Slainte-Mhath
Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve
Single Malt — Japan
Reviewed
September 10, 2020 (edited July 6, 2023)
Japanese whiskies are nowadays either fake or ridiculously expensive, and even NAS expressions like the Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve are hard to find. Fruity, rich and not overtly young, the nose offers papaya, exotic spices and lemon cream, enriched by sandalwood, peach and a floral scent. The arrival has a bit of a nip, but the taste quickly improves with notes of strawberries, grapefruit and menthol. Peppery spices, tannins and evolving dryness from the Bordeaux casks drive the intense finish. It's a very decent dram, although light years behind the 12-year-old.
RATING: 3.7/5.0 stars ≙ 85 pts → ABOVE AVERAGE [+]
100.0
EUR
per
Bottle
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@cascode I do hope that the 'big players' in Japan finally agree on clear rules, best by founding a Japanese Whisky Association. Last time I spoke with the people at Chichibu, they were confident that this is also in Suntory's and Nikka's interest, as fake Japanese whisky is wrecking the repution of Japanese whisky as a whole.
@Slainte-Mhath Thanks - good to know - and thanks for the link too.
@cascode Our Japan specialist on Whiskybase told me that both Mizunara heads and staves are commonly used, for example when bourbon barrels are re-coopered into hogsheads - so yes, that seems to be common practice in Japan, especially for Mizunara wood which is a hassle to cooper, so using cask heads is a feasible option.
@cascode Regarding Japanese whisky regulations, there hope on the horizon: https://dekanta.com/japanese-whisky-regulations/
@Slainte-Mhath Regarding mizunara, do you know whether the Japanese regulations (that's a good one, Japanese whisky regulations, LOL) allow the use of "flavouring" staves in casks? I know very litle about their industry, apart from the fact that the laws there are very loose. This used to be the "younger sibling" of the 12 year old that everyone out here ignored, but that was back when the 12 year old was AUS$100. Now this one is around $200, if you can even find it. 3.75 sounds about right, from memory.
Additional comment: It is hard to believe that a few years ago, 18 cl bottles of this NAS whisky were available in almost every convenience store in Japan for about ¥1130 ($11).
Additional information: Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve was matured in a combination of Bordeaux wine casks, sherry casks and Mizunara oak. Since it is highly unlikely that Suntory used Mizunara casks for this entry-level expression (>$5000 per cask), we can assume that Mizunara heads where used in some of the casks. It is said to contain whiskies aged between 8-20 years.