Tasted #592: Yamazaki "Age Unknown" 30 Year Old (TimeforWhisky 10 Year Anniversary Dram)

Our second 10th Anniversary dram whisky comes from Japan…in the form of a 30 Year Old Yamazaki.

Hold up....Yamazaki? 30 Years Old? 

How often has someone told you they tried a 21 or 30yo Yamazaki, and you just know they meant Hibiki? I mean, apart from single casks, Yamazakis are usually always NAS, 10, 12, 18 or 25yo, right?

Generally, yes, but in 1989 a very limited Yamazaki "Age Unknown” was released, containing Yamazaki from the 1960s and bottled at 25 years old. 5 years later in 1994, a further 300 bottles were released with an extra 5 years maturation, making this 30 year old Yamazaki!

(You can tell these older 1994 bottles apart as they have the signature of “Keizo Saji” on the label - Suntory’s chairman).

WhiskyFun gave this a WF96 recently, a score very few whiskies achieve. With these kind of figures (300 bottles, released 28 years ago, WF96, WB94.67 etc..) I'd fully expected this to fall into the "whiskies Martin will never try" category...but then on a recent trip to Melbourne, the incredibly generous Deni Kay (@deni_kay) invited me around for an evening with he and his Old Master Spirits partner David (@whisky.nerd), where David kindly shared this. I wasn't about to say no! Absolute legends, both of these blokes. 

Yamazaki "Age Unknown" Keizo Saji Release (43% ABV, 30yo, 1 of 300 bottles, Japan, Price: lots and lots and lots, if you could even find a bottle)
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Colour: Deep rich gold.

Nose: Instantly, I get Golden Rough chocolate (Aussie readers will know it) - milk chocolate with roasted coconut. Straight back to my childhood. That's followed up by creamy vanilla, sultanas, coffee grounds, aged honey, a humidor full of lovingly-aged cigars and a slight nuttiness (walnuts). It's like someone took all the best notes from a beautifully-aged, clean sherried dram, and all the best notes from a beatifully-aged Mizunara dram, and mashed them together. Simply stunning.

Palate: Mercifully, the nose is backed up by an equally complex and stunning palate. There's some spice initially, but it doesn't overpower (like it does in the 2014 Yamazaki Mizunara), and sits alongside more coconut, milk chocolate, sandalwood, nougat and honey in perfect harmony. Back in 2017 I wrote that the 2017 Yamazaki Mizunara 18 Year Old had one of the most incredible noses I'd experienced, but the palate didn't match it. In this Age Unknown, it does.

Finish: Long, very long (especially considering the 43% ABV), with coconut, sandalwood, mild woodspice, caramel and honey.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 95/100. Simply incredible. One of the greatest whiskies I've ever had. Anyone have a spare $40k AUD?

See you tomorrow for dram number 3!

Cheers,

Martin.

Togouchi & Sakurao "core range" Single Malt Japanese Whisky releases [Tasted #578 - 579]

Almost 12 months ago, we took a look on the current state of the Japanese whisky market, including tasting a number of new releases from an exciting wave of newer Japanese distilleries producing proper (i.e. distilled-in-Japan) Japanese whisky. 

One of those whiskies was Sakurao's 1st Release Cask Strength, which was particularly interesting as it marked the first whisky from Sakurao Distillery (formerly Chugoku Jozo) to be distilled in Japan. Previously, they'd been producing Togouchi whisky - aged in Japan, but distilled in Scotland / Canada. I mentioned that the distillery had (somewhat confusingly) also released a new, Japanese-distilled Togouchi, but at the time it was for the domestic market only.

Fast forward to 2022, and Sakurao Distillery have now released their "core range", regular line-up of both Sakurao & Togouchi - both now available in Hong Kong.

Whilst distilled at the same distillery, Togouchi is aged for more than 3 years in a disused railway tunnel in the forest (Hiroshima mountains) , in ex-Bourbon barrels. Sakurao, on the other hand, is aged in Sakurao, seto Island Sea, in 4 different cask types (ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry, American Oak & Mizunara).

First releases (especially when single casks) are always fun, but they're not always representative of the distillery's ambitions, or intentions for a core product, so I was excited to dive in and see what these approachable (43%) core/regular releases had in store...

Sakurao Single Malt Japanese Whisky (43% ABV, at least 3yo, Sakurao Japan, $1,100HKD available from AFTrade)

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Colour: Golden straw.

