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| Hello, that is one in every of our (nearly) day by day tastings. Santé! |
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October 3, 2024
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Just a few Japanese whiskies
(Many extra quickly)
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It seems like there are extra top-quality whiskies in Japan once more, past the NAS bottles or the blends and malts sourced from overseas that had, for a time, taken centre stage, whereas the true nice Japanese malts appeared to wrestle to fulfill the demand of a selective but nonetheless thirsty viewers.
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At Wakatsuru – Saburomaru (visit-toyama-japan.com) |
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In brief, it seems to be like issues are easing up, regardless that costs stay very excessive, however perhaps are there extra doom spenders round lately. We’ll be tasting fairly just a few over the subsequent few days to have fun this.
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Yamazaki ‘Golden Promise 2024 Version’ (48%, OB, Tsukuriwake Choice) 
American oak. Golden Promise is the famed barley that constructed fairly a status in Scotland (assume ‘M’), offering extra texture and fragrant depth, or so it appears to me. I say “appears” as a result of most we’ve sampled had been additionally closely sherried. Color: mild gold. Nostril: heaps of contemporary bread, buttery croissants, and a touch of mashed potatoes (50% butter, 50% potatoes), with a touch of moist plaster and contemporary grass. Just a few drops of brut cider and mead, then very ripe apples, but it stays superbly dry, nonetheless targeted on the contemporary bread with only a few touches of panettone and snapped twigs. Mouth: certainly, it’s fairly oily, led by candied citron, with hints of eucalyptus, adopted by ripe bananas and dried apricots. There’s additionally a return of the bread and quince paste, accompanied by these notes of contemporary (unsawn) wooden once more. End: lengthy, very balanced, pretty wealthy, however nonetheless all concerning the uncooked substances. That’s to say, the barley, with some touches of oatcakes. There’s a faint honeyed observe within the aftertaste. Feedback: you may inform it’s not an previous malt, nevertheless it’s very properly put collectively (as is the worth, one would possibly add). A malt that’s even maltier, in a approach.
SGP:451 – 88 factors. |
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Yamazaki ‘Islay Peated 2024 Version’ (48%, OB, Tsukuriwake Choice)
This isn’t a maturation or ending in an ex-Laphroaig cask as you would possibly discover elsewhere; slightly, it’s barley malted at Laphroaig utilizing Islay peat, which was then shipped to Japan for brewing and distillation. Arduous to not be curious, actually… Color: white wine. Nostril: that is completely not Laphroaig, a lot softer, lighter when it comes to smoke (I think about most of the ppms had been misplaced throughout transport—except the malt was deep-frozen?). Lovely lemon, mint, and oysters, with out the medicinal facet. There is a pretty, nearly maritime freshness, which I actually like, as everybody does, I agree. The menthol observe is slightly uncommon. Mouth: right here we get a little bit of camphor and a touch of mercurochrome, with a contact of contemporary coriander, adopted by a little bit of lime blossom tea with honey. It really works extraordinarily properly, with a really elegant simplicity. Some oriental spices, however not within the ‘Islay’ fashion—no tar, smoke, or ashes… End: a smooth honeyed sweetness, ginger and honey biscuits, with a slight observe of delicate curry. Feedback: wonderful for a NAS that’s been totally ‘premiumised’.
SGP:553 – 88 factors. |
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BTW, ‘Tsukuriwake’ is an idea in manufacturing, a way of organizing manufacturing extra effectively by various the processes. It appears that evidently it was broadly carried out at… Toyota. Suppose ‘Kaizen’.
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Yamazaki 18 yo ‘Mizunara 2024 Version’ (48%, OB, Tsukuriwake Choice) 
We completely adored Suntory’s 2023 model, the ‘one hundredth Anniversary’ (WF 91). I imagine this isn’t only a Mizunara ending such as you see nearly in every single place else; it’s a full maturation. And just like the Hakushu 18 that follows, it’s not ‘simply 18’; it will additionally comprise older malts. Color: gold. Nostril: superbly layered with varied woods—cedar, sandalwood, spruce, and wild cherry—all seamlessly built-in with honey and a contact of brown sugar. Then come the florals—honeysuckle, mandarin liqueur, Earl Gray, and citron liqueur… It is really gorgeous. Mouth: candy courgette flowers in batter, beeswax, honeyed orange zest, adopted by quince cake, a contact of pine bud liqueur, even hints of blackcurrant, mandarin, and oak tree honeydew… End: lengthy and much more targeted on citrus—marmalade or liqueur—with faint hints of mango chutney. Some thyme tea within the aftertaste, probably from the Mizunara. Feedback: a really distinctive whisky, with an unmistakably Japanese character to the palate. No purpose to attain it in a different way from the 2023 version. The NAS 2022 model wasn’t fairly in the identical league, so to talk.
