Iwai Tradition, Wine cask finish, 40% abv.

Iwai Traditions are blends from Mars Shinshu distillery. A mashbill of 70% malted barley and 30% corn, aged in ex-bourbon, sherry, and American oak casks. Finished for 12 months in wine casks from the Mars Yamanashi winery; finished after blending or a blend of finished casks? Apparently an outrun of about 2500 bottles. Not sure if this is an annual release or something from time to time. Had this in 2020.

Nose: raisins and wood, bacon, lightly burnt and salted beef, with more sniffs it seems to get sweeter, cream.

Palate: light body, smooth, initial palate is a salty wood, a little like salty paint, polished wood perfume on the aromas, mid palate gets oily, some wood polish, swishes well, sweet iron, back palate initially shows a plain malt but then it gets a little syrupy, chalk, now that I think about it it's like a sweet lowfat milk.

Finish: short, mouth feels like I just had skim milk, hints of strawberries.

An interesting pour with confusion everywhere. The wine influence wasn't strong on the nose or palate... but I admit I am not good at evaluating what a wine influence is. The finish is quite surprising because it feels, and tastes, like I drank skim milk, maybe strawberry skim milk.

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

🇭🇰 🇺🇸(LA, SF) -> 🇯🇵 (京都, 東京) -> 🇰🇷 (서울, 부산)