Nose: Grape skin bubbles sparkle as they float up into my nostrils and release flowery peat puffs as they pop . Sweet and sour. Quite nice. (7.5/10)
Palate: Not a lot of complexity really. Rather a homogeneous wide and opaque wave on an otherwise dark and quiet pond. Could be more vertically expansive. It barely reaches the roof of my mouth even on its tippy-toes. But, again, quite nice. (8/10)
Finish: Warm. The theme of simplicity and homogeneity continues. The whisky plumbs the depths of my chest about half way before reeling it back in. But right in the back of the throat there are long lasting embers that alight pleasantly on every breath. (8.5/10)
Balance: The nose promises a complexity that the palate and finish just can’t deliver. However, they make up for that inability with comforting hugs and cozy warmth. So who am I to complain. One of the best of the GoT series in my opinion. (8.5/10)
The Tottori is a somewhat controversial and basically fake “Japanese” whisky from Japan’s Whisky Public Enemy #1, Matsui Shuzo. While signs abound that the company is serious about distilling their own product it appears they’ve only even begun to actively distill whisky at Kurayoshi distillery in 2017 after acquiring a license to do so in 2015. The company itself has a long history of making Shochu since 1910 but their legitimacy in the world of Japanese whisky is certainly compromised due to their continued efforts to obfuscate as much as possible the reality of the fact, that the juice they bottle is not at all distilled in Japan. It says “Japanese Whisky” and it “Made in Japan” on their bottles and, while technically correct, that in itself is very much a matter of running a truckload of barrels over the, uh, spirit of the law, in order to follow the letter of the law.
This particular blend was matured in ex-Bourbon barrels, bottled in 2017 and has come to be in my hands as a Christmas gift. I certainly won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. In fact, controversy or not, I’ll be putting this particular gift horse INSIDE of MY mouth shortly.
Nose: Right out of the bottle we have roasted apples. After a minute in the glass warm wood notes emerge suggesting some quality but before you know it you are standing in front of a big stack of bargain pine 2x4s at Home Depot. The ones that twist and bend when you let them acclimatize at the construction site. The first impressions would have warranted at 7 here but, alas, they were fleeting. (5/10)
Palate: The bright, dry pine notes continue on the palate though less irritating than they were on the nose. The contractor who bought the 2x4s either put on a bit of herbaceous cologne in the morning or perhaps he scrubbed his kitchen floors with Pine-scented cleaner. Kinda refreshing. (7/10)
Finish: That pile of cinnamon sprinkled peels over in the corner must be left from roasting apples for the nose earlier. Almost missed them. But after creeping up on me like that the finish is actually building and settling in nicely. Also I feel like having some mulled wine all of a sudden. (7/10)
Balance: A bit all over the place this one. I like the initial nose but not what it turns into. Then I don’t like the initial hit on the palate but I do like what it turns into. Then the finish seems absent but suddenly sneaks up on you and taps you on the shoulder. Now its all comfy on my sofa. But I don’t mind. Or do I? (6/10)
Water: Two drops sort of vaporize the nose into a puff of dried old shoe polish that must’ve been stuck on the 2x4s. The palate does some quite interesting stuff around the edges where some darker notes come into play. Blackberries perhaps? But hints of flat watery cola in the center compromise that experience just for a moment. The berries last into the finish where we now also meet our old friends, the crappy bargain 2x4s, once more. Adding water was worthwhile but I have to say: this is not exactly the most stable dram.
Nose: The peat appears in the form of compressed chocolate harvested from ancient bogs. The best such chocolate is often apparently somewhat fuzzy. (8/10)
Palate: The fuzzy chocolate from the nose melts into some mild Oolong tea served alongside it. Also, the table legs appear to be on fire. (7/10)
Finish: Heat stings the flanks of my tongue. These peripheral sensations meet up like the arms of a rather strangely shaped tuning fork back down in my esophagus. A hamster appears to have stored chocolate pudding in my cheeks. For the winter one assumes. (8/10)
Balance: A bit bumpy as a ride perhaps, which is not at all surprising for a 4 year old. Nevertheless absolutely enjoyable and well in line with Bunna’s recent push into bolder and peatier territory. (8/10)
Nose: Rusty cherries and baker’s plums. Smells like a bright red plate that had fresh squeezed lemon squirted on it. Later strawberries rise from wine-soaked brown paper bags. Someone is taking off leather gloves a few houses down the block using them to stack a bunch of iron ingots. (8/10)
Palate: Sizzling strawberries and peaches stitched together with Meyer lemon threads. Later vaguely berry flavored dry book pages made from leather. (9/10)
Finish: Moist, rich, warm strawberry pie lubricated by browned butter slips easily and somewhat lasciviously over the back of the tongue and down into the throat all the while releasing tiny little puffs of cinnamon. (9/10)
Nose: Someone left a leather jacket draped over a crate of old oranges and went to polish their shoes at the other end of the room. (8/10)
Palate: Sucking on a dried up orange peel that had been previously used to garnish a well balanced Negroni. (8/10)
Finish: After considering things for a while I have come to believe that shoe polish does have a place in caring for antique furniture. A few blocks down the road someone is burning oak chairs. (8/10)
Balance: Lovely. Delicate for sure, but lovely. (8/10)
Nose: Effervescent earthy orange candy. Rises from the glass like a dew sprinkled mushroom cap, gently glittering in the soft forest light. Don’t get me wrong… there is nothing woodlandish about this. It’s just an image that arose when I was thinking about the movement and character of the nose. Everything is rich and deep, yet gentle like the colors of moss and fern in the soft light under quiet trees. Quite beautiful. Later it drifts towards something resembling a faint BBQ savoriness. (8.8/10)
Palate: Crawling fire spreads here and there. Spots of burning shoe polish emit puffs of smoke wafting about. And yet, as a whole, this palate is bright with almost metallic notes shimmering on top of the subtly smouldering depths. (9.4/10)
Finish: Life is too short. So is this whisky. It never reaches the throat or chest. The finish floats near the roof of the mouth with some lovely orange-flavored smokiness and some decent initial heat that disintegrates into hollow echoes of itself. Sigh. I can’t emphasize enough how enamoured I am by this whisky and how much it hurts to be let down by its finish in this way. (7.5/10)
Balance: If it wasn’t for the short reach and, compared to nose and palate, lacking heft of the finish this whisky would be quite amazing. But that finish fails to live up to everything else and because the finish is, well, the finish it colors the whole experience. Such a bummer. But the rest is still absolutely worth it for early experience. (7.9/10)
Nose: Dark fruit, cherries and strawberries leading earthier wine notes. (8/10)
Palate: The wine influence comes to the fore and mixes into a batch of cookie dough. (8/10)
Finish: A mixture of wine and orange with hints of baking spices. It leaves a kind of gummy bear coating. (8/10)
Balance: This is surprisingly good for such a youngster but it needs a lot of time in the glass to get a hold of all its parts and assemble them into something presentable. Water makes a shambles of it all. (8/10)
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