Kaiyo

As my first foray into the Japanese whisky market, I was super excited to give this a try. Kaiyō isn't the same as traditional Irish and American single malts. It offers a smooth almost sake like flavor and body. The initial taste is so discrete you almost don't notice it until the after taste. It's very smooth, very flavorful and almost a bridge between those red wine drinkers and us whiskey drinkers. I give it an 8/10 for pure drinkability.

I've been told that the novelty of Japanese whiskey comes from its rarity, and in that sense I was skeptical about it, but my skepticism was laid to rest: this was a great whiskey. It had excellent taste that was dry and yet sweet & flavorful. It was also very smooth. So easy to drink, and delightful! I can't pretend to know about Japanese whiskey yet, but if this is my introduction, I'm happy about it. I highly recommend it. 8.5/10