SGP:551 – 91 factors. |
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Hakushu 18 yo ‘Peated Malt 2024 Version’ (48%, OB, Tsukuriwake Choice)
Now, I have not the faintest thought if the peat right here is from Islay (I don’t imagine anybody makes use of Japanese peat, do they?), however final yr’s version was completely magnificent and really… Laphroaiggian. That mentioned, Suntory solely acquired Beam, which owned Laphroaig since 2005, in 2014. Color: gold. Nostril: curiously, it’s rounder and extra honeyed than Yamazaki at first, with smooth resins main the best way earlier than shifting right into a medicinal territory, with camphor and ointments, nearly as when you’d smoked some candied tangerines. Nevertheless it stays splendidly light, with notes of heather honey and white clover. Contemporary mastic and fern additionally make a fragile look. Mouth: magnificent, on par with this yr’s Yamazaki for me (which wasn’t fairly the case in 2023). Pine buds, vegetal tar, grapefruit and myrtle liqueur, a contact of juniper, and a great deal of fir honeydew. And I do adore fir honeydew, I have to say. End: extra of the identical, with all the pieces coming collectively round that fir bud liqueur. There’s a slight toothpaste observe within the aftertaste, however that’s absolutely the best, rarest toothpaste on the earth. Chlorophyll, eucalyptus, and only a whisper of… previous Laphroaig, ha. Feedback: it’s extremely costly, but additionally extremely good.
SGP:563 – 91 factors. |
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Saburomaru 2020/2024 (60%, The Final Spirits by Rudder, bourbon barrel, cask #200122)
We’ve solely sampled one Saburomaru malt up to now (isn’t this web site – ours – dreadful). This malt comes from the Wakatsuru sake and shochu brewery in Tonami, Honshu, they usually’ve solely been distilling whisky since 2017, focusing solely on peated whisky, malt I suppose. Color: straw. Nostril: it’s highly effective and fairly acetic, with a contact of brine, lemon juice, a powerful fermentary observe, soot, and a touch of mezcal and even orange wine… With water: completely no change, apart from the addition of a little bit of engine oil and coal tar. Mouth (neat): explosive, smoky, but very fruity, with peach on the forefront. You may’t assist however consider a superb, nearly saline shochu. With water: superlative, with these smoked winery peaches, maybe smoked over beechwood—one thing alongside these traces. It additionally brings to thoughts a skin-contact (macerated) Gewurztraminer from Mélanie Pfister right here in Alsace. End: lengthy, nonetheless fermentary and peachy, with a little bit of seawater and a contact of varnish. Feedback: a terrifically younger and slightly devilish Japanese whisky, very New-Wave.
SGP:666 – 89 factors. |
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Kanosuke ‘Single Malt’ (48%, OB, France, 2024)
A ‘core’ launch, aged in sherry and the corporate’s personal rice shochu casks (Mellowed Kozuru). Color: gold. Nostril: vegetal oils—sunflower and peanut—adopted by peanut butter and sesame oil. Add a few drops of Riesling and there you’ve gotten it—should be the shochu affect, no? (Pardon?) In any case, I discover it to be a beautiful nostril. Mouth: peanut butter and Riesling return, now joined by grapefruit, a little bit of contemporary walnut, and lightweight touches of smoked fish. A pleasant, slightly uncommon acidity actually ties all of it collectively. End: pretty lengthy, with lemon juice, shellfish, and salted butter caramel. A barely ashy aftertaste lingers. Feedback: I actually love the salinity and acidity right here; for a core-range whisky, it’s really wonderful, even when it is likely to be ‘not for everybody’ (I hate saying that).
SGP:463 – 88 factors. |
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Magnificent collective effort from the Japanese workforce in the present day. We’ll be persevering with very quickly…
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