Origin: Japan
Type: Single Malt Japanese Whisky
Strength: 43%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Sherry
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Suntory
Average price: € 250.00
Official website: www.suntory.com/factory/yamazaki
The Kogei (Japanese for craft) series was created in the second half of 2024 by Suntory with the intention of exalting the country’s craftsmanship, dedicated in the first release to the tailoring art of the kimono.
In collaboration with the Chiso Kimono House in Kyoto, two bottlings were created, one for Hakushu and one for Yamazaki, with a box and label featuring the house’s stylistic features, inspired by the history of the two distilleries.
In today’s tasting, we find on the label lines that recall the serenity inspired by the three rivers surrounding the Yamazaki distillery, with a peated malt aged in ex-sherry casks.
Tasting Notes
Lots of fruit on the nose, which besides the imaginable but not particularly bright red tones (plum, prunes, sultana, maraschino) is accompanied by green apple, dried apricot, peach tea and lychee, an elegant delicacy caressed by linden honey, peeled almonds, sugar paste, toffee and wood wax. Smoke settles at the bottom, a puff between the burning fireplace and incense. Along the length, a faint citrus part (orange peel) and traces of leather appear. Refined.
On the palate, it is dense and more honeyed than on the nose, the sweet and complacent side sharper while maintaining the acidic side to foil cloyingness. Toffee with honey, almonds (also praline), candied orange, spices (ginger and nutmeg), ripe red apple, sultanas, cherry and an interesting vegetal component, between tobacco leaves and green tea, which lingers on the tongue. The smoke is sharper but still discreet, playing on the vegetal tones with the incense part more evident, accompanying mentholated vagueness with a touch of aromatic herbs lingering on the length. Flashes of liquorice and coffee on the finish.
Quite long and full-bodied finish with vegetal smoke, spicy caresses, red fruits, nuts, vanilla, black tea, leather.
A dram that is certainly young but already articulate and full, as elegant as the kimonos it is inspired by, that knows how to use Sherried influences with skill and delicacy, playing on the tip of the foil while not neglecting substance. Well done.
Vote: 88/100