After a little over 3 weeks of travelling in Scotland, tastings and private whisky parties, its now time to pick up the reviews again... and why not start with a belated Malt Desk birthday dram.
On May 22nd 2012, I decided to start this blog and now 2 years have passed and readers, according to selected blog tools, are steadily growing. Therefore, I'd like to express my thanks to you out there for supporting my writing and for sending me emails and comments.. - Thank you! - (but please remember to comment on the website too ;-))
As a Malt Desk birthday dram, I've chosen to review one of those cult distilleries - you all know them - Port Ellen, Ardbeg, Brora... and from Japan, certainly Karuizawa... a whisky that has increased more in price than percentage wise than its Scottish counterparts this past year... but that's the way things are going with more and more people (sadly) investing in whisky instead of drinking it.
I've reviewed a few Karuizawas before and they've all been either very, very good or excellent. So lets see how this next one fares...
Karuizawa 1996 132.4 (08.07.1996) 17yo 'Rich, brooding and suggestive' 61,7%, Refill sherry butt, 346 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Colour is amber
Nose:
Sweet sugared/fruits dipped in syrup and in the background a little sulphur is showing. After a short while Danish winegums, especially green ones comes out along with some herbal notes (tea and thyme) and also a little mint, farmyard and overcooked meat. Very warming also, partly due to the abv%
Taste:
Medium light sweet sherry coating, like warm sugar/making caramelised potatoes for Xmas and it also carries a spicy and sometimes bitter note on the edge of your mouth. Think this has a profile that's a little too nice, if you know what I mean - no edge to it, no real fun - just an easy drinking sherry whisky with the usual dried & dark fruits. What I really do like on this is the finish which is very malty and also has some a bit of honey/sugar/mustard glace you sometimes use for your ham.
This is in no way a bad dram - its very good, in fact... but not nearly as fun as other Karuizawas I've had
86/100!
Showing posts with label Karuizawa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Karuizawa. Show all posts
Sunday, 25 May 2014
Sunday, 29 September 2013
KARUIZAWA 1981 VINTAGE SINGLE CASK - DISTILLERY BOTTLING
Again, let's make some whisky investors happy and drink a whisky form a closed cult distillery.
This is certainly a mixed feeling drinking stuff like this, 'cause the prices go up on the remaining bottles - let's just hope most of them are in the hands of drinking collectors and not just investors... Not going to get into this subject any further at this time, 'cause it can really fuel some whisky fires.
Just remember, boys & girls - whisky is made for drinking, not investing!
Karuizawa 1981 (b. 25.05.2007) 26yo cask#103, Distillery bottling
Colour is amber
Nose:
Whisky soaked BBQ wood chips, grilled banana, burning foliage, lots of cloves and nutmeg, tea, vanilla pods, freshly squeezed olive oil, allspice, quite tannic as well
Taste:
Smokes oranges and sherry, very 'dunnage' earthy notes, grilled vegetables, cardboard/newspaper, soy sauce saltiness, more banana and with something vinous popping up once in a while. Dried fruits, oily and tarry on the back of the mouth and on the finish, along with some oak spices.
This one is all over the place, IMO, but still maintains a certain balance and making it just short of a 9x-mark
89/100!
This is certainly a mixed feeling drinking stuff like this, 'cause the prices go up on the remaining bottles - let's just hope most of them are in the hands of drinking collectors and not just investors... Not going to get into this subject any further at this time, 'cause it can really fuel some whisky fires.
Just remember, boys & girls - whisky is made for drinking, not investing!
Karuizawa 1981 (b. 25.05.2007) 26yo cask#103, Distillery bottling
Colour is amber
Nose:
Whisky soaked BBQ wood chips, grilled banana, burning foliage, lots of cloves and nutmeg, tea, vanilla pods, freshly squeezed olive oil, allspice, quite tannic as well
Taste:
Smokes oranges and sherry, very 'dunnage' earthy notes, grilled vegetables, cardboard/newspaper, soy sauce saltiness, more banana and with something vinous popping up once in a while. Dried fruits, oily and tarry on the back of the mouth and on the finish, along with some oak spices.
This one is all over the place, IMO, but still maintains a certain balance and making it just short of a 9x-mark
89/100!
Friday, 27 September 2013
KARUIZAWA 1986 VINTAGE SINGLE CASK - DISTILLERY BOTTLING
I was about to review another Karuizawa bottling, but a tasting of all 8 (so far) batches of the very, very delicious Balvenie Tun 1401s sorta got in the way ;-) The novelty and the sheer quality of the tasting was just so high that I had to post it shortly after the event.
