bitter dirt flavors. These appear to be selling for around $30 which is a much better value than the Mars Lucky Cat “Mint” and could be an addition to your bottle blockade that helps protect your better bottles from those magician family and friends that ask for your “smoothest” whisky followed by performing their only trick of “The Disappearing Bottle” as this can be characterized as sugary alcoholic brown water. Big thanks to @jonwilkinson7309 for the generous sample of this one.

[LOOK] Faint gold [NOSE] Delicate malty and nutty nose, sweet barley, toasted almonds, faint caramel, a surprising touch of vanilla bean and oak. Well contained and round. [PALATE] Grainy and cereal forward, with real interesting breathy and zesty fruit candy notes on the mid palate, fading into a [FINISH] toothpicky, woody, & rough finish. [MOUTHFEEL] Pretty solid until the late palate/finish where the light body & low ABV lose the battle to the abundant oak and youthfulness. Not a bad whisky but I wouldn’t pay more than $30-35 for this. Could see it doing okay in a highball or as a WTF outlier in a club whisky blind. I don’t normally review stuff anymore, but it’s Thanksgiving.

Flaviar advent calendar day #14 Nose: Milla vanilla, some very mild floral and fruity notes that are largely indistinct. Salted nuts are present too. A hint of oak and malt. Palate: caramel, spiced bitter oak, vanilla, a touch of brown sugar and chocolate. Hint of orange peel and slight apple cinnamon note. I can see it opening up with a slight menthol. Mild ethanol note here too. Finish: mild heat, bitter oak, thin, hints of cocoa

Medicinal corn on the nose, almost acrid. Palate has some light sweetness. This is very much a corn whiskey from beginning to end. The corn is not overpowering and doesn't have the spice a bourbon might have. Not complex at all but sippable and worth the price point. Wish it were more complex or had more to say rather than one-note wonder, but it still tells a full story.

This leaves me with more questions. With each sip I wondered what is this? It felt like I was drinking Brandy (no slight to Brandy). First sniff, savory notes caramel, rich toffee, butterscotch, perfume of pear. In tasting the perfume is first, then the spicy mouthful if hearty clove, oily medical aftertaste. Still can pinpoint this whiskey.