Ohishi Single Cask 7yo Madeira Finish "SCWC" pick...

Ohishi 7yo Single Cask Madeira Finish "SCWC" pick (41.2%): Finally my two bottles of our first single cask pick we did as Southern California Whiskey Club arrived yesterday... It is a seven years old Ohishi single cask whisky distilled in February 2013. After spending its first five years in a 1st fill Oloroso butt the spirit got divided into different smaller finishings casks and this particular one ended up aging in a 1st fill Madeira cask for an additional two years before being bottled at cask strength. The Madeira cask yielded only 180 bottles... Ohishi Distillery distills their whisky from a mash of malted and unmalted rice running it through their stainless steel still only once resulting with a distillate at around 45% abv to be filled into the casks.

Color: Medium amber, orange blossom honey color with a thin ring of tiny teardrops around the glass slowly forming slow and rather thick legs.

Nose: Very refreshing and citrusy... Orange blossoms, tangerine peel and candied citrus peels. Concord grape jelly, ground ginger and cinnamon sugar. Sweet pastries: Cinnamon rolls and danishes.

Palate: Doughy and sweet. Kinda rum-like actually... Back to French pastry shop: Danishes, pain aux raisins and eclairs. Dulce de Leche, caramel shortbreads and cookie dough. Lemon twist, vanilla and bees wax. Although it is a little thin on the palate it has an incredibly silky mouthfeel. Cream sherry, lemon cookies and cake batter.

Finish: Medium with vanilla, more cookie dough and sweet cream.

Overall: This is easily the best rice based whisky I have tasted... Well, at least among almost a dozen or so I tasted so far. And I am happy to say that this one actually was also my vote when we were selecting the cask for SCWC but it actually tastes way better than I remember. It might be the case the whisky being poured from a regular size bottle instead of a small sample vial but it definitely tastes better. It's doughy, creamy and sweet... A perfect session whisky, would pair with any dessert amazingly well and would make a killer highball. Rice whiskey as category really started to grown on me lately. I really wish I secured more than two bottles when I had the chance. I believe it's sold out by now but I will check again regardless... 

Price: $58

89/100