Nikka Yoichi 10 Year

The nose starts with lightly smoked salmon topped with a squeeze of lemon and lime juice then dark chocolate covered sea salt caramels and espresso followed by caramelized mangoes, mildly sour pineapple and kiwi that transitions to sandalwood, ginger and polished oak with low ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with creamy tropical fruits before a moderate spice that slowly fades to charred vegetation, dark chocolate covered caramels and espresso then mildly soured fruits of pineapple, apricots and lychee that transitions to moderate baking spices, sandalwood and mildly bitter black tea with low ethanol burn. The finish is medium length starting with creamy tropical fruits that fade to the background of a mild ashy smoke, dark chocolate and black tea. Overall, an enjoyable albeit slightly underwhelming dram that the smoke is subtle with a balance of creamy fruits and mild spices on the nose that fails to deliver the same balance on the palate with the smoke becoming more dominant with a charred vegetal bitterness that overpowers the fruits before the finish that starts promising with creamy fruits before mild bitter smoky ash and over-steeped tea take hold. This was the 2022 release, so I'm not sure if the quality is different compared to older releases, but at around $175+ if you can find them, I'd pass on this one as there are many drams I like far more for less.

I feel like this is a "new" whisky but reviews confuse me with dates. I assume this came out in the last 2 years, I guess again. So this is a new release. 150 bucks...I'll let people process that. Nose - smoked vinegar apples over coal, followed by honey and sugar. Then the light oak notes come through, showing signs of mild age here. It's both a bit odd and lovely. As it opens the pie crust and lovely dessert notes spread and we have a really nice whisky. Taste - This isn't going to be for most whisky drinkers. It's funky and weird. It's youthful, coal forward, peated, and doesn't have a sweet hook. It's also bringing apples, some sweet and sour notes with lovely coal smoke over mineral peat in the best of ways. Lemon lime, smoked chocolate oak...it's cool. counter point - proof is low and that's not great. It's a bit thin at times. Double counter point - finish is still pretty darn long and it works. 2.50 from me. I really like this one. Worth 150? Maybe...but I paid shipping so I over paid.

My prhase "there is not a bad japanese whisky" almost found it's exception on this one. The nose is so unappealing (at least for me it is) that made me think it would also be bad on the palate, lucky for me, it wasn't. Bottled at 45%abv, pale gold. On the nose the alcohol note was very powerful. Peppery and spicy on the nose.Oily, Prunes Lemon and cheap chocolate notes. Awful on the nose at first. You need to let it sit for a while. Very spicy like chilli on the nose. On the palate it improves a lot, Oak, Citrus note, Lemon candy, Peppery Pleasant and an Ashy note. Finish full of ginger and pepper, long. The worst japanese whisky i have ever had, still is a decent dram: 83 over 100.

Have you ever had a fruity IPA style beer while watching fireworks during the 4th of July? You get this aroma of burnt wood alongside a whiff of berries. This reminded me of that experience, in a good way. The taste is just as good----lots of sweet roasted nuts like hazelnuts and macademias, plenty of peat, mixed in with a good dose of vanilla. I noticed it's not as good with ice. Definitely have this neat, or just a splash of water. This is a really well made whiskey, simply highlighting again the fine craftmanship coming out of Japan. It has no rough edges ( can be a positive or negative...depending on your mood that evening). Simply well made, and well balance.

Color: Light Brown chokolade abricut. Nose: Pow vanilla, baked apples and flower abricut. Body: medium-full; round and harmonic in shape. Palate: First contact with abricut, turning into baked apples slowly gliding toward the filling of being around a fire place. Finish: This whisky is hanging around in a very elegant way, even after a while the vanilla and fire place dance around each other, just staying there on your tongue letting you know of the fine whisky you just had. (Sorry for miss spelling, English is not my first language)

Nose: Malted barley similar to beer, then fresh barley and fruits. Floral notes at the end. Fresh, vibrant and dark. Taste: Oil makes a velvet entrance on your palate, then turns into coal smoke. Vanilla, nuts, fruits and toffee. Finish: Creamy, with oak and fruits. Deep smoke in the aftertaste. Balance: Deep, dark and velvety tones coming through in every step of the tasting. Great single malt whisky from Japan.