Kamiki Blended Malt Whisky

Whisky Review

• ABV: 48%
• Age: NAS
• Bottling: OB
• Category: Japanese blended malt whisky
• Cost: £52.20 available from Amazon.com
• Origin: Kamiki
• Vintage: undeclared

What they say

Perfectly balanced with heather honey, sweet caramel, Japanese plum, balanced oak, peat and toffee with hints of sandalwood and green tea. Non chill-filtered at 48% alcohol to keep its natural flavors at maximum. Blended at its peak flavor, rather than a predetermined ratio. As a result, each batch is unique and limited with stocks.

We wanted to celebrate the timeless alcohol tradition of the region by blending a Japanese style whisky that harmonizes Japanese nature and artisanship.

We choose rare Japanese malt whiskies, finest malt whiskies from the rest of the world and fuse this unique blend with the highest quality pure spring water from Japan.

Yoshino Sugi, most commonly known in English as the “Japanese Cedar” is indigenous to Japan. For centuries it is being used to make temples. Japanese Cedar is also known for its pleasant fragrance and soft texture that help calm the mind and the body.

Yoshino Sugi is considered to be the best wood for making local drink casks because of its scented refreshing flavor and wooden aroma. Our blend is rested for a second time in Yoshino Sugi casks to capture a perfectly smooth taste, a scent of sandalwood on the nose and a zest of green tea in the finish. This second maturation makes our whisky unique.

What I say

Kamiki whisky is made in Nara, Japan by blending Japanese and world malt whiskies and then further maturing them in Japanese casks such as Japanese Cedar for this expression.

This was part of a Japanese whisky tasting with The Whisky Wire & Dekanta – thanks to Tom at Toms Whisky Reviews for sharing some of his sample with me.

My tasting notes:

• Appearance: Dark copper/ruby (13/20) tapered medium-fine tears and fine legs.
• Nose: Spicy and woody, cinnamon powder, balsa wood. cedar, brown and woody sugars, wood smoke, toffee, honey, malted barley, clove, baking spices, slightly herbal.
• Taste: Sharp and spicy, with a molasses sweetness, highland toffee, clove, cinnamon, aniseed, mace, cedar wood and wood smoke, slightly polished wood and quite light on the palate/in body.
• Finish: Slightly bitter and sharp as well as spicy, woody, popcorn, cinnamon bubblegum, herbal.

Overall:

Oddly woody and spicy, it is hard to measure this against other whisky expressions as I have never tasted anything from Japanese cedar wood before. It certainly seems to bring a unique character to this blended malt that is unmistakably woody and Japanese in nature.

Score: 78/100

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