Miyagikyo 15 yo 45%

Discontinued and often neglected malt. 

The distillery was established in 1969 on Honshu island though its first name was Sendai (name of a closest town in Miyagi prefecture). In 2001 after Nikka company was bought by Asahi Brewery it was renamed to Miyagikyo. 

Miyagikyo 15 yo 45% (bottled 2012) - all aged malts were discontinued in 2015 due to the so called Nikka shock, what we have instead now is Miyagikyo Single Malt. 

Nose: fresh one, wet wool, bog oak, red berries, pinch of sea, it changes all the time :) bread sweetness after a while, damp leather, hint of smoke and rubber.

Taste: sweet and damn drinkable, large sips recommended, lovely fresh menthol note at the end.

Finish: seemingly short but unexpectedly it comes back to play on your palate with salty and oaky notes. Quite dry.

Overall: elegant and subtle Japanese malt to be enjoyed with large sips, the only problem is that nose becomes noticeably flat after 20 min. On the other hand 20 min are enough to enjoy its development and make one more sip.

Score = 22 22 22 22, 88/100!