Nikka 10yo, Cask no. 31886, 58% abv.

The label says its from the Sendai Miyagikyo plant/company, so I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say its from the Miyagikyo distillery. I suspect "14A44B" means something, perhaps site related, but I am not sure. Had this in 2020.

Nose: intense and savory, like a salty, soy sauce drenched crustacean soup, the intensity wanes but the saltiness remains, very sour warm wine, slight frozen green grapes, green grapeskins, wine grapes, a fragrant wood, cherry fragrance, guava, wax, strong spiced apples.

Palate: medium body, dry, complex, initial palate is a light honey, mid palate has a nutty texture, roasted peanuts, sour fortified wines, peanuts when you look for it, apple oriented grape wine flavors permeate, back palate has a lot of stuff going on, a mix of wine, vanilla, and peanuts, hints of toffee and some caramel, metallic legumes, fried apples, red apple skins, a soet of gummy vanilla, there is a lot of stuff here that I cannot aptly describe.

Finish: medium to long, candy, sweetly stewed green vegetables, buttery caramel, light peanut butter toffee, a few other residuals... the only normal aspect to this pour.

A very hard to describe whisky, a great level of complexity with great diversity and a nice variation of intensity in flavors. The flavors aren't particularly fruity or peaty, more oriented to mysteriously sweet, biological elements of fruit components, closest thing I could think of would be vegetables stewed in a mix of full bodied wine and chicken soup. Delicious.

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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