u/kiwi8185

Hi all, I'm back with more Suntory whiskies, this time more Yamazakis from Suntory's limited special releases- the Tsukuriwake series!

The Suntory Tsukuriwake series were a set of 4 to 5 special cask Yamazakis (and in one occasion, also a Hakushu), which were released in limited numbers in select years. In contrast to Suntory regular shelters' 43% abv (86 proof), all bottles of the Tsukuriwake series were at a stronger 48% abv (96 proof), which gave these whiskies a much more robust profile than the regular releases! 

(For those more familiar with bourbons, the Yamazaki Tsukuriwake series is kind of like Suntory's equivalent of Sazerac's BTAC series, except they are usually sold as a whole set and only rarely individually.)

I've been rather curious about how exactly the different years' Tsukuriwake series differ, and as luck would have it,  I've managed to get my hands on drams of the entire 2020 and the 2022 series! As these two releases had very similar set of whiskies, they're perfect for this comparison!

Shortly before the automod decided to send my account to the shadow realm, I had just finished the comparative reviews for the series' Yamazaki Spanish Oak bottles.

Time to pick up from where I left off- this time, for the bourbon cask Yamazakis of the series, the Yamazaki Puncheon 2020 and 2022!

Details in comments!

Hi all, I'm back with more Suntory whiskies, this time more Yamazakis from Suntory's limited special releases- the Tsukuriwake series!

The Suntory Tsukuriwake series were a set of 4 to 5 special cask Yamazakis (and in one occasion, also a Hakushu), which were released in limited numbers in select years. In contrast to Suntory regular shelters' 43% abv (86 proof), all bottles of the Tsukuriwake series were at a stronger 48% abv (96 proof), which gave these whiskies a much more robust profile than the regular releases! 

(For those more familiar with bourbons, the Yamazaki Tsukuriwake series is kind of like Suntory's equivalent of Sazerac's BTAC series, except they are usually sold as a whole set and only rarely individually.)

I've been rather curious about how exactly the different years' Tsukuriwake series differ, and as luck would have it,  I've managed to get my hands on drams of the entire 2020 and the 2022 series! As these two releases had very similar set of whiskies, they're perfect for this comparison!

Shortly before the automod decided to send my account to the shadow realm, I had just finished the comparative reviews for the series' Yamazaki Spanish Oak bottles.

Time to pick up from where I left off- this time, for the bourbon cask Yamazakis of the series, the Yamazaki Puncheon 2020 and 2022!

Details in comments!

Hi all, I'm back with more Suntory whiskies, this time more Yamazakis from Suntory's limited special releases- the Tsukuriwake series!

The Suntory Tsukuriwake series were a set of 4 to 5 special cask Yamazakis (and in one occasion, also a Hakushu), which were released in limited numbers in select years. In contrast to Suntory regular shelters' 43% abv (86 proof), all bottles of the Tsukuriwake series were at a stronger 48% abv (96 proof), which gave these whiskies a much more robust profile than the regular releases! 

(For those more familiar with bourbons, the Yamazaki Tsukuriwake series is kind of like Suntory's equivalent of Sazerac's BTAC series, except they are usually sold as a whole set and only rarely individually.)

I've been rather curious about how exactly the different years' Tsukuriwake series differ, and as luck would have it,  I've managed to get my hands on drams of the entire 2020 and the 2022 series! As these two releases had very similar set of whiskies, they're perfect for this comparison!

Shortly before the automod decided to send my account to the shadow realm, I had just finished the comparative reviews for the series' Yamazaki Spanish Oak bottles.

Time to pick up from where I left off- this time, for the bourbon cask Yamazakis of the series, the Yamazaki Puncheon 2020 and 2022!

Details in comments!

Hi all! I'm here today with more Suntory whiskies, this time some Yamazaki!

I'm sure many of my fellow whisky enthusiasts know of the Yamazaki 18 yr, Suntory's renown and very premium regular shelfer single malt. Some frequent (and lucky) international travelers may also know of the Yamazaki 18 yr Limited Edition- Yamazaki 18 yr's fancier and much rarer twin, only rarely available in Japan's international airports or on auctions and secondary markets. 

