Japanese Whisky reviews

This 21st Century offering from Suntory will not disappoint. It is no Islay, since it has little to no smoke at all, but it is rather a nice warm weather scotch that goes well with ice, although I prefer…

Karuizawa distillery was established in 1955 by the Mercian Wine Company. Mercian owned a former vineyard and decided to convert this into a small traditional distillery. Apparently the location at…

This is one of the very last expressions in Ichiro Akuto’s “Card Series”. It was distilled in 2000 and matured in a hogshead before being finished in a sherry butt. It was released in 2012.The nose is…

Shinjiro Torii was the first Japanese to start distilling, already in 1923. This entry level whisky, the 10 Year Old, matured solely on bourbon casks. It was released later than the 12 Year Old, which…

I tried this one before, but it is such a fine whisky that it is no punishment to return to it. It won top honours at the 2008 World Whisky Awards. Need I say more?The nose bursts with sherry influence…

I found yet another peaty Japanese dram in my cabinet, this 17 Year Old from the Yoichi stables. This is a lot darker though, which reveals a sherry cask.Wonderful nose! Perfect mix of raisins and alm…

This is my final Yoichi sample, a 20 Year Old from 1991. It matured in warehouse 15 (many a good cask came from there), in a new oak cask.The prickly nose contains peat and silt, but it is the sweetness…

As far as I can tell, cask #9305 has led a double life. One the one hand there is the general release by Number One Drinks that counted 626 bottles at 53,4% ABV, but Full Proof seems to have managed to…