![]() I agreed with that position, still agree with agree with it, and things are, if anything, worse now than when he said it – and I think we presently agree on that as well. I don’t want to help consumers support NAS whisky. “It was only because I was trying to present all sides of the story, and give consumers as much information as possible in making their whisky buying decisions. When Curt first discontinued NAS reviews, he said he changed tacks from reviewing them for the following reason: Put an age statement on any bottle and it’s the same whisky – the difference is that the influence of age isn’t being selectively and nonsensically denied, and people have some idea what they’re buying, which should be their universal right at point of purchase. ![]() It’s the industry’s (sometime) claim that taking age statements off somehow makes whisky more experimental/better/exciting/whatever and it’s complete bullshit, as shown by all the people who can state, but not defend, the position. ![]() If all of this is being done as some type of acknowledgment of “there are some good ones” in the interests of fairness, something that has to be acknowledged even more loudly in the interests of accuracy is that, again, there’s no possible link between quality and withholding product information. The explicit message (Fuck you, NAS) is at odds with the implicit message (NAS products should not be discounted/opposed on the basis of the marketing alone if NAS is a big deal, it’s not THAT big of a deal). Promotion of these products is the ultimate, if not the intended, net result. I don’t contest anyone’s right to recommend what they like but, as I tried to point out some time ago, this issue was inevitably going to come up with NAS reviews: one can’t review, and raise the profile of, NAS bottles without implying that quality (good or bad) ultimately trumps any personal objections to the marketing, as the products, after all, ARE being reviewed DESPITE being NAS. One final note…the nose does somewhat outshine the palate. Thoughts: An incredibly well made dram, and for a ridiculously fair price considering the mark-up on Japanese whisky nowadays. Leaves smoked peaches and oak on the back end. Think of a very muted tropical juice blend poured over angel food cake. ![]() Is that peat? Really? The fruits that ebb and flow here do border on tropical (but the whisky is just too young for it to truly plunge into tropical territory), with those semi-bitter, but also incredibly sweet, colorful explosions (too esoteric?). Palate: Nice arrival that immediately shifts gears into darker vanilla and tannic notes. Not a complex malt, but very well-composed and infinitely drinkable. Like a good young Speysider with a more exotic spice bouquet. Nose: Pear, orange and a touch of that syrupy fruit cocktail mix from the can. Oh, and a hell of a price for a Japanese whisky in this era of unrestrained price gouging. Fortunately there were a few drops left over for a couple of revisits and some tasting notes.Īgain…we decry the lack of vintage on the label – in this day and age there is no excuse for clandestine policies regarding age – but concede a well-executed drink. The seven or eight gents that gathered over good reads and good malts that night spanked the hell out of it, I should note. The bottle you see in the photo above was purchased on behalf of another l’il club here in town, called Liquorature for an event held a few months back. It now seems that was a solid investment. Word of mouth from a few trusted sources was enough to get our local club – The Dram Initiative – to spring blindly for a couple bottles to shelve for a future Japanese whisky night. Something that was unparalleled in its price bracket in terms of relative quality and depth of pseudo-tropicalia. Initial rumblings on this one pegged it as a wonder malt of sorts. What I can say, though, is that this one is neither underdeveloped, nor is it gracefully waltzing up into its golden years (that apex of maturity we ache for in the whisky world). Asian malts mature a little bit differently from their Scottish brethren in most cases, so using the same metrics is misleading. Non age-stated, but let’s assume a middling youth.
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