This particular 1986 bottling of Karuizawa is not much older than the previous one reviewed, so maybe they're similar in style? or maybe not since they're both single cask bottlings.
Single cask bottlings is actually one of the many delights of the whisky world that I really appreciate... Why? Because it gives the you a chance to taste spirit from the same distillery, sometimes even distilled on the same day, but matured in 2 or more different cask types.
This is something you almost only see in bottlings from independent bottlers... and sometimes you maybe have to span more than one bottler to get spirit distilled on the same date and/or bottled closed together... and then cask types maybe be the same as they're often sold in large batches from the distillers, that... But sometimes you're lucky that a batch is filled into different style casks and they're great fun to compare.
Anyway, this is not the case with this Karuizawa and the above is only to highlight some of what I feel is fun about whisky.
On to the review now:
Karuizawa 1986 Vintage (b. 12.02.2008) 60,7%, sherry hogshead#7387, Distillery bottling
Colour is amber
Nose:
Just after the pour I get a distinct whiff of urinal 'mints' but this goes away after a very short time (thank the whisky gods!). Its replaced by vanilla oak, ginger, hint of mild cheese and a little spent fireworks and wood burning ash - fireplace style. Some fresh outdoors notes as well, wet forest - all covered in sweetness.
Taste:
Musty, American oak cask sherry style, which is very likely since this is a hoggie, sandalwood, mushroom, herbal notes, sage and fennel, ginger, some orange and a slight spicy edge to round things off. Not really any spent fireworks/sulphury notes carried over from the nose that I can detect - or its just so light is gets buried under the other notes.
Pretty nice dram, although I liked the style of the Whisky Live bottling just a little better...
89/100!
This particular 1986 bottling of Karuizawa is not much older than the previous one reviewed, so maybe they're similar in style? or maybe not since they're both single cask bottlings.
Single cask bottlings is actually one of the many delights of the whisky world that I really appreciate... Why? Because it gives the you a chance to taste spirit from the same distillery, sometimes even distilled on the same day, but matured in 2 or more different cask types.
This is something you almost only see in bottlings from independent bottlers... and sometimes you maybe have to span more than one bottler to get spirit distilled on the same date and/or bottled closed together... and then cask types maybe be the same as they're often sold in large batches from the distillers, that... But sometimes you're lucky that a batch is filled into different style casks and they're great fun to compare.
Anyway, this is not the case with this Karuizawa and the above is only to highlight some of what I feel is fun about whisky.
On to the review now:
Karuizawa 1986 Vintage (b. 12.02.2008) 60,7%, sherry hogshead#7387, Distillery bottling
Colour is amber
Nose:
Just after the pour I get a distinct whiff of urinal 'mints' but this goes away after a very short time (thank the whisky gods!). Its replaced by vanilla oak, ginger, hint of mild cheese and a little spent fireworks and wood burning ash - fireplace style. Some fresh outdoors notes as well, wet forest - all covered in sweetness.
Taste:
Musty, American oak cask sherry style, which is very likely since this is a hoggie, sandalwood, mushroom, herbal notes, sage and fennel, ginger, some orange and a slight spicy edge to round things off. Not really any spent fireworks/sulphury notes carried over from the nose that I can detect - or its just so light is gets buried under the other notes.
Pretty nice dram, although I liked the style of the Whisky Live bottling just a little better...
89/100!
Thursday, 19 September 2013
KARUIZAWA 1990 FOR WHISKY LIVE JAPAN - DISTILLERY BOTTLING
I'll start by saying congratulations to all Karuizawa owners out there. Your bottles have just gone up in value as 3 more bottles are gone, incl this one for Whisky Live Japan, which I'll be reviewing below... Also 2 more to come over the next days, so stay tuned! ;-)
But back to the whisky... I could be wrong, but this is what struck me after tasting 3 more Karuizawas recently. I think that when Karuizawas reaches around 20yo it takes on a certain more exotic style. I had a couple of sips of a 12yo at a private function and didn't get the same notes. Maybe its just me, but I get lots of more 'open street food market'-notes, more hardwood, fern, musty and oily barley notes. Oak influence for sure and I'm sure also the climate in Japan has contributed to this.
When coming to the other 2 Karuizawas, I also think this time, I've stumbled over something equally special as well as good.
Karuizawa 1990/2009 19yo 60%, sherry butt#6446, Distillery bottling for Whisky Live Japan 10th Anniversary
Colour is mahogany
Nose:
Dark fruits, alcohol, hardwood, tea, mint, fresh leaves. Oranges and chocolate and a bit of fresh roasted coffee beans comes through as well when some water is added
Taste:
Very powerful mouthfeel - even with water. Oily, clean lovely sherry, heavy on the malt, raisin, sukat, warm apple and oranges, ginger and cut pepper fruits, fresh tobacco leaves, mushrooms and slight hint of peat.
