Style: Youthful and Fruity
Nose:
Youthful tropical fruits buzzing in, lemon balm sealing around it. Vanilla powder, barley sugar lightly torched with faint peat smoke. Underlying citrus orange surfaces and beaming positively. A small red chilli spike towards the end.
Palate:
More juvenile barley sugar and orange confectionaries clatter on the palate, a (surprisingly) light amount of smoke injected into the core, followed by lemon coconut scented candle, with a gentle layer of aloe vera buffer underneath. Milk chocolate, oatmeal and vanilla oak seeping in to give a tinge of bitterness.
Finish:
Sweet barley coating, aloe vera and orange citrus to finish.
Thoughts:
A pretty well-constructed Yoichi, the young barley sugar offers plenty of energy to power the expression with side notes supporting it well. However, in my honest opinion, at least part of the spirit still feels too young and the rawness of the spirit remains evident for me. Maybe the oak is highlighted as a counterbalance, but somehow it feels a bit forced. That said, it is still a rather positive dram. Borderline tick.
✓ [Recommended if you like the Style/ Distillery]
[45% / Original Bottling / No Age Statement / General Release / Circa 2017 Bottled / T-]
-Esmond
WhiskNick 