No, Kaiyō did not distill any of this week's whiskies. Kaiyō is a négociant crossed with an NDP, wrapped in a shell corporation. If you don't believe me, please read this very thorough, and kind of bananas, post at Nomunication.jp. (Proper respect to Richard on that one.)
What I can say this week's three Kaiyō whiskies is that they're probably Japanese single malt that has been teaspooned with another (Japanese?) single malt. They can't call them a single malt because of that silly teaspoon and they can't call it Japanese because it was aged on the ocean part-time. But the bottle's label has kanji on it and a Keeper of the Kiddish Quaich is in charge of blending the stuff.
Are you still with me? If so, you're not drinking enough.
Brand: Kaiyō
Ownership: hopefully the IRS knows
Type: Vatted, or Blended, Malt
Country: Japan
Maturation: Oloroso + PX + Mizunara Casks
Age: NAS
Bottled: 2019
Exclusive to: not Japan
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(from a bottle split)
NOTES
The nose starts with a combo of anise, oranges, grape juice and flower kiss candy. And it......works. It expands with time, picking up marzipan, cherry lollies, dried cranberries and Crème de cassis.
A creamy mouthfeel brings cherry cola, tart oranges and a hint of rosy florals in the palate. Hints of oak spice and semisweet chocolate stay in the background.
It finishes with tart and tangy oranges, oak spice and a touch of coffee.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
Much to my surprise this turned out to be a very drinkable thing, and never gets too sweet. In fact, it's comparable in quality to many ≤12yo heavily sherried scotches. I doubt you'll find much from the mizunara casks since they're usually subtler than sherry-seasoned casks, and Kaiyō had a heavy hand on the sherry here, possibly to make sure the whisky was true to its name. I'd buy a bottle were it half its price.
Availability - Still around in the US
Pricing - $120-$140
Rating - 84
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