I believe this is the first in the Moon and Vanishing Animals (月と失われゆく動物) series, a Whisky Talk bottling series that perhaps represents the festival and its uniqueness. So far, all the bottlings have been Japanese whiskies if I recall, Hanyus and Chichibus. This animal is the Japanese wolf (オオカミ, 日本狼, 山犬). Why is it in katakana? Been extinct for quite awhile. I believe some of the proceeds of this bottling went to earthquake relief efforts?

Nose: young grapes and cough syrup, cocktail cherries, some cinnamon, seems to be closer to fruit powder.

Palate: medium body, initial palate is a caramelized cherry cough syrup type,
mid palate gets more tart and sharp, simple and maple syrup, fruit oils and more specifically a cherry alcohol type, cinnamon, a good mix of fruit and spices overall, wouldn't say its bourbon, but the mix does seem that way, back palate adds a little bit of wood in the mix.

Finish: medium, cherry cough syrup, light wood.

Mostly cough syrup oriented with an interesting minor contribution from cinnamon. Nonetheless, not my preference, but the quality is there, or as much as it could be. Then again, for some reason I am on average not a Hanyu fan but some of the sherried ones are very nice!!!... Not sure what happened here, but I guess I understand why the bottle is quite full after several years on top of popularity.

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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