We've come a long way since K&L brought our first barrels of Japanese whisky in 2013. Those two barrels were from the famous Karuizawa distillery and have become absolute legends, some of the most sought-after whiskies we've ever sold. Since then we've not managed to sell another Japanese whisky made from barley at all! Many of the Rice based sochu style whiskies have come and gone, often young and very far outside the standards set by the Single Malt category. When I stumbled across this seemingly too good to be true whisky, I was more than skeptical. With absolutely no information about production we can only speculate about where this whisky might actually come from. While that's hard for some to accept, there's simply no way to deny the incredible quality of this usual product. One of only two 100% barley whiskies in the lot, the other which was sent in its entirety to Texas. Other Impex whiskies you might see in California are NOT 100% barley. The bottles are listed as Single Grain because it's not clear if the barley was malted or not. All we do know is that it's a single cask distilled from only barley and aged for 17 years in a new oak barrels. Let's taste it. The color is calming amber. The nose is an absolute endless escape into powerful savory and fruity aromas - spice box, old varnished wood, persimmon, graphite, roasted chestnuts, cherry compote, 70% Ecuadorian cacao, burnt orange peel and toffee. Honestly if you handed this to me and told me it was bourbon from the 60s, I wouldn't bat an eye. On there's great texture and tons of really juice fruit, framed powerfully by the incense like wood flavors. The spice pulls up and we don't really perceive the low proof in terms of texture. A few drops of water aren't necessary as they tend to bring out more wood at first, but with more aeration the thing becomes extremely composed again adding lift to the palate and tempering the spice. I still think I like it better right out of the bottle and like one might imagine this bottle loves air/just keeps getting better in the glass. It's a bummer we don't know what this is because I desperately want more. It fits in the most perfect niche in between Single Malt and Bourbon. A bizarre, yet wonderful and welcome addition to the whisky pantheon.