Style: Fruity and Grainy
Nose:
Begins with a youthful spirit overtone, toffee carrying an energetic grain-y buzz. Summer berries, grapefruit citrus, wafers, apple jacks with a touch of acidic raspberries. Peppermint and cloves spice zigzagging across and give some heatness to the spirit. Malt becoming fuzzy towards the back, dark chocolate finish. A light-hearted fruit-grain aroma backed with decent depth. Quite good.
Palate:
Delicious dark fruits burst into life on the palate. Prunes, plums, cherries lightly brushed with lip-smacking milk chocolate. Grain signatures piloting a menthol surge. Rolling out a thin vanilla carpet, tobacco leaves, while caramel notes dropping lower and binds with the oak towards the end.
Finish:
Soften dark fruits surfacing to the top, walnuts and figs biscuits, while the rest gradually dissipates.
Thoughts:
Ah, the famous Nikka From The Barrel, finally… It feels like this review is long overdue, a whisky adored by many drinkers because of its great price-quality ratio. In my honest opinion, the hype is justified – Bright fruitiness outlined by young grains while the sherry component enhanced its depth nicely, the expression is very well-balanced. While it is easy drinking, the higher strength gives an extra notch of intensity to spice things up a bit. Maybe slightly young/rough around the edges for me, but overall quite a nice dram. Close to 1 star.
✓ [Recommended if you like the style/ distilleries]
[51.4% / Original Bottling / Cask Strength / No Age Statement / Circa 2015 Bottled / t+]
-Esmond
WhiskNick 