Yamazaki Whisky 12 Year Old Single Malt Japanese Whisky, 70cl

Product Information

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As it reaches the palate, the whisky delivers a full-bodied sensation, providing a satisfying mouthfeel. The influence of the Bordeaux casks imparts a dry sensation, contributing to the overall experience.

Yamazaki 12 Year Old Details

Recently, regulations have been put into place which should become law over the next few years to properly define Japanese whisky. As it stands now, some bottles include whisky imported from other countries into the blend, but these are starting to be labeled as world whiskies. Overall, the style of Japanese whisky runs the gamut, from peated to sherry cask-influenced, to light and floral. On the nose: A vivacious, somewhat young-smelling burst of bubblegum, potpourri, and lychee. The fruity notes intensify as this is allowed to sit in the glass, becoming more ripe and sweet, almost cloyingly so. Faint hints of lemongrass and white pepper are all that this presents in the way of spicy notes; there’s perhaps a wisp of sandalwood incense if I really concentrate. Suntory really screwed this up. They probably make far more money selling Ribena and that’s how much they valued their whisky and why they never saw the future. It became crisis control in the end and I suspect Japanese whisky will always be uncompetitive, in terms of comparisons, with any age statements moving forward. The reputation of it was soiled very badly when the world found out that a lot of Japanese whisky was in fact Scottish whisky (or a blend of such) bottled in Japan. It says something that the best value for money Japanese whisky is Suntory’s Toki, a blended Grain/Yamazaki/Hakushu bottled at 43%.

Some interesting elements here, but not presented convincingly enough. If anything, this is maybe a little bit better than I remember mid-late 20-teens batches of this expression to be, not that that is saying much. It’s not flawed. It’s not offensive. It’s fine. It’s very, very OK, considered on its own merits. When I was a boy, my father used to make this remark from time to time, in response to noticing something that he found surprisingly expensive. It isn’t that he is a stupid man; he is actually quite clever and enjoyed a long career as a physician. It isn’t that he didn’t understand inflation; his early working years were during the miserable 1970s, when the Consumer Price Index hit a blistering +12% year-over-year rate.You don’t need to be a Nobel prize winning economist to notice examples of this anchoring bias in whisky. Each round of price increases is met with the type of reminiscence in which my father engaged. Choruses of “I used to buy bottles of that for…” and “No way I’ll ever pay more than X for…” echo across social media. Yet, someone is purchasing the whisky at the new, higher price. Japanese whisky is most similar to scotch whisky in terms of its production methods. Single malts and blends are the main styles made, using pot and column stills and aged in a variety of barrel types, including ex-bourbon barrels, sherry casks, and Japanese mizunara oak. Blending is very important in Japanese whisky, as many distilleries make different types of whisky which are married together by the master blender before bottling. No partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship is created as a result of your use of the Service.