Nose: Immediate complexity. Cheddar cheese, cream, but also a firm nutty quality. A touch of burlap, smoke and then with water it shifts into sandalwood, citrus, pineapple, pine.
Palate: Dances in the mouth, moving from spice into flowers then to smoke, which builds subtly.
Finish: Long, mixing spice and sweetness.
Comment: This has classic Japanese finesse (and excellent viscimetry). Great whisky is about balance and this has it...in diamonds, not spades.
Score: 9 / 10
[These notes are reproduced from Whisky Magazine Issue 56]
