World Whisky Review #25: Kamiki Blended Malt Whisky

Distillery: Blend

Bottler: Kamiki

Region: Highland

Price: $10 at a sushi restaurant

ABV: 48%

Age: NAS

Color: 1.1, Burnished.

Nose: (according to the wife) It’s very floral. There’s a lot of the cedar coming through along with grapes.

Palate: Slightly on the thin side. It’s a mix of fruity and spicy. There’s a prominent note of jujube followed by a bit of orange and vanilla. Ginger spices it up along with some other spices that I couldn’t quite make out.

Finish: Short, it basically evaporates. It does leave behind a very short note of jujube and ginger though.

Conclusion: Kamiki caught my eye because of their use of cedar casks instead of traditional oak ones for finishing. Cedar’s got a very distinct smell so I was curious to see how that would translate to flavor. You can definitely tell the cedar in the nose, it’s got that very distinct smell. Perhaps the jujubes or some of the spice mix could be attributed to it but beyond that sniff in the nose, it was hard to tell this was aged in anything special. Still, it was a pleasant though straightforward whisky. Not bad. Would I buy a bottle? No.

Final Score: 75.

World Whisky Review #25, Japanese Review #13, Whisky Network Review #211

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.