Whisky Reviews

Fruity and Spicy       Since my earlier reviews of the Shizuoka Prologue K and Prologue W, well-meaning connoisseurs have expressed some concern ...

  Karuizawa, 1982-2008, Number One Drinks Company, Sherry Butt no. 2230, 612 bottles, 58% abv.Nose: honey with a sharp lemon zest sort punch, raw...

  Karuizawa Vintage, 1984-2003, 18 years, Cask No. 8354, 58.7% abv.Before Karuizawa was shutdown and Number One Drinks took all the remaining cas...

  Black-50, 7 years, b.1987, Nikka Whisky, Deluxe, 40% abv.Rod Stewart used to make commercials for this blend.Nose: oily fruits, semi-cologne fr...

  Fukano Distillery Whisky, Distilled from Rice, 42.8% abv.So.... this distillery basically uses 100% rice in their mashbill and stainless steel ...

  Kirin 17, Premium Reserve, Blended Malt, 43% abv.Not much information from my sources. According to the bartender, this Kirin is a light blend ...

  Mars Komagatake, Yakushima Aging Cellar, d.2014, 1,140 bottles, 59% abv.Mars, perhaps the third largest whisky distiller in Japan, has it's his...

  Mars Maltage 'Cosmo' - (nose) smells sweet, (taste) subdued honey but dominant, light smoke, light dried fruit, slightly spicey. (Finish) short...

  Yamazaki bourbon barrel. 2011 or 2009 bottling, forgot to ask and I can't tell from my pics. Part of Yamazaki's Cask Collection series with a b...

  Nikka Tsuru 17, Blended, 43% abv.The family name of the founder of Nikka, Taketsuru, 竹鶴, is composed of the Chinese characters for "bamboo cran...

  Karuizawa × Kawasaki 1970s-2015, Time Slip, ex-Karuizawa Cask No. 6432, 249/282, 43% abv.Supposedly both Karuizawa and Kawasaki 1970s distillat...

  Kawasaki 1976-2009, Ichiro's Choice, Refill Sherry Butts, 170/432, 65.6% abv.There isn't much information on Kawasaki relative to Karuizawa. Su...