Tasted #159 - #163: Ichiro's Malt Cards Series (Hanyu) Ace of Diamonds, Yamazaki Mizunara 2014, Miyagikyo 1987, Hanyu from the last year of production...and more!

A few weeks ago we posted a review of the fantastic Zoetrope bar in Tokyo, Japan, as part of a trip Steph and I recently took to Japan. As with every bar we visited, we tasted some amazing, rare, unusual (and generally, insanely cheap) whiskies.

Here are the five we tasted at Zoetrope (who conveniently are happy to serve most drams by the half-dram), including not just any Ichiro's Malt "Cards" bottling, but an Ace! Sadly (but unsurprisingly) they'd run out of their Colour Joker stocks...

Ichiro's Malt (Hanyu) "Cards" series Ace of Diamonds (56.4% ABV, 21yo, Bottle #407 of 527, Cask 9023, Hanyu, Japan, no longer available)

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Distilled in 1986, bottled in 2008. Two casks: Hogshead & Cream Sherry Butt
Colour: Dark red-copper.
Nose: Rich, Sherried, sweet, raspberries, some almond.
Palate: Leather, oak, spice, big spice. A little sweetness - bubblegum, wine gums, and some apricots.
Finish: Drying and tannic. After a fantastic nose and palate, the finish lets it down slightly...but only slightly.
Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 93/100. Despite the slight disappointment on the finish, still a fantastic whisky.

Nikka Single Cask Malt Whisky (Miyagikyo) 1987 (62% ABV, 17yo, Bottle #4, Cask #89698, Sendai, Japan, no longer available)
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Distilled in November 1987, bottled in August 2005.
Colour: Intensely dark
Nose: Plums and port.
Palate: Lots of juicy plum notes. Lets you know it's packing 62% ABV, but that's not to say it's harsh. Hot yes, but not harsh. Water really brings out sweet toffee notes.
Finish: Drying, tannic, medium length. Lots of oak. Water lengthens the finish (unsurprising given the ABV).
Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. Better with a few drops of water.

Yamazaki Mizunara 2014 (48% ABV, NAS, 1 of 1,600 bottles, Yamazaki, Japan, ¥25,000)

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Colour: Bright orange
Nose: Spiced, chilli, vanilla and coconut. Lots of coconut (a feature of all Mizunara-matured whiskies we nosed during the trip).
Palate: Spicy, possibly one of the spiciest whiskies I've tried. Peppers and chilli.
Finish: Cayenne pepper, turning into pure coconut. Very long.
Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. I probably wouldn't drop the asking price on a bottle (though even if I wanted to, I'm sure all 1,600 are now spoken for, but an enjoyable and very unusual whisky nonetheless).

Ichiro's Malt (Chichibu) Zoetrope Banzai 8th anniversary bottling (62% ABV, 4yo, bottle #25 of 79, cask #609, Chichibu, Japan, not for sale)

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Distilled Nov in 2009, bottled in June 2014 to celebrate the bar's 8th anniversary.
Colour: Orange sunset
Nose: Play dough (it's clearly young) but very smooth. Pineapple too.
Palate: Meaty. Some plastic, crayons. But rich tropical fruits too. Very, very good.
Finish: The only disappointing part. Medium length, tannic and slightly sour.
Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 93/100. Bloody good whisky, let down only slightly by a finish that reminds you that this is still very young, and has some less than favourable notes that haven't quite left it yet.

Ichiro's Malt (Hanyu) Shot Bar Zoetrope 3rd anniversary bottling (60.7% ABV, 9yo, bottle #158 of 263, cask #9800, Chichibu, Japan, not for sale)

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Distilled in 2000, the last year of Hanyu's production. Partially matured in a rum cask and bottled in 2009 to celebrate Zoetrope's 3rd anniversary (how many bars can say they have two whiskies bottled specifically for them? Zoetrope actually have 3...)
Colour: Orange sunset
Nose: Bacon. Bacon. Some more bacon, and then, for a change, bacon. So much bacon. A few drops of water brought about some smoke too. Smoky bacon. Yes please!
Palate: Intense bacon-ness. Water brings about even more bacon, but also adds smoked BBQ flavours and dried fruits - apples and sultanas.
Finish: Long and hot. Some smoke, quite a bit of vanilla sweetness.
Rating (on my very non-scientific scale): 91/100. Not my favourite of the night, but still a fantastic whisky (especially if you like bacon. Mmm, bacon...)

If you ever get the chance, visit this bar.

Cheers,

Martin.

Shirt Bar "Scotch" Club: Nikka Whisky (February 2014) - Tasted #76 - #79

It was just under a year ago that we attended Shirt Bar's first Japanese whisky tasting, and recently the Shirt Bar crew ran another, this time focusing on the Nikka Whisky portfolio, showcasing the:

• Miyagikyo 12 yo
• Yoichi 15yo
• Taketsuru 12yo; and
• Nikka from the Barrel (a favourite from previous tastings)

Proving as popular as the 2013 session, the tasting was run twice over two weeks, giving more of us a chance to try a great range of Nikka whiskies (and, importantly, a completely different line up to the previous tasting).

The tasting was a little more rushed than we're used to, and (after a late start) was over all too quickly unfortunately. It seemed we were barely finished nosing one whisky when the next was up for tasting, and before we knew it the food (fittingly, again some tasty sushi) was served.

Having attended probably 13+ Scotch Clubs though (and blogged about 7 of them to date) I'm pretty confident in saying this wasn't the norm, and the session we attended more recently (Woodford Reserve) was back to the usual quality we've come to expect from Scotch Club.

Not to say this was a bad session - not at all, just not the usual in-depth look at whisk(e)y we've come to expect. But no matter! We still got to taste 4 Japanese whiskies, 1 of which I hadn't tried, and 3 of which Steph hadn't.

Nikka Miyagikyo 12 Year Old (45% ABV, 12yo, Sendai Japan, $130)

Distilled with steam-heated stills

Nose: Vanilla, Bourbon-like, but also floral.

Palate: Oats, spice, vanilla and caramel.

Finish: Short, slightly salty, with final floral notes and pear.
Overall: 90/100

Nikka Yoichi 15 Year Old (45% ABV, 15yo, Hokkaido Japan, $220)

Nose: Bigger darker, more spice and more saltiness than the previous dram.

Palate: Big rich oily mouthfeel - big notes of chocolate eclairs.

Finish: Short, spicy, not a huge amount going on, but pleasant enough.
Overall: 90/100.

Nikka Taketsuru 12 Year Old (40% ABV, 12yo, Pure Malt, Japan, $100)

Nose: Apples, apples and more apples. I got absolutely nothing but apples on this one

Palate: Light and floral, reminded me of a Springbank. More apples.

Finish: Over so quickly I could barely take notes. Way too short.
Overall: 89/100. Not dissimilar notes to the last time I tried it.

Nikka from the Barrel (51.4% ABV, NAS, Blend, Japan, $70)

Nose: Vanilla protein powder, coffee creamer.

Palate: Spicy cinnamon, grains, big and mouth filling.

Finish: Long, spicy, not as smooth as I remember, but lots going on. Sweet, spice, with some citrus and fruity notes
Overall: 90/100 - still probably my favourite of the night, but not as good as I'd remembered it.

Cheers,
 - Martin.