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Karuizawa
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Karuizawa distillery
Region:
Japan
Location: Just west of the town of Karuizawa
Status: Closed
(More
distillery info here)
General whisky characteristics: Dark fruit, toffee and smoked ham |
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Glass: Classic Malt
Colour: Rich, dark aged
oak
Nose:
Sherry with lots of dark fruits like raisins, black cherries,
currants, plus some sweet aged oak.
Palate: Sweet plums,
raisins and is that a little smoke which accompanies the palate
into the finish?
Finish: Very long with those dark fruits and a hint of
scorched wood, but not quite smoky, right at the end.
Overall impression: Some
superb flavours but maybe the overall experience was slightly
weakened by the fact that at 40% it's just a little thin. GIve
me 46% and it would be magnificent.
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Karuizawa,
distilled
1981, bottled 12.8.2011, 55.2% ABV
Cask No.2634
Typical cost of
this bottle;
to
???
Reviewed as part of
MMA 2011
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Glass: Classic Malt
Colour:
Very dark liquid treacle toffee
Nose:
Treacle toffee, rich almonds and smouldering
wood with frequent floral hints and suggestions of dark
chocolate. and coffee beans.
Palate: Treacle toffee (again!)
Massive figs, prunes, plums and black cherries. Almost finest
espresso and dark chocolate.
Finish: Extremely long and full power
Overall impression:
Marvellous, what a star. An absolute "Great".
Revisited in February 2013 by "Dram-atics" in a 10-way Karuizawa
H2H
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Karuizawa,
distilled
1981, bottled 12.8.2011,
58.3% ABV
Cask No.6207
Typical cost of
this bottle;
to
???
Reviewed as part of
MMA 2011
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Glass: Classic Malt
Colour:
Teak
Nose:
Slightly dry wood with a very aromatic wax
polish. After some minutes I sense an almost strawberry jam
effect, but with lots of wood and that polish.
Palate: Initially wood
with hints of banana stem, then followed by peppery vanilla and
after more minutes there's floral sweet toffee.
Finish: Very long floral and rich, ever expanding.
Overall impression:
Another true "Great". Marvellous, simply marvellous.
Revisited in February 2013 by "Dram-atics" in a 10-way Karuizawa
H2H
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Karuizawa,
distilled
1981, bottled 2011,
57.5% ABV
Cask No.6256
Typical cost of
this bottle;
to
???
Reviewed as part of
MMA 2011
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Glass: Classic Malt
Colour:
Rich glowing amber
Nose:
Richly aromatic polished antique oak, antique
leather furniture then occasional sweet floral bursts and
lightly toasted raisins.
Palate: Large initial
tingle, white pepper? Then rich wood and toffee, faint banana
and black cherries. Lots happening here!
Finish: Long and eventful
Overall impression: Can
it be 3/3 for "Greatness"? Indeed it can, another
truly "Great" single cask from Karuizawa.
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No.1 Drinks Karuizawa,
distilled
1984,
bottled 2012,
61.6% ABV
Sherry Butt, Cask No.3692,
one of 359 bottles
Typical cost of
this bottle;
Reviewed as part of MMA 2012
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Glass: Classic Malt
Colour:
Dark, very dark.
Nose:
Delightfully rich and heavy and just a light
rubberiness. This expands slightly to an image of a rubber
dinghy moored at an Atlantic pier at high tide. I could really
swim in this nose.
Palate: Rich and
massive, tingly, lightly rubbery and oaky. Almonds, walnuts,
cherries, prunes and a hint of gentle peat bog.
Finish: Long and very rich. Just a hint of spent match right
at end.
Overall impression: Life
is good, very good, pass this around after a good steak or duck
dinner. Truly magnificent and a "Great".
Revisited in February 2013 by "Dram-atics" in a 10-way Karuizawa
H2H
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Glass: Classic Malt
Colour: Gently
glowing golden brass.
Nose
Aromatic earthy flora, maybe English cottage herb garden
alongside spring bulbs. Was that a sudden hint of spent match?
Perhaps more like bonfire or BBQ embers at the end of a summer
day in the garden?
Palate:
Wonderfully fruity with hints of creamy peach that tingle and
tantalise. Crθme caramel? Tiramisu? Maybe even marinated trifle
base?
Finish:
Delightfully long with that tiramisu really coming to the fore
now.
Overall impression:
A very good, nay excellent fruity whisky with a depth of
tiramisu and light cappuccino. It may not be as heavy and rich
as some other distillery examples, but maybe it exhibits a
slightly different distillery style and one which is extremely
commendable.
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Glass: Classic Malt
Colour:
Rich cork with a hint of coppery bronze.
Nose:
Immensely fragrant with a herbal leafiness alongside a
suggestion of figs and maybe dates. Whoa ... wait a minute .. is
that really the aroma of freshly roasted pork coming through
now? Surely not smoky bacon crisps too? Yes, I really believe
so. Magnificent!
Palate:
Big, massive, powerful, bold and personnifies everything from
the nose including the smoky bacon crisps. Especially the
smoky bacon crisps.
