Melissa Gray
May 25, 2026, 18:10:41
Right, so I’m having a quiet dram of this one tonight – nothing fancy, just me and the glass. First nosing and it’s immediately this high-precision thing ⚡️ almost like an eau-de-vie de barley, really lifted. Grapefruit. I mean… only grapefruits at first, sharp and pale, maybe a bit of chalk dust and green apple skin. Feels very minimal, like everything’s stripped back to grist and barley. Then a strange flash – 5:30am outside a bakery, fresh baguette straight from the oven, that yeasty warmth. But hold on, we’re still on barley. Almost barley on barley, if that makes sense? A very genuine Japanness to it, a sort of restraint. Later it opens into this whisper of white wine – dry, lean. But honestly this baby remains very minimal, stony and focused. The finish sits long, humming with grapefruit rind and that chalky crispness. Not shouting, just beautifully there. 🍞🍋