Nose: Honeycomb, ginger tea and orange cake

Palate: Honey toast, BBQ-singed oranges, and peach tea, followed by a little vanilla and woodsmoke.

Finish: Long, with vanilla shortbread notes followed by fresh peaches.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 88/100. A solid showing for a first core release - and a very solid competitor to other new distillery releases around this price point. 

Togouchi Single Malt Japanese Whisky (43% ABV, at least 3yo, Sakurao Japan, $1,100HKD available from AFTrade)

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Colour: Pale straw.

Nose: Green bananas, banana chews and minty peas.

Palate: More banana chews, intertwined with notes of rockmelon & vanilla ice cream.

Finish: Medium in length, with a fresh apple crispness.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 89/100. Another solid showing. This is one of those whiskies where you say "you know what? Yeah, it's on the younger side, but it's just super drinkable and tasty." A worthwhile pickup for anyone who wants to see what the future of Japanese whisky could look like.

As with previous (and no doubt future) Sakurao Distillery releases, AFTrade (who provided these bottles for review) are distributing and selling these in Hong Kong. Well worth a look.

Cheers,

Martin.

Mars Tsunuki Peated [Tasted #559]

Rounding out our look at just what Japanese whisky is these days, we come to the final whisky (for now) - Mars Tsunuki Peated. Mars is by no means a new entry into the world of Japanese whisky, but Tsunuki is,  having only started distilling in 2016.

Located in Kagoshima (on the site of a previous ageing warehouse), Tsunuki distillery was designed to provide some variety in the Mars whisky portfolio - a fact we first learned from the president of Mars (Kazuto Hombo) himself when he visited HK a few years ago.

So, we're talking about a ~3yo whisky (distilled 2016-2017, bottled 2020), said to be peated to between 20-50ppm. I enjoyed the first Tsunuki ("The First"), so was keen to see how it takes to a bit of peat...let's go:

Mars Tsunuki Peated Single Malt Japanese Whisky (52% ABV, 3yo, Kagoshima, Japan, $2,200HKD)
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Colour: Bright yellow gold.

Nose: Initial campfire smoke, then waves of yellow and green fruit (peach, pear, green apples, rockmelon). Not tropical, but a distinct fruitiness - something I've found on a lot of these younger Mars releases, from both Shinshu and Tsunuki distilleries.

Palate: Less obviously peated, though there is some background smoke. Melon, peach, earthy subtly-smoked honey, and then (interestingly) some BBQ-smoked salmon!

Finish: Long, with notes of oak, slight smoke and a slight tannic note towards the end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 90/100. Not overly complex, but tasty and very drinkable.

Thanks again to AF Trade for the review bottles / samples, and for bringing all these proper Japanese whiskies into HK!

Cheers,

Martin.

Akkeshi Kanro & Boshu Single Malt Japanese Whisky (& Usui blended whisky) [Tasted #556 - 558]

After a bit of a pause, we're continuing our look at what Japanese whisky is today, this time with a trio of releases from Akkeshi - namely the "Kanro" & "Boshu" single malts, and "Usui" blended whisky.

These releases (sold and distributed in Hong Kong by AFTrade) are numbers 1, 2 and 3 in what will eventually be a 24 bottle series, known as the "24-season series", representing the 24 divisions of the solar year. 

Construction of the Hokkaido-based Akkeshi began in 2015, with distillation starting from October 2016. With stills by Forsyths (5,000L wash still, 3,600L spirit still) and the use of Mizunara casks, the distillery fuses the best of Scotland and Japan to, in their words, "create a whisky similar to Islay malts" - a departure from the typically lighter, unpeated Japanese whiskies we see today.

Following in the footsteps of some other new distilleries, Akkeshi released a few pre-whisky spirit bottlings to give people a taste of what was to come, under the "Foundations" range. I remember back in the day (when travel was possible) spotting and trying some of these at bars all over Japan - at 200mL and ~¥3,300 each, they were a cheap and accessible way to get an insight into the distillery's future whiskies.

Their first single malt whisky ("Sarorunkamuy") arrived in February 2020, and the series above followed. Let's dive in...

Akkeshi "Kanro" Single Malt Japanese Whisky (55% ABV, NAS, Hokkaido, Japan, no longer available)
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Colour: Yellow golden sunset.

