Hakushu Distiller's Reserve

Japanese whiskey, Japanese whiskey. Well, I've pretty much expressed my view on the topic: great whiskies, but overhyped and overpriced in the current market. Hakushu and Yamazaki are two of Suntory's single malt distilleries, and of the two, there's a divide among fans about which is better. Hakushu lightly peats their whiskey, so one would expect that it's my favorite. Surprisingly, not so! Hakushu has a swirl of fruit flavors, plums, peaches, and other stone fruits, with the counterpoint being a cedar wood and slight smoke (particularly in the finish) from the peated component. It's nice, but a little generic. I had a bottle of Hakushu 12 several years ago, and it had a more distinctive and unique character, which is lost in this new, no-age-statement expression.