SHIN 10 Year Malt Whisky Mizunara Oak Finish

Rating: 16/23 Before getting into this, I just have to state that this looks a LOT like Nikka From The Barrel. If it weren't for this having a cheap plastic cap, I would have no doubt looking at them that the Nikka was the knock-off and this was the product being mimicked. N: Young, fruity, smoky, somewhat malty. This is more of a campfire smoke than a peat smoke. The fruits are in the apple range. There's a bit of spices in the cinnamon spectrum coming out of the malt. I also get minerals and a faint faint whiff of confectioner's sugar. P: Decently punchy. There's some heat from the alcohol, but it isn't harsh. I get some sweetness laying on top of minerals and clean water, alongside some mellow maltiness, apples, spices (cinnamon, ginger, pepper, a hint of clove), campfire smoke, and a little peat. The wood is there with some vanilla for sure. It tastes like there might have been some fairly fresh casks involved here, but not for the full 10 years. I get that from the strong apple and vanilla flavors. I guess that must be the mizunara finish. There's a lot going on here, but the balance is a bit off and it tastes youthful. I definitely believe that this is only 10 years old. F: On the sweet side. There are apples and smoke and faint spices and wood. - Conclusion - This comes across as more complex than Nikka From The Barrel, but also as more brash. It's a trade-off to be sure. I found the two of them to be decently competitive, but I can't help but feel that this is the inferior whisky. Amrut Peated has better flavors to it than this, but it's also less complex. Between the two though, I'd probably take the Amrut. It's close though. This is interesting and I like it, but it certainly has problems. The prominent mizunara finish flavor here is odd. It strikes me as both a luxury and a sign of youth. Pure Scot Virgin Oak has a stronger oak finish to its profile. That could be because French Oak is stronger, but I'm not sure. This is more complex, but also more disjointed. I also found Laphroaig Quarter cask to taste more mature and I generally liked it better. This is quite enjoyable, but it needs some more maturity. I like Nikka From The Barrel and Laphroaig Quarter Cask Better. It's not a big difference in quality, but it is one. I gave them both a 17, so this is going to be a 16. I also find that Johnnie Walker Green Label (17) is more refined and ... just better than this. Actually, this could be a 15. I'm leaning toward a 16 though. This tastes a lot younger than I'd expected. I probably would have put it at more like 8 years. Going cross-category a bit, this is more complex but less balanced than Westland Peated. I appreciate the extra complexity here though, so I think I'll give this the win. I actually do taste the alcohol in this, and that isn't just an artifact of the proof. I'm actually seriously considering going down to a 15. Wow. So this is clearly not a 17 now. I would really like to try The Shin 15 to see if it cleans up some of those youthful aspects while maintaining the complexity, but I don't want to pay that kind of money when I've already been kind of disappointed by this. I spent enough time thinking that this might be a 17 that I'll land on a 16 for now. I still have a lot in this bottle though and I can definitely imagine going down to a 15, unfortunately.

Nose - caramel, floral notes, honey, fig, rich malt, mild peat, apple, cinnamon, sandalwood, sawdust, cocoa, walnut, dry oak, hay, vanilla, lemon, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - caramel, earthy mint, ginger, cocoa, coconut, cereal grain, sawdust, vanilla, honey, anise, orange, chili pepper, peat smoke, fig, apple, cinnamon, apricot, walnut, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with fig, chocolate malt, honey, and peppery ginger flavors. So will my next Japanese whisky experience be an improvement over the Yamazaki 12 Year I tried yesterday? Well some may argue this isn’t really Japanese, but that’s a discussion for another time. The nose is rich, fruity, and floral. The casks involved present themselves very well here. There are honeyed and sherried fruits from the Oloroso casks and perfume-like sandalwood and coconut presumably from the Mizunara casks, but I have less experience with those. The palate is equally rich, with more fruits, mint, pepper, ginger, and a nice nuttiness. There’s also a hint of peat throughout the entire experience, although I’m not sure whether this is a peated distillate. Overall, this is certainly an improvement over the anemic Yamazaki 12 Year. There’s a nice richness to it that I don’t usually find with Japanese whiskies. The Shin tastes rather youthful, but it does have a nice oiliness to the mouthfeel. I tried the 15 Year version a while back and liked it as well, but it’s too long ago to make an educated comparison. Thank you to @ContemplativeFox for providing the generous sample!

An intense, Japanese Whisky by the Shinobu Distillery in the Niigata Prefecture aged for 10 years in Mizunara oak for 10 years. It has an aromatic birth with notes of fruits, grains & spices; while a bold life adds notes of barley apple, lemon, licorice, honey, almonds, & butterscotch; that led to a long & spicy death with notes of cinnamon, pepper & a hint of sea salt. February 2020 / January / August 2022

Heavy clover nut mag right off the bat. The unique oak adds a scratch like characteristic to it. Supposedly apple and pear but not getting much of that. The suite definitely resembles pair somewhat

A flavor of licorice orange and French Pernod on the nose. Oaky , spice with notes of sweetness on the palate. Great lingering mixed of peaty and vainilla on the finish

Tried neat from my generous friend victor’s advent calendar on Christmas Eve. Hot on the nares initially with pears & caramel. On the palate I get banana and caramel.