Nose: Slight cereal note, with citrus spice, subtle smoke, and big notes of paprika and sandalwood. Slight salinity.

Palate: There's obvious peat, but a lighter, sweeter, fruitier variety. Hints of strawberry and orange, sea salt air, strawberries & cream, and a little of that cereal from the nose.

Finish: Long, light peat and slight new oak notes.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 90/100.

Akkeshi "Boshu" Single Malt Japanese Whisky (55% ABV, NAS, Hokkaido, Japan, no longer available)
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Colour: Light yellow gold.

Nose: Citrus, lemon peel, blueberry, chocolate strawberries and a slight salinity.

Palate: Soft, subtle floral wooded smoke. Oak, coconut and campfire notes.

Finish: Dark chocolate, slight oak bitterness, citrus peel.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 89/100.

Akkeshi "Usui" Blended Japanese Whisky (48% ABV, NAS, Hokkaido, Japan, no longer available)
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Colour: Golden amber.

Nose: Burnt toast, cereal grains, milk chocolate powder.

Palate: Sweet and floral, with notable sandalwood, orange peel and hints of fresh oak. Sweet and robust, with caramel chews after some time.

Finish: Long, soft oak with a slight pepper spice.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 88/100.

Thanks to AFTrade for the samples of these whiskies. Whilst they're now all sold out, subsequent releases in the series are now available.

Cheers,

Martin.

Sakurao 1st Release Cask Strength Single Malt Japanese Whisky [Tasted #534]

Following our reviews of the Komagatake x Chichibu "Malt Duo" & Kanosuke First Edition, as part of our look into the current state of Japanese whisky, we're moving onto another exciting new First Release - Sakurao "1st Release Cask Strength Single Malt Japanese Whisky".

Seemingly continuing the trend of Japanese distilleries locating themselves in picturesque locales, Sakurao Distillery is located in the town of Sakurao, on the coast of Hiroshima facing the historic Itsukushima Shrine and its "floating Torii gate" off Miyajima Island. Now sure, location doesn't necessarily dictate the quality of the whisky, but a location like this does make the distillery pretty accessible for tourists, which can only be a good thing for both the distillery and Japanese whisky in general.

What's interesting about Sakurao (formerly Chugoku Jozo) is that they've actually being producing whisky for several years (as well as gin) - but until establishing Sakurao Distillery, they weren't distilling it in Japan. The "Togouchi" brand (which many would know as that short, rounded bottle containing Scottish / Canadian whisky aged in a former railway tunnel in Hiroshima) made up the entirety of the company's whisky, but now they're distilling both malt and grain right in Japan.

(The excellent Nomunication blog has a detailed write-up on the topic which is worth a read.)

Somewhat confusingly, they've actually launched two Japanese-distilled single malt brands - Sakurao (which I've tasted below), and Togouchi single malt, a domestic-only product for Japan. So as it stands, "Togouchi" is both a Japanese-distilled single malt brand, and a world blended whisky brand! The former is matured at the coastal distillery, the latter in the aforementioned Togouchi railway tunnel.

Photo credit: Sakurao Distillery

Confusion aside, we applaud any Japanese whisky producer who wants to "go legit", so let's see how their first release stacks up...

Sakurao 1st Release Cask Strength Single Malt Japanese Whisky 2021 (54% ABV, 3yo, Sakurao Japan, $2,080HKD available from AFTrade)

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Colour: Rich amber-honey.

Nose: Sandalwood, quite active oak, dark chocolate & orange peel

Palate: Sweet, creamy vanilla essence (intense - almost vanilla-pod like), milk chocolate drops, then a subtle earthy smoke forms, and sticks around. There's chocolate raspberries, cherries, and a little salinity.

Finish: Medium in length, with the sweet choc-cherry notes running through to the end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 89/100. If I'm honest, I haven't loved many of the Togouchi blended whiskies I've tried (although their new Coffee liqueur is pretty tasty, and a steal at $168HKD). This Japanese distilled Sakurao though is very enjoyable, and shows a lot of promise for what's to come.

Thanks to AFTrade Hong Kong (importers / distributors of all Sakurao spirits in HK) who provided the whisky for review.

Cheers,

Martin.