This tastes like something you can also find in a Scottish malt but I just adore this sherry style. Excellent stuff, nonetheless!
90/100!
But back to the whisky... I could be wrong, but this is what struck me after tasting 3 more Karuizawas recently. I think that when Karuizawas reaches around 20yo it takes on a certain more exotic style. I had a couple of sips of a 12yo at a private function and didn't get the same notes. Maybe its just me, but I get lots of more 'open street food market'-notes, more hardwood, fern, musty and oily barley notes. Oak influence for sure and I'm sure also the climate in Japan has contributed to this.
When coming to the other 2 Karuizawas, I also think this time, I've stumbled over something equally special as well as good.
Karuizawa 1990/2009 19yo 60%, sherry butt#6446, Distillery bottling for Whisky Live Japan 10th Anniversary
Colour is mahogany
Nose:
Dark fruits, alcohol, hardwood, tea, mint, fresh leaves. Oranges and chocolate and a bit of fresh roasted coffee beans comes through as well when some water is added
Taste:
Very powerful mouthfeel - even with water. Oily, clean lovely sherry, heavy on the malt, raisin, sukat, warm apple and oranges, ginger and cut pepper fruits, fresh tobacco leaves, mushrooms and slight hint of peat.
This tastes like something you can also find in a Scottish malt but I just adore this sherry style. Excellent stuff, nonetheless!
90/100!
Thursday, 28 February 2013
KARUIZAWA 1982 - NUMBER ONE DRINKS COMPANY FOR THE WHISKY EXCHANGE
We're back on the slopes of Mount Asama and cult Distillery Karuizawa in Japan for this next review... and an even rarer one this is, as it has matured in a bourbon cask. The 'house style' of Karuizawa is sherry cask matured whisky, so it'll be quite exiting to try something that's been sitting in a bourbon cask for 30 years, before reaching The Whisky Exchange shop in London, UK.
The Whisky Exchange had this 1982 bourbon cask expression bottled along with a 1984 sherry cask version in 2012 and decorated the bottled with some beautiful Koi-fish labels - very nice looking indeed.... but it's not the label that makes a whisky - it's the... well, whisky
Here are my notes on this one:
Karuizawa 1982/2012 30yo 46%, ex-bourbon cask#8497, Number One Drink Company for The Whisky Exchange - Koi fish label (closed)
Colour is full straw
Nose:
Some elegant hardwood (teak?) hits the nose first along with some light peat. Then wet tobacco and oak notes of spices, ginger vanilla, varnish, nutmeg and juicy malt
Taste:
Surprisingly light arrival, again the peat is noticeable, crisp oak and some lovely white fruits and spices, a little floor polish and orange oil, sawdust. Finish lingers on spices and peat.
As I expected, this is a very oak driven malt, on the very edge of existence, IMO...
I previously mentioned in another post on Karuizawa that there was a chance that some casks were turning into oak juice - this one is close, one the very edge, but not over it...
Great dram!
90/100!
The Whisky Exchange had this 1982 bourbon cask expression bottled along with a 1984 sherry cask version in 2012 and decorated the bottled with some beautiful Koi-fish labels - very nice looking indeed.... but it's not the label that makes a whisky - it's the... well, whisky
Here are my notes on this one:
Karuizawa 1982/2012 30yo 46%, ex-bourbon cask#8497, Number One Drink Company for The Whisky Exchange - Koi fish label (closed)
Colour is full straw
Nose:
Some elegant hardwood (teak?) hits the nose first along with some light peat. Then wet tobacco and oak notes of spices, ginger vanilla, varnish, nutmeg and juicy malt
Taste:
Surprisingly light arrival, again the peat is noticeable, crisp oak and some lovely white fruits and spices, a little floor polish and orange oil, sawdust. Finish lingers on spices and peat.
As I expected, this is a very oak driven malt, on the very edge of existence, IMO...
I previously mentioned in another post on Karuizawa that there was a chance that some casks were turning into oak juice - this one is close, one the very edge, but not over it...
Great dram!
90/100!
Saturday, 3 November 2012
KARUIZAWA 1992 - NUMBER ONE DRINKS COMPANY
Usually the Karuizawas we see on the market are well aged, though this next one is only about 14/15yo depending on its distillation date in 1992 - that said, this one was also bottled back in 2007 when Karuizawa hadn't reached the hype status it currently possesses.
