Japanese whisky is very big these days, and the guys at Chivas jumped the Japanese wagon, and have introduced a Mizunara aged Chivas, back in 2014. The whisky was released originally as a 12 year old, but locally for some reason it bears no age statement on the label (NAS). Mizunara oak (Quercus crispula) is quite rare, and used in some Japanese whiskies, but since this specific oak is quite hard to handle and produce staves from, and since it takes a 200 year old tree to make a decent cask, Mizunara casks are quite expensive. What Chivas is doing here is of course not full maturation in Mizunara oak, but a vatting of some Mizunara aged malts and grains, with regular oak barrels. No indication of the actual percentage of Mizunara casks used, and again, no indication of age at least on the bottle I have.
It’s quite odd that Chivas would not indicate 12 years of age on the label if indeed the whiskies inside are all 12 years of age or older, to me, this usually means, we have some young malt/grain inside,right?
At any rate, the whisky was released locally in Israel last month, and is priced at around 200 ILS $55 USD , which is not exactly cheap for a NAS blended whisky. I did try some over at Whisky Live TLV, held in March, and was not quite impressed with it, but why not give it another try?
Chivas Mizunara, NAS,40% abv, £59 / 220 ILS 
Nose: Alcohol bite, followed by a nice sweetness, the young (so i think) grain plays first violin here,there are also nice oak notes,with spices and a hint of fruit: ripe apples, bananas,and pears alongside some vanilla, a hint of dried fruit, and nuts. A lovely nose, you’ll enjoy sniffing for quite some time.
Palate: The grain is big here as well, with a honeyed touch, and quite some alcoholic bite, it feels much younger than 12 years of age to me.. and I can tell young grain when i taste some.. There’s also a nice bitterness that balances the sweetness nicely, some chocolate, and spice, but it all feels quite rough and unpolished.
Finish: Short with wood and bitter-sweet notes of nuts / wood.
bottom line:
The nose if lovely, but too bad the palate does not deliver, and feels rough and young. That’s a shame indeed. I would prefer the regular 12-year-old Chivas over this when I am into easy sipping blended whisky… Pricing is also quite steep when you take into account what sort of lovely single malts you can buy for under 60 quid…
This is clearly a whisky aimed at Chivas lovers looking for some variety, or as a nice gift to blend lovers who have not yet made the move into single malts, looking for a strong Brand…
Score: 72/100