Before Number One, there was Mercian. Was it better then? Mixed feelings on that as some seemed to be good, but many did not, and I feel like it has more to do with bottles being open for too long than anything else, as whisky drinking culture is a little different than other regions.

Nose: a balance between honey and grapes, but in the end mostly toast.

Palate: light body, dry, initial palate has a sort of perfumeric grape juice, grape perfume, mid palate shows more pomegranate, honey, syrup, and pear juice, a little increase in body, back palate grows the body, shows a sort of baked strawberries, honey is more defined, more pastries, some wood and paper.

Finish: medium to long, syrup, pies, graham, bread pastry oriented, a sort of iron soot appears later on.

Another Mercian Karuizawa that shows it isn't up to par with the Number One releases. It is flavorful, with many baked fruit flavors, but seems to lack intensity and synergy, let alone depth. The nose was pretty cookie cutter, but the body was well defined and entertaining. Gonna be conservative here.

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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