Karuizawa 16, 2000-2017, 2017 Tokyo International Bar Show, Sherry Cask No. 545, 198/417, 62.3% abv.

Tokyo International Bar Show, also known as TIBS, is one of the famous whisky shows in Japan, but has more of an emphasis on drink diversity and industry. Known to have some special show-only bottles, and surprisingly this Zawa is one of the more recent ones.

Nose: Chinese mushrooms, some vanilla/toast, old purple plums. No sherry aromas though. Interesting.

Palate: strong, drying, dark fruit cup, sour wood. But after awhile, all the flavors tend to dull out and you're left with a sour and sweet dehydrated berries like flavor. Nice.

Finish: short to medium, something akin to raisins, wood, abv burn.

Very intense, quite nice. I was totally expecting to be disappointed given how others talk about young Karuizawa and my own experiences with it, but this one was extremely tasty, perhaps because of the high abv, and had a strong mellowed fruit presence. The fruit is there and flavorful, just not strong. I also really liked this one, but three homeruns in a row? No way, I'm not that lucky... I'll have to be conservative.

Grade: A-

Couldn't find quantifiable, reliable reviews.

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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