PRICE: Very hard to find. Government stores may have this as a lottery item at $250. Last time I saw this in a private store, it was $700. INFO: Single malt whisky from Japan aged 18 years in sherry, mizunara, and American oak. 43% ABV DISCLAIMER: My entire experience with this whisky is based on 1oz pour at $70, and as a part of a blind tasting flight with Glendronach 18 year and Macallan 18 year sherry oak. NOSE: 95/100. Powerful rich sherry notes followed by an intoxicating line-up of subtler notes. A perfect balance between spirit and wood. Fruits: plums and raisins. Herbs: rosemary and eucalyptus. A little smoked cherry wood and leather. PALATE: 99/100. Perfection. I was not prepared to be moved by a beverage. If I was more of an emotional creature, a tear would have fallen down my cheek and added some saltiness. Salt is the only flavor missing. Fireworks containing every other flavor you can imagine. Perfect body. Slick as OPEC oil. FINISH: 95/100. Long and rewarding. Stone fruits, green tea, and tobacco. OVERALL: When Jim Murray awarded Yamazaki the whisky of the year and thus tried to divide the Japanese whisky industry by 0, I was too busy still exploring Scotch to bother. Now that I am trying Japanese whiskies, they have not lived up to the hype, except for Yamazaki. This is deservedly a slayer of worlds, and a Scotch killer. In my blind tasting, I got all 3 whiskies correctly. Glendronach and Macallan were lovely, but comparing them to Yamazaki is like comparing a picture of the Grand Canyon to the Grand Canyon. MARK: 97/100. VALUE FOR PRICE: I don’t like the secondary market markup. At $250, it is completely worth it. At $500+, it’s a judgment call. I do want to say this: If I won a shot to buy a bottle for $250, I would not resell for $500. I would drink this shit.