Komagatake x Chichibu Malt Duo Blended Malt Japanese Whisky [Tasted #533]

Continuing our look into the current state of Japanese whisky, and following my recent tasting of the Kanosuke First Edition, we move onto Mars Whisky next (and uh, Chichibu as well), in the form of the Komagatake x Chichibu "Malt Duo" Blended Malt Japanese Whisky.

A blended malt may not seem that special, but in the world of Japanese whisky, it kind of is. Unlike Scotland, the Japanese whisky industry doesn't really have a history of cask trading. Yes, there are blends and blended malts, but they're typically either Scottish/Japanese (or "world") blends, or blends of whiskies from within one company's portfolio (Suntory's "Hibiki" being a good example of the latter, containing Yamazaki malt, Hakushu malt and Chita grain).

What makes this "Malt Duo" so special is it's a blend of two different malts from completely separate whisky distilleries, and two cult Japanese distilleries at that - Chichibu and Mars Shinshu. 

The story goes that in in 2015, Mars Shinshu Distillery and Venture Whisky's Chichibu Distillery began exchanging malt spirit and maturing it in their respective locations, and 5 years later in 2020, we have the result. This particular release was matured at Mars Shinshu distillery (and therefore contains Shinshu-matured Chichibu), whilst another release was matured at Chichibu (containing Chichibu-matured Komagatake in the blend). Still with us?  

10,918 bottles of this "Komagatake x Chichibu" were released, whilst the "Chichibu x Komagatake" was a 10,200 bottle release. 

Official HK importers of Mars Whisky, AFTrade were kind enough to provide a sample of the whisky for review. Having tried quite a few Mars whiskies on the blog previously, I was very keen to see how this one fared.

Komagatake x Chichibu "Malt Duo" Blended Malt Japanese Whisky (54% ABV, Over 5yo, Japan,  available from AFTrade)

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Colour: Golden amber.

Nose: A little heat initially, then pear, some grassiness, some herbal notes and then milk chocolate.

Palate: Personally I'd call this more "Komagatake" than "Chichibu" - I got notes of green apples, melon, chewy caramel, a youthful nuttiness, chocolate and maple syrup.

Finish: Medium in length, with the sweet maple / caramel notes quickly becoming spiced - almost like subtle chilli, with some slight oak tannins at the very end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 89/100. A tasty whisky, but more importantly, a historically important, and quite unusual bottle in the Japanese whisky market, and hopefully an indicator of thigns to come. More of this please, Japan! 

Thanks to AFTrade for the sample.

Cheers,

Martin.

Kanosuke First Edition Single Malt Japanese Whisky (2021) [Tasted #530]

First cab off the tasting rank (following our look into the state of Japanese whisky these days) is the Kanosuke First Edition. Part of a wave of new Japanese whisky producers, Kanosuke opened their Kagoshima-based distillery in 2017, commencing production in 2018 in an idyllic setting literally a stone's throw from Fukiagehama beach, on the Western coast of Japan.

Destined to do things a little differently (and give themselves plenty of options), the distillery installed three, not two pot stills (all of different shapes with different neck sizes and lyne arm angles) to allow a variety of new make spirit to be produced. The whisky for the "First Edition", which is said to number around 15,000 bottles, includes spirit from all 3 stills, aged in several different casks but primarily re-charred American white oak ex-“Mellowed Kozuru” aged Shochu casks.

The distillery released a number of in-progress "new born" sample bottles over the past few years, but 2021 saw their whisky reach 3 years old, and as such, in June Japanese whisky fans were treated to the first Kanosuke whisky.

Hong Kong distributors AFTrade were kind enough to send the whisky for review, so without further ado, here we go...

Kansouke Single Malt Japanese Whisky "First Edition" 2018-2021 (58% ABV, 3yo, Kagoshima, Japan, available from AFTrade)
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Colour: Deep amber-red.

Nose: Herbal lozenges initially, followed by the rich berry flavours you get from red jube lollies, then blackcurrant Soothers. Sultanas round things out.

Palate: Easy-drinking, mellow, with red / berry confectionary notes, currants & blackberries. Then come raisins soaked in sherry, a slightly wine-esque grape note, and some vanilla-infused oak after time.

Finish: Long, and follows the palate well (a well-integrated malt). There's a little citrus that comes through right towards the end.

Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 90/100. For a 3yo whisky, and a first release, a very solid showing. Can't wait to see what interesting releases come out in the future, especially given the variety of spirit the distillery plans to produce.