Here's a little question: aside from the packaging and availability, how exactly are these two bottles different? Time to find out!

Details in comments!

Hi all! I'm here today with more Suntory whiskies, this time some Yamazaki!

I'm sure many of my fellow whisky enthusiasts know of the Yamazaki 18 yr, Suntory's renown and very premium regular shelfer single malt. Some frequent (and lucky) international travelers may also know of the Yamazaki 18 yr Limited Edition- Yamazaki 18 yr's fancier and much rarer twin, only rarely available in Japan's international airports or on auctions and secondary markets. 

Here's a little question: aside from the packaging and availability, how exactly are these two bottles different? Time to find out!

Details in comments!

Hi all! I'm here today with more Suntory whiskies, this time some Yamazaki!

I'm sure many of my fellow whisky enthusiasts know of the Yamazaki 18 yr, Suntory's renown and very premium regular shelfer single malt. Some frequent (and lucky) international travelers may also know of the Yamazaki 18 yr Limited Edition- Yamazaki 18 yr's fancier and much rarer twin, only rarely available in Japan's international airports or on auctions and secondary markets. 

Here's a little question: aside from the packaging and availability, how exactly are these two bottles different? Time to find out!

Details in comments!

Hi all, I'm back with another Suntory whisky, and this time it's another Hakushu!

Here's a bottle I've brought up quite a few times in the past, and have actually tasted multiple times as well, but never written a proper review of. I've finally organized my notes, so here it is! 

Details in comments!

Hi all, I'm back with another Suntory whisky, and this time it's another Hakushu!

Here's a bottle I've brought up quite a few times in the past, and have actually tasted multiple times as well, but never written a proper review of. I've finally organized my notes, so here it is! 

Details in comments!

Hi all, I'm back with another Suntory whisky, and this time it's another Hakushu!

So here's a bottle I've brought up quite a few times in the past, and have actually tasted multiple times as well, but never written a proper review of. I've finally organized my notes, so here it is! 

Details in comments!

Hi all! Here's another Scotch I got to try a short while ago, and it's another Macallan!

Post got a bit messed up in my previous attempt to post this so I'm posting it again.

This might be one of the more expensive liquids I've tried, and I got to try it without paying (well not in money at least lmao)! A bit of how that happened (feel free to tl:dr)

On one of the weekends a while ago, a VIP (who had previously purchased a Macallan 52 yr there) and his friends came to the whisky store & bar I frequent for a leisurely afternoon drink, and I happened to be at the bar to kill some time. 

Since some of these folks were a bit interested in Japanese whiskies, we struck up a conversation where I gave an impromptu mini seminar & tasting on Yamazaki 12s from different eras with some of my own samples and bottles (amongst other more unique Yamazakis). The guys were quite fascinated by my little talk, and promised that he'll return the favor and pour me a drink some time as well.

It just so happened that the store had prepared a special gift for that VIP- a roughly 1 ounce pour of a newly opened Macallan Distil Your World Paris Edition, to which the guy invited me to join him and his friends in sharing that pour. Each of us ended up with just a small share but hey, I got to try it for (mostly) free lmao.

Macallan Distil Your World Paris Edition (47.2% abv)

a special edition Macallan which used Sherry, Bourbon and Cognac casks in its blend. Here are my impressions:

Nose: Mellow maltose (quite typical of Macallans); polished oak (more furniture-like); a rather complex, caramelized dried fruity profile (both red and white grape raisins); light hint of vanilla; light hint of baking spices (nutmeg)

Palate: Notably of ripe white grapes & white grape raisins (with a profile reminiscent of XO Cognac); sweet azuki bean paste; polished oak (furniture-like, slightly bitter); mellow maltose; hint of baking spices; a bit more notable sour aftertaste. Pretty much no alcohol sting or astringency

Finish: A bit too little tried to be certain, but I remember it being kind of similar to cognacs- caramelized fruits, fruity sourness, a hint of oak, with a hint of baking spices from the palate.

