Martine Nouet
Nose
Tangy (alcohol tickles nostrils). Lots of cereal notes. Cooked grains. Oatcakes. Cowshed. Creosote with fresh mint aromas. Lemon juice.
Palate
A very short sweet start, bursting out into a spicy circus of aromas. Quite sharp but challenging. Less creosote on the palate.
Finish
Concentrated, citrussy, minty and spicy.
Comment
Water undoubtedly tames the alcohol but alters the freshness and enticing natural sharpness of that bold whisky.
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Dave Broom
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.
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