Whilst AFTrade appear to be sold out of the Kanosuke First Edition individually, it is still available (at the time of writing) in a pack with the Sakurao First release, which we'll have up on the blog shortly).

Cheers,

Martin.

What is "Japanese Whisky" these days?

If you go back 10 or so years, the term "Japanese whisky" generally meant (to most whisky drinkers) Yamazaki or Hibiki. Maybe for some well-versed drinkers, Miyagikyo, Mars Komagatake or Yoichi. Hardcore enthusiasts were probably aware of whiskies like Hanyu and Karuizawa, but they certainly weren't known outside of a core group of enthusiasts.

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Back then, these whiskies were all relatively accessible and comparatively well-priced (yes even the Karuizawas). More or less every Dan Murphy's stocked Yamazaki 12 (at well under $100AUD/bottle), and almost every decent Japanese bottle shop (and even Japan's airports) stocked age-statement Suntory and Nikka whiskies at incredibly fair prices. You could walk into most (good) Japanese whisky bars and try a selection of Ichiro's Malt Cards Series for less than you'd pay for a dram of Lagavulin 16 today.

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Then in 2015 a man in a hat said the Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013 was the best whisky in the world, and everyone lost their mind. Now sure, this was far from the first award ever given to a Japanese whisky (Hibiki 21 for example had won "World's Best Blended Whisky", at the arguably much-more-relevant World Whiskies Awards, several times before 2015), but it did seem to be the catalyst for a barrage of hype, price hikes and scarce availability that continues today.

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Some might say the hatted man simply shone a brighter light on what was already an incredibly high quality spirit (and they'd be right), but however you look at it, the hype started building, and casualties followed. In the coming years, Nikka discontinued their beloved age statement single malts (and later, many of their much-loved blends), Suntory temporarily halted favourites like Hibiki 17 and Hakushu 12, and the prices of pretty much all remaining Suntory and Nikka age statement (and NAS for that matter) whiskies skyrocketed. 

...and that's not even mentioning whisky from closed Japanese distilleries (to see how things are going there, just check out these auction prices of a "full deck" of Ichiro's Malt Cards Series from 2015, 2019 and 2020 respectively).

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After a few years came the the wave of what many have termed "fake Japanese Whiskies" - those which took advantage of loose legislation in Japan which meant that producers could (and still can, for now) bottle whisky made from 100% imported spirit such as Scotch or Canadian whisky, and sell it as "Japanese Whisky" domestically and around the world. 

Again, the use of non-Japanese distilled spirit isn't a new thing. Nikka for example had been thought to be using Ben Nevis (which they own) in their hugely popular "Nikka from the Barrel", for years, but the rise in Japanese whisky popularity in the past 5 years has seen a big increase in other overpriced, opaque/ambiguous bottlings calling themselves "Japanese", often with samurai or other imagery, with absolutely no guarantee as to where the spirit originated. 

(For the record, I have no problem with the practice of imported spirit being bottled and sold by Japanese companies, and companies like Nikka who are willingly being transparent about the issue should be applauded. My issue is with those being deliberately deceptive, trying to "fool" their customers into thinking the whisky was distilled in Japan when it wasn't.)

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More recently though, we've seen a ray of hope emerge - "proper" Japanese whisky from new or newly-expanded distilleries/brands, producing unique, Japanese-distilled spirit, and in the last few years (and especially the last 12 months), we've seen the first whisky releases from many of these start to emerge.

With thanks to our friends at AFTrade Hong Kong, we're going to feature a few of these whiskies over the coming week, with detailed tasting notes and some background into each distillery. Specifically, we'll be trying:

• Kanosuke Single Malt 2021 First Edition (link to tasting post)
• Sakurao Single Malt 1st Release (link to tasting post)
• Mars Tsuniki Peated (link to tasting post)
• Akkeshi Single Malt: "Boshu", "Kanro" and "Usui" (link to tasting post); and
• Mars Komagatake x Chichibu "Malt Duo" (not as new as some of the others, but a fascinating blended malt considering the practice of sharing barrels and blending malts is far from common in Japan) (link to tasting post)

(Links to the articles will be added as they're posted)

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We hope these posts give you some insight into these new, exciting Japanese distilleries and a little taste of things to come from Japanese whisky in the future. If you have any thoughts of your own on these whiskies (or the Japanese whisky scene in general) please leave them in the comments below!

Kanpai,

Martin.