Umiki Japanese Whisky Review

Curt McAdams -

BOTTLE DETAILS

  • DISTILLER: Undisclosed. Produced by Yoshino Spirits
  • MASH BILL: Undisclosed.  Umiki is a blended whisky reportedly made with malt whiskies distilled along Japan's coast. The grain whisky used is imported but the countries of origin are not disclosed.
  • AGE: NAS - No age statement
  • YEAR: 2020
  • PROOF: 92 Proof (46% ABV)
  • MSRP: $44.99

CURT'S NOTES

NOSE: Pine Resin  |  Honey  | Caramel

TASTE: Spice and Pepper  |  A Touch of Dry Citrus  |  Grain | Evergreen comes through with just a drop of water added

FINISH: Most of the flavor is on the front of the tongue, and the finish brings pepper to the back of the mouth, very pleasantly. Most of the finish goes quickly, but there’s a long-lingering warmth with a bit of the pine sticking around. There’s a touch of bitterness, but I liked it.

SHARE WITH: Friends that enjoy different whisky experiences. This isn’t a bourbon drinker’s bottle, most likely, but, for someone a bit adventurous, it’s priced well enough to give it a try. It’s a definite try for Scotch fans. The uniqueness of this bottle has to do with the fact that it’s finished in pine barrels, which sounded really odd to me, but it works quite nicely.

WORTH THE PRICE: Seeing as this is available at around $45, this is definitely worth the price

BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Bottle. Some bourbon drinkers may balk at a $45 bottle for something different, but it’s nicely priced for a Japanese whisky. Even though it’s a blended whisky, it’s done very nicely. I wish the producer was more open about how long it was aged in pine barrels, and from where the grain whisky was sourced, but this is a well-done whisky with a different take than others on the shelf.

OVERALL: I can’t say I was really looking forward to this whisky, so I was surprised to find how much I really like it. It drinks a bit hotter than it’s 92 proof, but just a drop of water affects that nicely. Too much water, and it’s just kind of a sweet water; add water judiciously, but do try it with a drop or two. The whisky is made with desalinated ocean water, and the company makes a big deal about that. it’s just water, though, but at least it’s clean water, and it actually makes a decent whisky.

The secondary maturation of the whisky is what really makes a difference with this, not the water. I really did enjoy this experience, and it's a bottle worth having for those wanting to try something different. I really didn't think a pine finish sounded like a great idea, but it really works!

BRAND NOTES

Umiki is world’s first ocean fused whisky brand finished in Japanese pine barrels. This unique production technique also gave the name to UMIKI – Ocean tree whisky whereby “UMI” means “OCEAN and “KI” means “TREE” in Japanese.

To honor the life-giving ocean and the long-living pine tree that graces coasts of Japan, we blended pure desalinated ocean water with ocean side distilled Japanese malt whiskies and imported grain whiskies after finishing our curation in Japanese pine barrels.

The sustainable process of UMIKI gives an exceptional smoothness to our whisky with sea-breeze on the nose, rounded floral taste on the palate and a soothing freshness in the finish.

Disclaimer: Yoshino Spirits provided Bourbon & Banter with a sample of their product for this review. We appreciate their willingness to allow us to review their products with no strings attached. Thank you.