*Conclusion*

The most characteristic part of its tasting experience was how the white grape and white grape raisin fruity characters were interwoven into the typical Macallan maltose and sherry cask characters.

That said, aside from that point, everything else about this Macallan seemed quite... regular. All in all, this one tasted quite like a very finely tuned modern Macallan, with a few gimmicks. In all honesty, I can't really say this one is amongst the top three Macallan whiskies I've tried. But hey, I got to try it and probably made a new drinking buddy! Maybe one day he'll open that Macallan 52 and I'd get to have a sip lmao

Thanks for reading, Cheers!

Hi all! I'm back with more Japanese whiskies, this time a Hakushu! More specifically, it's one of Suntory's special releases in 2021- the Hakushu Spanish Oak!

2021 is quite an odd year for Suntory. The world was a mess from COVID, yet the popularity of Japanese whiskies kept rising. As such, Suntory made quite a good number of new products and special releases for the year, including:

1. the first Hibiki Blossom Harmony (a sakura cask finish Hibiki blend),
2. the Yamazaki Limited Edition 2021 (a virgin mizunara cask focus Yamazaki), 
3. the Essence of Suntory Whisky series 5 Malt Mania (featuring experimental Islay Peated and Golden Promise Yamazakis), and of course, 
4. Two limited edition Hakushus: Hakushu Heavily Peated, and the Hakushu Spanish Oak here!

 

Tasting details in comments!

During the period I got shadowbanned by the automod, I visited Japan again and had a bit of time to go around the Tokyo metropolitan area to look for fun items, and boy oh boy did I find more interesting items!

Pic 1 were more items from Suntory's 'Genshu' (cask strength) series. From right to left were a spare bottle of the 12 yr Sherry Yamazaki (I opened and drank my previous bottle), a 15 yr Hakushu, a *20* yr Yamazaki (didn't know it existed!). The leftmost small bottle is from Suntory's now closed Whisky Shop W., and was one of Suntory's last single cask cask strength releases, a 10 yr old Spanish Oak Yamazaki! I'm very excited to be comparing it against some of the sherry cask Yamazaki Owner's Cask samples I've accumulated!

Pic 2 was genuinely the most intriguing and odd finds I've ever gotten my hands on. It's a Suntory *Blending Seminar* set, featuring 4 separate mystery malt whiskies and 2 mystery grain whiskies, all of which at 53% abv! I'm pretty sure this set was originally intended to be used for a promotional event and/or internal use, but somehow ended up on the secondary market lmao. I have no idea what the whiskies were supposed to blend into, but judging by the labeling style on the bottles, the set seem to be from around the early 2010s. Anyone got any guesses? Let's hear them!

Pic 3 was one of those wishes were granted finds: an unopened bottle of Suntory Pure Malt Century 21 yr! I must've ran out of luck after finding this one because my account got banned for 2 months straight shortly after getting my hands on it lmao

Alright, I'm back to working on the backlog of reviews. Cheers!

Hi all! Here's another Scotch I've ran into recently! I've accumulated quite a bit of whisky notes in the past few months, so forgive me for the rapid posting.

I've read a bit about Glendronach in the past about how it's quite similar to Macallan's Sherry oaks in certain aspects, and was quite intrigued by the claims that it can even 'beat Macallans at 2x to 3x its price'.

When trying several different items from them, I noted a pretty stark difference between iterations of the same bottle: Glendronach 18 yr modern label and their Allardice label from a few years ago.

Here are my notes (pic 2 for side by side comparison):

Glendronach 18 yr (new label)

nose- some ethanol sting; nutty (cashew); light caramel; mixed fruity note (grape jelly, green apple, sherry influence, much less strong than old version); oak; spices (white pepper, nutmeg) that's kinda sting-y; a bit like Glengrant 21

palate- caramel but not as sweet; cashew nutty; slightly saline;mixed fruity character (predominantly green apple); spicy oak spice (white pepper, nutmeg); spiciness sticks around; dark cacao powder-like bitterness; present alcohol sting; some astringency

finish- medium, spicy spices (white pepper, nutmeg) that stays; oak; a hint of the green apple; hint of dark cacao powder & bitterness