Another couple of reasons could certainly be that demand is high at the moment and also maybe (a rumour, I know) that a number of casks are reaching a stage in maturation where they have to be bottled if they're not to go OTT and turn into oak juice... Which is right? only a few selected people at No. One Drinks company knows as they sit on whatever stock is left from the Karuizawa distillery (lucky guys !!) :-)
So, how is Karuizawa at a younger age? lets try it...
Karuizawa 1992/20.02.2007 62,8%, hogshead#6978, Number One Drinks Company (closed)
Colour is light amber
Nose:
Vanilla and hardwood all sorts, balsa wood in particular, a vague smoke and exotic spices, curry in there? I'm thinking American oak sherry hogshead here...
Taste:
Nutmeg, vanilla with an oaky edge, damp cellar mustiness, gets spicier with water, getting hints of ginger now as well along with oranges and the faintest hint of peat smoke on the finish.
This one is incredibly well balanced, IMO - and extremely drinkable, even at full strength.
90/100!
Another couple of reasons could certainly be that demand is high at the moment and also maybe (a rumour, I know) that a number of casks are reaching a stage in maturation where they have to be bottled if they're not to go OTT and turn into oak juice... Which is right? only a few selected people at No. One Drinks company knows as they sit on whatever stock is left from the Karuizawa distillery (lucky guys !!) :-)
So, how is Karuizawa at a younger age? lets try it...
Karuizawa 1992/20.02.2007 62,8%, hogshead#6978, Number One Drinks Company (closed)
Colour is light amber
Nose:
Vanilla and hardwood all sorts, balsa wood in particular, a vague smoke and exotic spices, curry in there? I'm thinking American oak sherry hogshead here...
Taste:
Nutmeg, vanilla with an oaky edge, damp cellar mustiness, gets spicier with water, getting hints of ginger now as well along with oranges and the faintest hint of peat smoke on the finish.
This one is incredibly well balanced, IMO - and extremely drinkable, even at full strength.
90/100!
Monday, 3 September 2012
JAPANESE WHISKY SPECIAL - KARUIZAWA 1981 - NO. ONE DRINKS COMPANY
Fabled japanese distillery Karuizawa is fast reaching the same cult status as Scottish counterparts Brora and Port Ellen.
Located in the Japanese Alps, the closed Karuizawa distillery -originally a vineyard- started distilling in 1956, though the first single malt was not released until 1987. It used purely Golden Promise malt for its production, like Macallan previously did. Karuizawa even had it malt delivered from Simpson Maltings in Berwick, UK - talk about a trip around world for that barley!
Well, is Karuizawa any good? Rumors say so...
Karuizawa 1981 57,5%, 1st fill sherry cask#6256, 573 bottles, Number One Drinks Company (closed)
Colour: Light mahogany
Nose:
Damp tropical forest, woods all sorts, clean spicy sherry coating, hints of milk chocolate, mint and herbal liqueur dressed in pepper, hints of mustard and wood shavings.
Taste:
Heavy on the alcohol, Medium sweet sherry and hints of peat... then dried fruits and a malty sweetness. Some wood polish and a veggie note, Hint of orange blossom and chocolate. The aftertaste is goes on with wet spicy oak and a thin layer of peat.
Very, very nice too...
90/100!
Located in the Japanese Alps, the closed Karuizawa distillery -originally a vineyard- started distilling in 1956, though the first single malt was not released until 1987. It used purely Golden Promise malt for its production, like Macallan previously did. Karuizawa even had it malt delivered from Simpson Maltings in Berwick, UK - talk about a trip around world for that barley!
Well, is Karuizawa any good? Rumors say so...
Karuizawa 1981 57,5%, 1st fill sherry cask#6256, 573 bottles, Number One Drinks Company (closed)
Colour: Light mahogany
Nose:
Damp tropical forest, woods all sorts, clean spicy sherry coating, hints of milk chocolate, mint and herbal liqueur dressed in pepper, hints of mustard and wood shavings.
Taste:
Heavy on the alcohol, Medium sweet sherry and hints of peat... then dried fruits and a malty sweetness. Some wood polish and a veggie note, Hint of orange blossom and chocolate. The aftertaste is goes on with wet spicy oak and a thin layer of peat.
Very, very nice too...
90/100!
Friday, 25 May 2012
NEW KARUIZAWA 1990 OUT!
New Karuiwaza 1990/2012 out from The Whisky Exchange in London - get one while you can:
http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-15369.aspx
http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-15369.aspx
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| Karuizawa 1990 cask#679 (picture from TWE Website) |
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