Finish:
This may eventually end, one day.
Overall
impression: I'm a happy man, very happy and I'm about to use
that word again "Great"
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Glass: Classic Malt
Colour:
Amber.
Nose:
Earthy and very lightly toasted in character and expanding with
a faint rubbery leatheriness. After some minutes I'm also
detecting suggestions of dark chocolate and fresh coffee. This
is jam-packed full of character.
Palate:
Initially creamy-smooth and then caressed by a rich tingle
comprising hints of fresh fruit, an earthiness, leather and
rubber. Why am I reminded of a very good cognac here?
Finish:
Very long and delightful.
Overall
impression: This edition of
Karuizawa comes from LMDW's "Cocktail Series" and I have to ask
"Do people really want to use this in cocktails?" I guess my Old
Luddite-ness is rearing its overly-traditional head here?
Anyway I still won't hesitate
to use that word again "Great".
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Glass: Classic Malt
Colour:
Dark amber with a tinge of copperiness.
Nose:
Fragrant, very fragrant with amazingly delicate flora alongside
a lightly perfumed antique woodiness. After some minutes it
suggests its age with a light mustiness but with more time it
expands and further develops those wonderfully delicate floral
notes.
Palate:
This just bursts forth onto the front of the tongue. This is
very much alive! The floral notes from the nose are now dancing
across the palate. Ahhh peach melba with gently perfumed
(English) Christmas cake.
Overall
impression: A truly magnificent
and vibrant whisky. A "Great" by a country mile,
or two but I'll not mention the price; as the old saying goes "If
you have to ask the price you probably can't afford it".
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Karuizawa
'noh',
28y, distilled
1983,
bottled 2012,
57.2% ABV
Sherry Butt, Cask No.7576,
one of 571 bottles
Typical cost of
this bottle;
to
Reviewed as part of MMA 2012
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Glass: Classic Malt
Colour:
Dark, treacle toffee
Nose:
Rich dark fruits marinated in sherry. Just a
hint of aged oak then expanding with more rich and aromatic
influences. It just gets better and better with time.
Palate: Massively earthy.
An almost maritime rich dark fruitiness with accompanying
nuttiness. Massive, rich & heavy but very balanced and
co-ordinated. Civilised.
Finish: Long, delightfulyl rich and luxurious.
Overall impression: This
is massive but at the same time very balanced and harmonious. A
true "Great" by a country mile or three.
Revisited in February 2013 by "Dram-atics" in a 10-way Karuizawa
H2H
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Glass: Classic Malt
Colour:
Slightly dull cork.
Nose:
Initially slightly farmy whilst also offering what I can only
describe as a maritime woodiness with just a hint of spent
match. This all develops with time to include a custard style
creaminess and just a suggestion of liquorice.
Palate:
This just personnifies the nose and also has a slightly watery
mouth-feel. Perhaps a slightly higher abv would help here?
Finish: Very
pleasantly long.
Overall
impression: Make no mistake this
is good, very good, even excellent but I feel it needs just a
little more ooomph.
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Glass: Classic Malt
Colour:
Light amber.
Nose:
This offers a selection of dried herbs with just the faintest
suggestion of a very aromatic Alpine cheese. A warm woodiness
develops which is reminiscent of bonfire embers.
Palate:
A very smooth and creamy mouth-feel, a suggestion of crθme
caramel? A dark fruitiness akin to figs, prunes, dates and
cherries - almost but not quite. Freshly ground coffee beans?
Again almost, but not quite.
Finish: Long
and slightly dry, again with almost coffee beans.
Overall impression:
The few extra abv really do help here as it
has the ooomph that the 48% version lacks.
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Some older (IB)
single
cask vintages |
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Karuizawa,
distilled 1975,
30y, 63.6% ABV
Typical cost of
this bottle;
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Nose: Toffee and linseed
Palate: I only have
brief notes which say this was far too aggressive with too much
alcohol burn masking any flavours.
Overall impression:
Maybe I didn't get enough to experiment with this one which is a
shame as it held much promise from the nose if I could have
experimented more with water. It was certainly too aggressive
without water.
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Karuizawa,
distilled 1977, 28y, cask 7026,
63% ABV
Typical cost of
this bottle; |
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Nose: Delicious black
forest (Schwarzwald) ham
Palate: Again lots of
alcohol in this one but the palate offers more of that black
forest ham promised by the nose and also rich toffee.
Overall Impression: A
good Japanese whisky with plenty of smoky ham notes over rich
toffee. I like it. |
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Karuizawa,
distilled 1980, cask 348,
57.9% ABV
Typical cost of
this bottle; |
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Nose: Faint smoke with
raisins and wine
Palate: Warm and gentle
with smoke and more ham.
Overall Impression: This
one feels and tastes quite 'big'. I like it. |
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Karuizawa,
distilled 1986, 19y, cask 6206,
56.3% ABV
Typical cost of
this bottle; |
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Nose: Vanilla ice cream
with custard
Palate: Smoke, subtle
toffee and caramel.
Overall Impression: Lots
of delicious dessert flavours. I like it. |
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