=====================

Glendronach 18 yr Allardice (old label), notably darker in color

nose- much more mellow; intense sweet caramel; sweet, caramelized, jammy red fruity note (raisins syrup, date syrup, very strong sherry cask influence); sweet dark chocolate ; polished oak (furniture-like); sulfuric, but not intrusive

Palate- slightly oily; sweet caramel with sweetness that fades; caramelized red fruity note (raisin syrup), but less sweet than the nose; polished oak (furniture-like); a hint sulfuric; mildly spicy oak spices (nutmeg). Polished Oak character is strong and rather pleasant

low alcohol sting; low astringency

Finish- medium long; primarily polished oak; spices (nutmeg); some maltose and sulfur

========================

The proof is in the pudding: these two are very, very different whiskies!

Hi all! Here's another Scotch I've ran into recently!

So a while ago, I read a post on here on the topic of Glendronach, which happened to be one of the few Scotch I have some more prior experience with.

I've read a bit about Glendronach in the past about how it's quite similar to Macallan's Sherry oaks in certain aspects, and was quite intrigued by the claims that it can even 'beat Macallans at 2x to 3x its price'.

When trying several different items from them, I noted a pretty stark difference between iterations of the same bottle: Glendronach 18 yr modern label and their Allardice label from a few years ago.

Here are my notes (pic 2 for side by side comparison):

Glendronach 18 yr (new label)

nose- some ethanol sting; nutty (cashew); light caramel; mixed fruity note (grape jelly, green apple, sherry influence, much less strong than old version); oak; spices (white pepper, nutmeg) that's kinda sting-y; a bit like Glengrant 21

palate- caramel but not as sweet; cashew nutty; slightly saline;mixed fruity character (predominantly green apple); spicy oak spice (white pepper, nutmeg); spiciness sticks around; dark cacao powder-like bitterness; present alcohol sting; some astringency

finish- medium, spicy spices (white pepper, nutmeg) that stays; oak; a hint of the green apple; hint of dark cacao powder & bitterness

=====================

Glendronach 18 yr Allardice (old label), notably darker in color

nose- much more mellow; intense sweet caramel; sweet, caramelized, jammy red fruity note (raisins syrup, date syrup, very strong sherry cask influence); sweet dark chocolate ; polished oak (furniture-like); sulfuric, but not intrusive

Palate- slightly oily; sweet caramel with sweetness that fades; caramelized red fruity note (raisin syrup), but less sweet than the nose; polished oak (furniture-like); a hint sulfuric; mildly spicy oak spices (nutmeg). Polished Oak character is strong and rather pleasant

low alcohol sting; low astringency

Finish- medium long; primarily polished oak; spices (nutmeg); some maltose and sulfur

========================

The proof is in the pudding: these two are very, very different whiskies!

Hi all!

I've been trying out a few Scotch lately, and it just so happened that the whisky store I frequent had a Macallan event: a whole flight of Macallan Boutique Collections!

I'm not all that knowledgeable about Macallans nor am I particularly well versed in Scotch, but here are some tasting impressions.

2016- Deepest in color. Stronger sulfuric character, sweet caramel, polished oak, maltose, red raisins, some spices. Almost identical to older Macallan distilled in the 80s. A bit more dry than others on the palate. Also the most robust.

2017- has a bit of sulfuric character like older Macallan; sweet maltose, very sweet; really intense raisin character; white oak; spices. Feels like a balance between older Macallans (distilled in the 90s) and the more modern ones

2019- some maltose, vanilla, milk caramel, oak spices, bourbon cask white fruity, slight bit of cacao & bitterness; white oak. Spices pronounced on palate, a bit of sweet azuki bean paste also shows up, fragrant white oak. The caramel a bit similar to Macallan 110 proof in profile

2020- white oaky character is stronger than others; caramel; stronger bourbon cask white fruity characters. More white oak & spiciness on the palate, as well as more notable bitterness that lingers. Finish is mostly white oak

Personally, I think the 2016 was an entirely different beast from the rest, 2017 was a bridge between older and newer Macallan profiles, and 2019 is a decent modern Macallan. As for 2020, let's just say one of these bottles is not like the others, and not in a good way.

