The Matsui The Peated Whisky

This is not whisky, I bought this thinking that all Japanese whiskies are of good quality having drank yamazaki and hakushu but I was fooled. This is the worst that I've drank and I'm now going into 200 different whiskies. The nose is just of a chemist, band aid. The palette taste of alcohol that's it, probably no more than a 2 year old spirit, harsh and without taste. The finish, forget it. Nothing there. Extremely disappointed with this. From now, I will be more careful about buying Japanese whiskies without first tasting them.

I have just started on my journey with this whisky. I made sure to aerate and breathe it and tried it in a couple of glasses. I prefer a Bordeaux glass from a certain German company for my single malts. They are softer, more expansive and smoother from it.
The most salient aspect of this whisky to note is that it is young. “Educationally young”.
I don’t believe I have tried a single malt of such youth and subtlety before. Bizarrely, I mixed it with Glen Grant 10 to “beef it up”! This didn’t work, robbing both drams of their character.
This is expensive. ‘Japanese’ expensive. And it is hard to make a convincing case for ignoring the very large number of extremely high quality single malts and bourbons available at this price in preference to this. However, on it’s own merits, it certainly does have something to teach. To teach me at least. A different side of single malt whisky.

It is misleading to label this “peated”. While I am sure this is legally true, it would be like calling a beef stew with three flakes of dried chilli “spiced”.
So….what does it have to offer?
A completely different experience.
An almost ephemeral dram. The barley is present; that unmistakable sweetness that comes from well-controlled germination. Considering this is 48% alcohol, it is quite ridiculously soft and….. I have not decided whether the right word is “muted” or “lost”.
This still has some harshness. Please understand that this “harshness” is only in relation to this incredibly soft and sweet dram. In any standard whisky, it would go completely un-noticed.
I will leave it for a week or so to soften up.
I feel that this is a specialist product. That to understand and appreciate it takes time and a willingness to
a) pay quite a lot of money for the privilege
b) accept it for what it is.
I believe that I will benefit from this purchase. I believe that it will help me in my whisky journey. It might help you too.
But if you’re looking for a cheap Yamazaki….look somewhere else.