Rare and Rarer - Two Japanese whiskies

From the same session at the Auld Alliance, but these two are Japanese whiskies of the rare variety.

Hibiki 21 (43% abv) - this one now costs over $1000 a bottle, and the limited edition bottling with Mount Fuji on the bottle costs significantly higher. I rather enjoyed the 17 years expression. Let's see if the 21 is even better.

Nose - Ripe Chinese pears. Sweet and fragrant, but still considered a light nose. Vanilla and slightly floral, compared to the 17, which was more floral, I feel. The grain whisky influence seems less pronounced in this. A bit of oak, and some caramelized sugar.

Palate - a bit of grass and pine, then the pears we found on the nose return. Some vanilla, and this one is surprisingly drying. It sucked the moisture out of the sides of my mouth. Not unpleasant, but not what I expected. And not something I will say that I found enjoyable. Thankfully, the dryness gives way to some bourbon-like honey sweetness.

Finish - the vanilla lingers for quite a while. There's a light bit of oak, and a refreshing grassy feel.

Overall - Good Japanese blend, though I thought it would pack more. It seems that the 17 was a bit better. This one is mellower and more austere. And the palate is surprisingly dry. Good, but I think it falls just short of greatness.

Ichiro's Malt, Chichibu, for the Tokyo International Bar Show (62.3% abv, 299 bottles) - Rarer, but surprisingly cheaper than the Hibiki 21 per glass.

Nose - Very young (6 years, bottled in 2015), very high strength. The French oak cask has done a thorough job on this whisky. Behind the sweet and fragrant oak lies some vanilla, grass, and light peat. With water: A touch of savouriness appears, and the oak gets even more fragrant.

Palate - alcohol burn. Young whiskies and high strength tend to do that. Silly me. After the whisky sits for a while, there's some light peat, grass and light pepper. I noted the high strength and alcohol burn twice when I was tasting this. Behind the alcohol lies a cartload of nuts. Almonds and roasted peanuts, if I had to be more precise. With water: The nuts get toned down, and the French oak becomes more fragrant and dominant.

Finish - light peat and nutty. There's some spice, like cinnamon. This finish feels rather spirit driven. The oak has done its job, but it feels like the malt in the spirit finally has its say right at the end. With water: A bit of vanilla comes out on the finish.

Overall - This is very good. Very young, very high strength. This means that the wood hasn't had as much time helping the alcohol to blend well into the rest of the liquid and help it settle down. But, nevertheless, this is actually pretty complex. I suspect with more time and different amounts of water, one will get more stuff out of this. The French oak used in the cask is also of top quality. I usually can't stand whiskies that have too much of an oak influence, but this one is good. The wood is fragrant, rather than cloying or overly assertive. A good base spirit matured in a very good cask. I like this, and may consider trying more Chichibus in the near future.