Japanese Whisky reviews

I thought I was in for a line up of fruity Yoichi, but was surprised at how peaty the Yoichi 1999 was. So best to put another peaty whisky next to that, right? Luckily my sample cabinet still has this…

The Hanyu distillery is no more. The firm goes back to the 17th Century, but only since 1980 do they distill whisky (before they made sake, of course) after installing two pot stills. The distillery was…

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…

Noh refers to a tradtional form of Japanese theater with masks. Hence the label. This Japanese whisky was put to sleep in 1988 in a sherry butt that yielded 625 bottles at cask strength in 2009.The nose…

Karuizawa is almost legendary. Status-wise not unlike Port Ellen, I would say. Releases sell at the speed of light, there are no sweeter cakes. It once all started as a winery, distilling taking place…

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…

This Hakushu was bottled especially for the 10th Anniversary of Whisky Live in Japan. The cask was selected by none other than Dave Broom, so you can be assured that it will be good, right?It is nicely…

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…