Taste Testing The Glengoyne Mizunara Oak

"You can count with two hands, the number of Scotch whiskies that have been aged in Mizunara Oak," said Gordon Dundas, who serves as the brand advocacy director for the longstanding and well esteemed Ian Macleod Distillers group.

Now, surely that can't be true, I had thought to myself. After all, Mizunara, also known as Japanese Oak or more colloquially Water Oak given its incredibly porous nature that makes for a finnicky cask that holds together poorly, was all the rage just a couple of years back, with much said in praise of its wondrous and exotic flavours that were infused into whiskies, that of coconut, sandalwood and incense. Yet, as I intuitively began counting in my head all the Scotch whiskies I could remember that were aged in Mizunara, it seemed like Mr Dundas was right! Well, the man is after all a bonafide Keeper of the Quaich, the highest honour bestowed upon those serving in the Scotch industry, and so it would be rather impetuous of me to doubt him. Nevertheless, I had to pull up good old Google the moment I got home just to be totally sure, and wouldn't you know it, Mr Dundas was being alittle too vague. In actuality, you could count with one hand the number of officially bottled and released Scotch single malts aged in Mizunara, and you'd only require one hand and a finger if you were to also include Scotch blends. Yes, yes, I know. It's a splendid day when you've got one on a Keeper of the Quaich. Of course, I jest. The reality was that I was pretty surprised by Mr Dundas' statement but he is of course absolutely right, and that's what's shocking - that despite Mizunara's haloed famed and cult following, there were in fact very few Scotch producers who have worked with it, making the new Glengoyne Mizunara Oak a true rarity.

Mizunara Oak in Japan.

So why's that?

For a start, Mizunara oak is a highly protected species that requires strict government permits in order to be harvested for use, which is over and above the fact that the unlike say American or European oak, grows in a warped fashion that therefore requires some 100-200 years of age before it is able to reasonably yield pliable wood for use. Given its lengthy replenishment cycle, the local Japanese government is therefore careful to ensure the sustainable use of Mizunara oak, and thus carefully monitors for over-harvesting. Whilst found in various parts of Japan, most of the Mizunara oak to be used comes from Hokkaido, which itself is difficult to access logistically where it comes to sourcing and retrieving the oak, and thus requires some strong local connections in order to get hands on. Now even once the Mizunara oak is finally procured, it is as mentioned, very difficult to work with given its high moisture content which requires first an almost 3 year drying period, before then a very delicate coopering in order to produce barrels out of it, and even once spirit is filled into these Mizunara oak barrels, it's still a challenging call when it comes to allowing the whisky to age in it for long out of fear of the barrels breaking. Yet at the same time, run too short an ageing program with Mizunara and the resulting whisky will only come off too sharp or tannic, with little of that exotic Mizunara flavour profile coming through. And so all in all, using Mizunara oak isn't really much of a scalable, and therefore uneconomical, option. So a whole lot of effort, for really a very small output.

Glengoyne Distillery.

But it seems like all of that hasn't stopped Glengoyne, also often called the most beautiful distillery in all of Scotland with its idyllic hillside farm-distillery aesthetic, who has produced a 16 Year Old Glengoyne Mizunara Oak expression as part of its new Oak Masters' Series. Whilst belonging to that handful of distilleries that came to be known for their use of Sherry cask as part of their core identity, Glengoyne has sought to dabble outside those lines with their new Oak Masters' Series, which aims to showcase Glengoyne's fruity spirit, which it distinctively produces through long ferments and slow distillation which produces more esters and also increases copper contact that takes away heavier compounds, through the lens of other types of casks. And so using Mizunara oak from Japan's snowy Hokkaido prefecture, Glengoyne has filled it with the distillery's classic 10 year old spirit that had previously been aged in first-fill and refill Sherry casks, which is then left to undergo a second maturation for 6 years in the Mizunara casks.

So let's give it a taste!

PS. If you'd like to get your hands on Glengoyne's new Mizunara Oak expression, it's available in Singapore via Malt Wine Asia!

Whisky Review: Glengoyne Mizunara Oak, Oak Masters' Series, 16 Years Old, 53.4% ABV

Tasting Notes

Colour: Amber

Aroma: Opens honeyed and brightly citrusy, with a side of fresh cedar that comes through. It's initially alittle angular but eases up to a bounty of exotic fruits of zesty passionfruit and lime, along with richer citrus tones of persimmon. Wafts of sandalwood and coconut flakes adds to the top fragrance, with then a touch of rancio, leather, plums and prunes forming the base. With time, peaches and apricots in the form of marmalades begin to emerge.

Taste: Medium-bodied, really rich and lush, first offering stewed plums and prunes coaxed in brown sugars and honey and topped with delicate coconut flakes, still with that side of fresh cedar and a dab of ash. The almost syrupy top slowly peels off to reveal a more supple custardy body, that are coupled with toffee coated green apples that wrap around a core of sweet fruit preserves of raspberries, plums and prunes. Amidst the honey there's earthier and rustic tones of leather and hay, a touch of rancio, with also nuggets of lightly citrusy persimmon.

Finish: More peppery into the finish, with also candied coconut confectionaries, reminiscent of Bounty bars, here stuffed with stewed dark fruits. It's creamy, honeyed and really concentrated, and as it recedes, begins to show more tart citruses of grapefruit and a medicinal bit of angelica roots. The pepperiness carries through over a bed of cream for a really long Sherried finish of leather, plums and prunes.

My Thoughts

Rather impressively an exotic and unique whisky with Mizunara overtones that are not just gentle suggestions but overt flavours that come through both in its aromas and through the body! Yet at the same time and perhaps counterintuitively, the folks at Glengoyne seem to have already understood that a heavy handed use of Mizunara whilst potentially very marketable, might not yield an actually enjoyable expression, and so this choice of taking classically Sherried Glengoyne and then giving it a nevertheless laudably extensive 6 year long maturation in Mizunara seems to have paid off in producing a very balanced whisky that wears the exotic oak on its sleeves, embellishing its juicy, Sherried body!

And so on the nose, there's all these unheard of fragrances of lime, coconuts and persimmons - well, I have heard of them in officially written tasting notes but have always never quite actually found them till now - and on the palate it's well composed and layered, of stewed dark fruits, brown sugars, sugared persimmons and coconut flakes over a custardy body with a raspberry center. A thread of fresh wood akin to cedar, even though it really is the Mizunara, runs throughout the length of the whisky, almost as a reminder of the use of the exotic wood, at times showing qualities of sandalwood with its briskness. Into the finish, it's heaps of Bounty chocolate coconut bars, with then a brighter zestiness of grapefruit and a rooty bit of angelica. 

Kanpai!

@111hotpot