Karuizawa 1969/2012 ex-bourbon #8183

from purchased sample

Nose: Very fresh, acidic (green apples in honey). Extremely high quality vanilla, and varnish trending to sweet glue. Cake frosting. Very well integrated sweet and natural wood. Candy apple and tropical fruits. (with water) Sweetness and acidity stand out more, wood is faint and has the vanilla-glue thing going on. Gorgeous vanilla, rich and creamy, with a teaspoon of powdered sugar. Intoxicating.

Palate: The alcohol kicks into high gear at the mid-palate. Until then, it's honey-caramel at first. Heavy wood in the middle, though still less than an old bourbon. Apple, pineapple, and pinesap varnish. Rather tightly wound and could use some water. (with water) At first, very similar to a lightly wooded, soft wheated bourbon, but still scotchy in nature. Wood turns bitter after mid-palate.

Finish: a little dry, still sweet, wood at the forefront. vanilla, frosting, and fruit. (with water) more on wood and glue. finish is better neat, but it's still excellent. The nose is just simply fabulous neat. One of the best ex-bourbon noses that I've had in a whisky, but the palate comes apart just a bit too much from the wood and alcohol, which never quite come into complete balance (with or without water)

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