Tag Archives: Japanese single malt whisky

Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve No Age Statement 43%abv

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P1030190Nose: Oak, caramel, wood spices, ginger bread, figs. Immediately Yamazaki/Japanese whisky if you know what I mean.
Palate: Lovely tangy spiciness. Ginger bread, tobacco, cloves, fig jam, cashews, pepper, cola, oak, cocoa, peanut butter. Tasty!
Finish: Medium length on oak, oak, cocoa, ginger bread, fig jam, tobacco and peanut butter.
Last Word:: For mine easily the most successful of the no age statement replacement single malt bottling’s from Nikka and Suntory. This is my 3rd bottle in the last 12 months and I have been very satisfied each time. Happy enough to have this as a subsitute for the 12YO at about 20-30 bucks less.

Rating: 85/100

Hakushu Distiller’s Reserve No Age Statement 43%abv

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P1030189Nose: Light and crisp. Pear slices, lemons, grapefruit, moss/wet forest, a little acetone.
Palate: Crisp and clean. A little oily, pears, almonds, nougat, cloves, pepper, wet moss.
Finish: Short on pears, cloves and pepper.
Last Word: Some of the Hakushu distillery profile is there such as crisp mountain spring water, earthiness and pepper. The palate however lacks enough satisfying body and complexity and the finish is very short. Where is the nicely integrated peat I would normally expect? I’ve tried several bottles of this and have always been left underwhelmed. Not a patch on the 12YO which I poured a dram of to taste side by side.

Rating: 80/100 only because the base spirit itself was distilled with obvious care.

Mars “Komagatake” Rindo Single Malt 52%

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P1030184Nose: Sherry, grapefruit, wood stain, an earthy note, dried mixed citrus peel, dried pears, tobacco.
Palate: Well the tobacco is still present but you wouldn’t think you were tasting the same whisky you have been nosing. Candy coated nuts, earthy peat, marzipan, white peaches, cashews, a mix of sweet and savory spices, tinned plums, menthol. Really quite moreish, I kept pouring more drams while writing up these notes.
Finish: Tobacco, earthy peat, cashews and menthol.
Last Word: A well sorted blend of old and new stock and different cask types. Doesn’t really give any clues to the distiller as it is not like any previous offering from Mars Whisky I have tasted before.

Rating: 87/100

Yoichi NAS 2015 45%abv

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BAL_0457Nose: Mixed nuts, toffee, apricots, peaches, malt. Quite a light nose.
Palate: Mixed nuts, peanut butter, ginger, cola, oak, leather, a little rhubarb, menthol. Oily mouth feel.
Finish: Short on the mixed nuts, peanut butter, leather, rhubarb and menthol.
Last Word: The quality of the spirit is there no doubt. Nothing cheap or nasty about it though it’s not particularly complex. This whisky has a big problem though, it’s not very Yoichi. Where’s the peat, the maritime notes and flavors, the lovely smoke that magically appears after a number of seconds then rolls around the palate and compliments the usual stone fruits? Doesn’t have that bubblegum thing that’s often found in Nikka/Yoichi whisky either. Come on Nikka, if this is going to be the staple Yoichi single malt for the foreseeable future, lovers of Yoichi whisky deserve a whisky that truly represents the style we have come to expect from that great distillery.

Rating: 80/100 as a single malt whisky, 78/100 as a Yoichi whisky

Miyagikyo NAS 2015 45%abv

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BAL_0459Nose: Barley sugars, red apples, dried pears, lemon pie, nougat, apricots, subtle wild flowers.
Palate: Lemon sherbet, barley sugars, dried pears, oak, nougat, macadamia nuts, marzipan, white pepper, spearmint, a little smoke and ash.
Finish: Nougat, macadamia nuts, barley, oak, ash, mineralized water.
Last Word: This is a smooth and subtle style of whisky with enough quality and complexity for the price point in Japan. Nice summer sipper. As this will be the main single malt offering from Miyagikyo for a number of years to come I hope they will tweak the make up from time to time to give us some variety. I have open bottles of both the 12 and 15 year olds and they are definitely bolder and more complex whiskies.

Rating: 84/100