There was a good article on the rise of Japanese Whisky in the Metropolis last week. I've been noticing the mention of Japanese Whiskys in magazines like GQ in the past few years, so I decided to check one out and bough this 12 year old Yamazaki. I'm not a connoisseur, but I liked it. Here's a review I found on the net:
Luca Chichizola, Malt Maniacs 101, February 2007. On c. 2006 bottling. 81/100 (recommendable). Luca found nuts, vanilla, oak and wood varnish on the nose. In the mouth it had a "dry and nutty attack, like a bourbon. Then lots of sweetness and vanilla oakiness... a bit sherried, some almonds, cedar and acetone. Very appetizing. A bit thin and metallic, even slightly acidic. It should appeal to Jack Daniels fans." The finish was "nutty, with dried grapes and an almost perfumy echo... Dry." Overall, he thought it was interesting but a little "cloying and unbalanced" with "excessive cedary and acetone notes."
I also tried this the other day, along with the Yoichi 15 year old from Nikka which I would strongly recommend. Great that the Japanese whiskeys have won a lot of international acceptance in the past decade.
Posted by: Ben Torode | February 11, 2011 at 04:14 PM