Suntory Hakushu 18 Year Old

Hakushu uses water from the Ojira and Jingu rivers which is considered among the purest in Japan and therefor bottled as such by Suntory (which owns Hakushu). This whisky is their 18 Year Old, with a slightly darker hue than their 10 Year Old.

The nose plays in a different league than the 10 Year Old. More expressive on vanilla, fresh wood shavings. No. Make that the still warm edge of a fresly sawn plank. Quite nice, even if it doen not reveal a lot of fruit, besides some apples. Flowers as well. Despite all that, this nose is just as light.

It has a little more body than the younger version, but is still not completely mouthcoating. Fairly spicy with some apples and cinnamon, but it lacks a bit of punch. Hardly any peat to speak of (not that I was looking for it). Okay, but not grand.

The finish is the highlight of this Japanese whisky: long and slightly drying because of the Mizunara.

The nose was worth the effort, but it did not really deliver on the palate. The finish was the best part, but coughing up about 60 EUR seems a bit much.

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