Nose: Strongly fruity on green apples, fresh pear, lemon juice. Hints of steamed greens and the almost inevitable acetone note of youth(though not overpowering). White pepper which becomes quite intense once this opens up over time in the glass.
Palate: Respectably smooth on the palate for a new make spirit of 60% though warming on the way down. Fairly simple/straight forward at this stage. The green apples are there but the malt begins to assert itself. The steamed greens, a little vanilla, toffee and some chili flakes spice. Water doesn’t change the equation to much though ups the chili flake spice.
Finish: Green apples, pears and white pepper. After about 5 minutes a little soapiness.
Last Word: Definitely shows potential. Due the cooler overall climate where the distillery is situated, I would expect an Akkeshi whisky to mature maybe a year slower than say an equivalent aged Chichibu. I say this as I tasted the new makes from Chichibu and they were surprisingly well developed at a similar age.
Rating: 75/100
Nose: Not a huge sherry bomb nose. Blood oranges, dried fruits, leather, dusty old bar, cherry cream, raspberries, incense, some flintiness.
Nose: Lightly sherried, oak, orange peel, cantaloupe, cashew nuts.
Nose: Very light on fresh cut timber, pears, lychee’s and a wildflower note.
Nose: Oranges, apricots, bran, coffee bean, lime water, toffee.
Nose: Dark cherries, raspberry dark chocolate, an old bar, cloves, old leather, charred oak barrels.
Nose: Banana bread, toffee, vanilla, pine nettles, furniture polish.
Nose: Icing sugar, lemon, mandarin, vanilla, pepper, banana, cream corn.
Nose: Cream sherry, raspberries, orange jus, marmalade, pine nettles, burnt popcorn, apricot jam, a little of the Hanyu earthiness.
Nose: Apple pie, sweet corn, white pepper, honey, vanilla, toffee, sawdust.
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!