Hi all!

I've been trying out a few Scotch lately, and it just so happened that the whisky store I frequent had an Macallan event: a whole flight of Macallan Boutique Collections!

I'm not all that knowledgeable about Macallans nor am I particularly well versed in Scotch, but here are some tasting impressions.

2016- Deepest in color. Stronger sulfuric character, sweet caramel, polished oak, maltose, red raisins, some spices. Almost identical to older Macallan distilled in the 80s. A bit more dry than others on the palate. Also the most robust.

2017- has a bit of sulfuric character like older Macallan; sweet maltose, very sweet; really intense raisin character; white oak; spices. Feels like a balance between older Macallans (distilled in the 90s) and the more modern ones

2019- some maltose, vanilla, milk caramel, oak spices, bourbon cask white fruity, slight bit of cacao & bitterness; white oak. Spices pronounced on palate, a bit of sweet azuki bean paste also shows up, fragrant white oak. The caramel a bit similar to Macallan 110 proof in profile

2020- white oaky character is stronger than others; caramel; stronger bourbon cask white fruity characters. More white oak & spiciness on the palate, as well as more notable bitterness that lingers. Finish is mostly white oak

Personally, I think the 2016 was an entirely different beast from the rest, 2017 was a bridge between older and newer Macallan profiles, and 2019 is a decent modern Macallan. As for 2020, let's just say going one of these bottles is not like the others, and not in a good way.

Hi all! I'm back with more Japanese whiskies!

Since I haven't posted in a while (more about it in the rant), I've got quite a bit of notes to sort through. In the meantime, here's some of the two oddest whiskies I've managed to get my hands on: two of Suntory's anniversary special whiskies, released forty years apart!

Details in comments!

Rant (feel free to tl:dr)

Apparently, one of my past posts about a store & their shelves in May rubbed reddit's automated system the wrong way. That post triggered a massive response that marked all my past posts as spam, deleted every one of them, and issued a *site-wide* ban on my account. 

I've worked on appealing the ban for about two months straight, and yesterday when trying to submit an appeal I realized it was no longer available for submission... which means reddit has shadow-unbanned this account!

I've been working on restoring some of my older reviews. Most should be back now, if anyone's interested!

Enough rant, time for whiskies lmao

As a WT fan, seeing all the posts of folks getting their hands on the newest WT 16yr CGF made me a bit sad that I'm too far from the US to get my hands on one anytime soon (and absolutely 0% chance of finding one at msrp too).

Though it does remind me, I've got this old bird sitting around. I'm starting to get a bit worried about its falling fill level, and figured might as well make today the day to find out if it still holds up.

All I can say is, it's got the damp oak, the brown sugar, the orange peel, the baking spices and all the musty funkiness of the 1990s CGF, with quite a bit more chocolate and a bit more mellow mouthfeel. Quite the beautiful Turkey indeed!

Wish everyone could find their ideal Turkey too! Cheers!

Hi all! I'm back with some rather unique Japanese whiskies!

Since this is probably the last post I'd be doing on reddit (more about it in the rant), I've decided to go out with a bang and write about some of the oddest whiskies I've managed to get my hands on: two of Suntory's anniversary special whiskies, released forty years apart!

Details in comments!

Rant (feel free to tl:dr)

Apparently, one of my past posts about a store & their shelves from a month ago must've rubbed reddit's automated system the wrong way. That post triggered some massive response that marked all my past posts as spam, deleted every one of them, and issued a *site-wide* ban on my account. 

I've tried to appeal the ban for more than a month, but no luck there at all. Alas, I suppose this might be it for this poor ol' account lmao

Much thanks to mod u/forswearThinPotation for manually preserving many of these posts from the automated system's purging- they would've been wiped from the internet otherwise. 

Also to my fellow Japanese whisky enthusiast u/JapaneseWhiskyGuy, thanks for inviting me to the team. Unfortunately, reddit's automod absolutely loathes my guts and I can no longer access the sub. 

Enough rant, time for whiskies lmao