Nose: Dark cherries, raspberry dark chocolate, an old bar, cloves, old leather, charred oak barrels.
Palate: Baking spices, raisin toast, cherry chocolate, Turkish delight, cocoa, fruit tingles, menthol, ginger ale, salt.
Finish: Cocoa, menthol, salt, old whisky barrels, ginger, raspberry dark chocolate, Turkish delight and a hint of struck match.
Last Word: I always have high hopes for these sherry cask matured Yoichi Single Malts and this one doesn’t disappoint. Just a shame so few people will ever get to try one.
Rating: 90/100
Nose: Banana bread, toffee, vanilla, pine nettles, furniture polish.
Nose: Cream sherry, raspberries, orange jus, marmalade, pine nettles, burnt popcorn, apricot jam, a little of the Hanyu earthiness.
Nose: Honey, treacle, dried pears, apricot jam, Brandy, ginger ale, orange peel, earthy peat, lemon cough drops, charred twigs. Shows a level of maturity that belies the young age.
Nose: Notes of toasted oak, toffee, dry earth, steel, mild wood stain, cloves and dried papaya. Can’t say it’s particularly bold or expressive and the sherry influence is non existent to my nose. Color is orange rather than the dark cherry you will see in many sherry cask matured whiskies. Very mild at 62.5%abv.
If you missed it a bottle of Yamazaki 50 Year Old Single Malt Whisky sold for a record price at Auction on January 30 for US$299,000. The auction was held by Sotheby’s Hong Kong. The previous record for a single bottle of Japanese whisky was also held by a bottle of Yamazaki 50YO sold at auction in October 2016 for US$129,000. After having followed the whisky auction scene for a while I can safely say it if you want absolute top dollar, Hong Kong is the place to sell. It is certainly bolstered by the burgeoning Asian whisky scene. The problem I found however was that when I approached a certain auction house in HK to sell some of my whisky they did not accept consignments from outside of HK. The whisky had to already be in country. Not sure if this is the same for all the auction houses in HK.
Nose: Apricots, dried pears, barley, lemon sherbet, vanilla, wood spice, ash.
Nose: Cantaloupe, honeydew melon, fresh cut timber, pears, white grapes, white peaches, honey. Water brings out a heather note.
Nose: This is Heavily Peated Whisky by Japanese standards. If you have tried any of the Chichibu ‘standard’ peated bottling’s, this is peated to at least that level but the Mars peat is much earthier. Dried mushrooms, bay leaves, ripe apricot, honeycomb, oregano, antiseptic, lemon, vanilla. Water ups the vanilla.
Nose: A medley of dried fruits made up of apricots, papaya, pears and dates. Quince jam, old leather chairs, pepper, cloves, hint of vanilla, eucalyptus, camphor, charred oak and candied orange slices. Water adds lime water and brandy snaps. Could nose this all day long!
Nose: The IPA cask influence shows it’s hand straight off the bat. Some maltiness and very hoppy/fruity. There is a dustiness like dust covered old oak barrels. Orange peel, peach skin and yeast. Incense which grows stronger with water.
Nose: Cinnamon coated Danish apple pastry, apricot jam, ginger bread, toffee’d oak, pouch tobacco. A salty maritime not like fresh shellfish. After a while a floral note, even more so with water added.
Nose: Fresh cut timber, apricot, straw, pineapple, mustard, prune juice, passion fruit.
Nose: Caramel salted popcorn, earthy peat, salted peanuts, mushrooms, fishing trawler diesel exhaust, marmalade, blueberries, vanilla.
Nose: Turkish delights, creme brulee, red apples, red grapes, leather tobacco pouch, cinnamon, treacle, cloves, oak. Water brings out vanilla and intensifies the leather/tobacco notes.
Nose: Oloroso sherry, honey, charred oak, pepper, nutmeg, paprika, maple syrup, dried apricot and dried mango. A floral not that becomes stronger though not intrusive when water is added.