Having quite enjoyed the Yoichi 10 year in an earlier sampling session, I will admit to being rather excited to explore more what this distillery has to offer!

I particularly recalled Dr Bill Lumsden (of Glenmorangie and Ardbeg fame) sharing that of all the Japanese whiskies, he found Yoichi the most interesting.

Yoichi Single Malt NAS 45% (approx late 2015/2016)

• Nose – A curl of peat, sweet citrus fruits, honey, toasty nuts, vanilla, hints of sweet herbs and whiff of salty sea spray
• Palate – Bold yet still approachable, nice balance of sweet, spice and smoke… some leather, malty
• Finish – First real ‘finish’ of the evening… however still relatively short with a nice puff of smoke closing with mint

Overall a good well balanced dram. Fruit, peat, spice, sweet and nice it hits many of the right notes.

However, can I admit to being a wee bit disappointed with the NAS expression? I was honestly hoping for more… It just didn’t seem to have those delicious autumn notes I associated with the earlier Yoichi whisky.

And this is all the more devastating when you realize that with Nikka’s 2015 announcement of a whisky “shake up,” the age statements from both Yoichi and Miyagikyo are no more… at least for the foreseeable future.

From once potentially being considered in 2007 as one of the “cheapest whisky” (how times have changed!) in Japan, the Yoichi NAS of today is a reflection that the single malt stock shortage at Nikka is indeed very real.

Here’s what the Nikka folks have to say about their whisky:

Yoichi single malt has pleasant peaty notes and smokiness originating from the traditional direct coal-fired distillation as well as a briny hint delivered by the sea breeze during the aging process.

Here’s what others have to say:

• The Japanese whisky review
• WhiskyNotes
• Axis of Whisky
• Whisky Saga

What else did we sample in our far east evening?

• Togouchi Kiwami 40%
• The Nikka 12 Year 43%
• Kavalan Solist Ex-Bourbon Cask No B101124001A (Bottle 102 of 230) 58.6%

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