Nose: Maltesers, caramel, oak, lacquer, dried fruits. Very gentle.
Palate: This is where things step up a few notches over the Taketsuru 12YO(I haven’t tried the standard NAS). Lots of juicy dried fruits, malt, quite a some pepper, sugared orange slices, and in lesser measure sherry, cloves and paprika. The oak is subdued.
Finish: Dried fruits, sugared orange slices, sherry, young tawny port and some decent length.
Last Word: Not amazingly complex but well balanced, the extra punch offered by the sherry cask finish is a welcome addition. Nose is a bit soft for my liking however.
Rating: 83/100
*Sample courtesy of Clint at Whiskies R Us
I know you didn’t get any, Brian, but my favourite Taketsuru is the 17yo 46% non-chill filtered released a couple of years ago or so.
It’s MUCH better than the standard 17yo.
I’ve nearly finished my first bottle, so I’d better save you a sample!
It was a bit pricy then, but now anything good under 10,000 yen is starting to look good value.
There aren’t many bargains any more, unless you go to Japan & ferret around in every liquor shop you can find for bottles that have been sitting around for a while.
I’m surprised that NCF isn’t standard Alan. That way we wouldn’t have to worry about limited releases that sell out and then resell for silly prices.
I’m not sure I bought more than 12 bottles this year. I mean, it’s not like I don’t have plenty of open stuff to choose from already but I have to be far more judicious with my purchases with the way prices are. I think the most I ever spent on any Hanyu was $350(Joker Monochrome) and on a Karuizawa about same, ’79 Japanese release.
I agree, Brian, NCF 46% should replace the existing 17yo.
Why stuff around with something that’s inferior?
Not that the standard 17yo is a dud – it’s just that the limited release showed that they can do so much better.
Why waste time pumping out second best?
Of course, it’s about money.
It’s just that, being a purist, I don’t think we should have to pay through the nose for the good stuff.
After all, the Iwai Tradition WCF & the Nikka Coffey Malt are great drams at modest prices.
Still a big favourite of mine Brian. Maltesers Yum! In my opinion the sherry cask finish on this works real well. As you you there is/can be a lot of “hit&miss” with “finishing” but this one ticks all the right boxes, well for me…another one of those bottles, for my personal liking, where I should have bought a few….hang on a minute….I couldn’t, they were sold out quicker than you can say “I’ll have two please”.
Haha Clint, don’t know what the original price was but sometimes you snooze you loose unfortunately. One think I forgot to mention but where in my original hand written notes was the total lack of sulphur, so excellent casks.
Cheers
Brian