Nikka Yoichi 10
3 of these bottles recently went for auction at K&L and I won one of the bids for $107. After buyers fees and tax it came out to $133. Considering the rarity and typically higher cost, I figured why not.
I’ve not tried the NAS Yoichi, and I typically gravitate towards Scotch, but I do enjoy Japanese offerings like Hibiki, and even Toki highballs. Granted, I’ve never done a deep dive, so my experience is limited, but I’ve been wanting to try something from Nikka because of its history and I wanted to try something smoky.
I’ll have to see how the bottle progresses, but overall it hasn’t made me look twice. Not to say that it’s bad by any means, but it’s kind of medium all around and inoffensive. Medium fragrance, medium bodied, medium finish. It seems to lean on the sweeter side, mostly rounded in the mouth. I’m not one to embellish reviews but I get the honey/vanilla/caramel/apple vibes. The smokiness is more of an accent and refrains from drawing attention to itself.
I don’t think I’d necessarily buy it again, but I would be curious to see how it compares to the NAS version.
Overall it’s fine. It’s very well rounded and there’s nothing wrong with it. I don’t know, let’s say 7.5/10