Just like Yamazaki, the Hakushu distillery is owned by big player Suntory, who together with the other major player Nikka really has put Japan on the whiskymap these past few years. Before that, there were still Japanese whisky, of course, but drams from the Land of the Rising Sun is no longer a well kept secret and it shows... especially on the prices of even off the shelf No-Age-Statement (NAS) bottles. If you look at the price increase in percentage % I've spotted between a 15-20% (I may be wrong here, this was just a quick glance and comparison!) bigger increase on Japanese whisky compared Scottish ones of the same style. But again, let this not be about the pricing of whisky as there's really little we can do about it...
This next review will feature the Hakushu Distillery and a dram very much in the same style as the previous review, yet still different... I'll come to that in the review. Both were matured in a Bota Corta sherry butt, single cask and bottled by The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
This next review will feature the Hakushu Distillery and a dram very much in the same style as the previous review, yet still different... I'll come to that in the review. Both were matured in a Bota Corta sherry butt, single cask and bottled by The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
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| Hakushu Distillery Stillhouse - picture from Suntory.com |
Hakushu 2003 14yo 120.7 (30.09.1999) 'Sweet, Fragrant and Satisfying' 55,5%, 1st fill Bota Corta sherry butt, 517 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Colour is Mahogany
Nose:
Gluewein (Glögg) and old Port, chocolate ice cream and soy sauce and sweet sun burnt grapes about to turn raisin and a very distinct underlying floral note. Also in there are hint of cinnamon, cooked mushrooms and hints of fresh ginger and honey ChaiTaste:
Not at all as drying as its Yamazaki companion... Think lukewarm Lumumba and/or the style of an old cognac. Very sweet, so sweet I could easily be convinced this was matured in a Pedro Ximenez cask and the Yamazaki in an Oloroso cask. Also hints of strong/fortified plum wine and marinated dark fruits, figs in particular...
What this one does, it does great and its difficult to say which one is best. My guess is that this is very much about what mood you're in and what you fancy at the time... sweet or dry - just like when drinking wine!
I'm really splitting hairs here but I still end up, also awarding this one an excellent score of...
90/100!
