1257 Kensington Road NW
1 (403) 283-8000 / atyourservice@kensingtonwinemarket.com
Sister to the Yoichi release that also focuses on the effects of playing around with yeast and fermentation times. Miyagikyo is the lighter and fruitier one, but it's absolutely worth checking the Yoichi as well.
47% abv
700ml mlProducer Tasting Note
Nose: Refined, full of ardour. The very exuberant first nose (lavender, marshmallow, marsh mallow plant) is also softly liquoricey and lush (malted barley). Allowed to breathe, succulent perfumes of comté cheese, flowering meadow, and fruits (peach, pear, apricot) intensely take hold of the olfactory arena. Gradually, notes of vanilla, coconut milk and lemon meringue tart draw out the first stage of the tasting.
Palate: Radiant, well-balanced. The full-bodied attack is at first refreshingly herbaceous (barley field, fern). Very delicately, the mid-palate then becomes wonderfully rich (brioche, leavened baguette). Next, white peaches and pears release their deliciously tangy juice onto the taste buds as acacia honey spreads voluptuously around the sides of the palate.
Finish: Long, silky. Closely linked to the end of the palate, incredibly fresh flavours of herbal tea (sage, camomile, verbena) cross through the start of the finish. At the end of the finish, grains of salt are placed gently onto a bed of cut grass. The mentholated, very slightly empyreumatic (smoking cigar) and spicy (fresh ginger) retro-nasal olfaction gradually reveals subtle floral notes (pear tree, lily of the valley). The empty glass releases fermentation aromas.
WhiskyFun Tasting Note (Serge)
According to the very honourable whisky experts at La Maison du Whisky, Nikka have used some special yeast that would have helped aromas of peaches and apricots to develop in this very limited NAS edition. Let's check that… Colour: gold. Nose: how do we get those peaches and apricots out of our head… Let's say that would rather be peach wine, 'un-ullaged' savagnin from Jura (or lighter manzanilla if you like), chalk and grist, hoppy beer (double-IPA, ha), a few rose petals… We're bordering gewurztraminerness, but after all, savagnin and gewurz' do belong to the same family. Mouth: peach tarte or apricot cake? They caught me! You do feel it is not an old whisky, and the wood certainly does a larger part of the jobs (drum and bass), but pink pepper (Szechuan) and, once again, a strong IPA do still sing and play lead guitar. Finish: rather long, on the same flavours. Sweeter aftertaste… apricot jam? Comments:very good. 87 Points