Nose: Background smoke in small but distinguishable doses, dollop of ice cream in cola, hint of dusty floor boards, overdone crumpets, fresh hessian bags, florally, peach syrup.
Taste: Barley, spice-but not dominant, bit of smoke mostly over the half way mark, pipe tobacco, chewy.
Finish: Hefty spice kick initially that rolls out into soft vanilla, long, eventually sweet and oily.
Balance: Slight burn on initial mouthfeel but smoothens out for an intriguing balance of spice, faint smoke and sweetness.
Comment: I would have to say that Hakushu is one of my favourite expressions compared to a variety of other major Japanese distillery bottlings out there. This certainly is quality in my opinion and I always find my self ordering this when out.
Reviewed by Clint A
Lovely whisky and way to easy to drink. The overiding taste I get though is the ultra clean pepper on the nose and palate. More like pepper dust than cracked pepper. Also peat. Not OTT like an Islay malt, more subtle but every present in the background. Combine that with the creamy fruityness and the yum factor goes sky high.
ReplyDeleteA definite session malt, a couple of friends could knock a bottle of this over in an evening me thinks.
Agree that a bottle can easily be polished of in an evening between a few friends. Certainly a session malt, in fact I can see one coming up before it becomes to warm to indulge in one. I like the "ultra-clean pepper" description Brian.
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