Komagatake 6 Year (2014) Cask 1790
Whisky: Komagatake 6 Year (2014) Cask 1790
Country/Region: Japan
ABV: 61%
Cask: First Fill Bourbon
Age: 6 Years (Distilled 2014, Bottled 2020)
Nose: Orchard fruits and hard candies, green apple and fruit punch candies, hints of mint and pineapple, bubble gum, and artificial fruit flavoring; woody and floral hints of edible nasturtiums and wood resins.
Palate: Medium-bodied, oily, almond extract and tinned fruit salad, green apple and pineapple hard candies, artificial fruit flavoring, bubble gum, hints of spearmint with subtle edible florals.
Finish: Medium-length with tinned fruit salad and a touch of bubble gum.
Score: 5 (74)
Mental Image: Double Ambrosia Mint Bubble Gum-Flavored Floride
Narrative & Notes: I keep running into these bubble gum notes on modern Mars from the Shinshu distillery, and I am curious if it is the product of their distillation, fermentation, barley varietal, or maturation. I know people who love these sort of artificial fruit or bubble gum notes, but I don’t.
This was borderline crossing over from something average to an excellent malt— it almost hit the same sort of fruit salad notes as one of my all-time favorite Penderyn. Yet, it was a bit simple and did not manage to strike its dominant notes very clearly.
Overall, not bad, but not to my taste. This may reflect my personal tastes more than it does any inherent flaws in the malt, but my review accounts only for my reaction and is not unbiased.
