Country: Japan
Distillery: Yoshino Spirits Co
Type: Blended Malt
Age: NAS
Cask: Mixed casks finished in Japanese Cedar Casks
ABV: 48%
Proof: 96
Price: $80

Nose: A sweet start, just like a well made bourbon. Green tea, matcha notes evolves in time, blended into a ripe banana. Lastly a distinct cardamom appears which brings life to the nose.
Palate: Palate has dried banana slices with cardamom still on board. Hot sauna wood feeling with pine cones make palate warmer.
Finish: It felt it was going to be short but it just came back as it was diminishing and it escalated making a long sweet finish.

Kamiki Whisky is a really interesting dram and a must try spirit. I believe that we will see it more often very soon!! Actually well after I wrote the first version of this article, Kamiki hit the market and now they have another expression, Kamiki Sakura Wood too.

Japanese cedar casks may raise some questions as it is not oak but it enhances the flavor in its own way and I really liked the vibe and the tone of this whisky. Definitely a swell whisky and it looks like it is open to improve in the future as the composition of blends may be modified.

So we can expect that every batch of Kamiki will probably have a slightly varying character. But for this batch I must admit that I dig the live palate, banana and cardamom details.

Cedar cask influence should not be forgotten as it makes the whisky 'greener' in my humble opinion. Every different cask including beer, wine, cedar etc, surprises every one of us. Also, new regulations coming from Scotland opened the path of experimenting with more barrels.

Another point is the whisky content of it. Just to clarify, I am an avid believer of transparent regulations for any whisky style or country.  However, I do also think whisky profits a lot from experimenting and to be honest, cedar casks are too much fun for me.

Give Kamiki a try and let's discuss further what can these experiments bring to the industry.