Japanese Whisky Tasting (March 26th, 2021)
This is our 1st Japanese Whisky Tasting. The bottles in question are;
| TT Label | Description | Proof | Rating | Price (CAD$) |
| G | Nikka, Whisky from the Barrel | 102 | 6.25 | $60 |
| B | Nikka, Miyagikyo Single Malt | 90 | 4.58 | $87 |
| F | Iwai Mars Tradition | 81 | 7.83 | $74 |
| A | Nobushi | 80 | 7.83 | $67 |
| D | Suntory Toki | 86 | 7.16 | $59 |
| E | Yamazakura | 80 | 6.42 | $63 |
| C | Kaiyo Mizunara | 86 | 6.0 | $97 |
| H | Tozai Sake (Nigori) | 28 | —- | $25 |
This was our first forey into Japanese whisky, we had 21 participate, but only 12 take part in the Zoom. I keep the votes of those not taking part in the Zoom, if they’d like for their own analysis later, but I don’t publish their results, I find in order to be consistant, everyone has to be present to vote.
In terms of the whiskies some were blends, some were Single Malts. We don’t seem to like the Single Malts, if you notice ‘B’ above. This is the first time we’ve had a tie for the winning bottle, 2 whiskies got 94/120. It’s also unusual that a bottle positioned 1st in the tasting actually wins, it’s only the 2nd time in 14 tastings.
One of the distinct characteristics of Japanese whisky is it’s aged in Mizunara oak, instead of regular American oak, the only brand that promoted that was Kaiyo (“C”), and it didn’t do too well, in the blind tasting. So I’m not sure as a group, if we really like ‘authentic’ Japanese whisky.
I tried to include a cream, in the form of a Japanese Saki, a Nigori, but unfortunately it seemed to have ‘turned’, so we didn’t rate it. That was our “H”.
The Winners!
The winners with 94 out of a possible 120 (78%) was Nobushi (“A”, $67), and Iwai Tradition (“F”,$74). Both are $65-$75 bottles, beating out $85-$97 bottles. The next closest, in 3rd place was Suntory Toki (“D”, $59), with 92 out of a possible 120 (77%). After that, they dropped fast.
1st Place (78%, $67)
2nd Place (78%,$74)
3rd Place (77%, $59)
The Survey Results
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | |
| Wayne | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| Charles | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 9 |
| Dane | 8 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 5 |
| Tim | 6 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Neil | 8 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| Tristan | 8 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 6 |
| Stacie | 9 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 5 |
| Murph | 8 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 5 |
| Jerry | 8 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Kevin | 9 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 5 |
| Stephanie | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| Erin | 8 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| Total | 94 | 55 | 72 | 92 | 77 | 94 | 75 |
| Average | 7.83 | 4.58 | 6.00 | 7.67 | 6.42 | 7.83 | 6.25 |
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