hanyu – grey whisky

Whisky 2019 – 41-42 – Laboratorino, Chichibu, Japan

Yes, I visited the Chichibu. I am writing up a full post on my visit to the distillery. In the mean time here are the two drams I enjoyed at a very nice little Italian restaurant Laboratorino. My partner drank the heavily peated – no notes from me except chocolate and earth with loads of peat.

42 – Ichiro’s Malt Single Cask 2018 rum Cask #5821 9 years old
Nose: Honey icecream, chocolate pudding, malt, dried apricots, prebaked strudel, marshmallow

Palate: juicy raisins, cream, skinned grapes, spice biscuit, melted butter, red wine tannin, honey joys, salt, birthday candle wax

Finish: day old brandy snaps, pepper, grape vines

*****

43 – Ichiro’s Malt Malt Dream Cask for Bar Te Airigh cask #180
Nose: Cloves, hand lotion, pineapple, honey, wood glue, melted chocolate ice cream

Palate: So malty, spice, loquats, persimmons, vanilla, light cream, huge and dominating mouthfeel, grape seed and caramel

Finish: pavlova with fruit and whipped cream, sweet milky tea

*****

Whisky 2018 – 29-34 – rare Japanese whisky tasting

29 – Ichiro’s Malt Blended Whisky “Houou-uhi” for Isetan (includes Kawasaki, Hanyu)
Nose: leather, apricots, vanilla, dust, soap, grilled pineapple, crushed ants, salty crisps
Palate: dust, cream, coffee, loads of fruit, old whisky, old apples, tobacco
Finish: cream and lace

30 – Hanyu Distillery Tokyo International Bar Show 1990 Vintage 23 year old
Nose: lollies, orange fizz wizz, meringue, soy sauce, black rock sugar, lemoncillo, toast with apricot jam
Palate: leaves, medicinal, cream, apricots and butter, old perfume
Finish: tea tannins, wood glue, green grass, cream

31 – Hanyu Distillery Whisky Live 10th Anniversary Bottling 18 years Single Cask Mizunara Cask #369
Nose: strawberry jam, chocolate, woody, stewed stone fruit, sour cream, maple syrup
Palate: soapy, woody, peanuts, fried potatoes, tropical fruit, bounty bars, maple syrup
Finish: leaves, cream, salt

32 – Karuizawa Asama Vintages 1999-2000 (77 casks mainly Sherry)
Nose: woody, maple syrup, perfume like, instant coffee, rubber, wax
Palate: rubber, peanuts, funky, beef tallow, salt, umami, stock cubes, wax, honey
Finish: pears, salty crisps, white pepper

33 – Karuizawa 8 year old Malt Whisky Mercian bottling
Nose: leather, wax, german Xmas biscuits, new make, toffee apple
Palate: wax, soy sauce, pencil shavings, gentle sugars
Finish: soy, cream

34 – Karuizawa 15 year old Malt Whisky Mercian bottling
Nose: cream, stone fruit, wax, some maple syrup
Palate: apples, leather, cream, sea weed,
Finish: medicinal, cream, old apples

Whisky 2017 – Top 5

My top 5 (in no particular order) for 2017. An interesting list!

46 – Hanyu Ichiro’s Malt Card Series 10 of Clubs 1990 PX 2nd fill Cask 9032 *
Wonderful cocoa and musk nose, orange marmalade, crepes with butter and cream, boozy stewed stone fruit. Toffee apples, cream, orange blossoms, leather, cream, white pepper, slight meaty note, white peaches, salt.

137 – 1973 Invergordon Cask #10 for Club Qing 42 Years *
Dry biscuits, cloves, cinnamon, ice cream, apple snow, raspberry lollies. Incredible whisky tea tannins, loads of cream, fresh cracked paper, cardamom icecream, liquorice, macadamias, prunes, sight white peach.

196 – Ichiro’s malt “The Game” Madeira Hogshead Cask 1370, 10 Year Anniversary *
Maple syrup, pancakes, loads of stone fruit, toasty, caramel, toffees, toffee apple, pineapple upside down cake. Rubber, raisins, sulphur, apricots, old butter, musk sticks, butter and maple syrup on crumpets.

200 – SMWS 39.102 (Linkwood) Rum-soaked black cherries 23 years *
Crushed ants, woody, maraschino cherries. Such a gentle dram, buttery, cake, sweet fruit like glacé apricots, pencil shavings, honey, salt, butter, old butter and sherry. The finish is forever – apples, cloves, melted butter and crisps.

216 – Signatory Glenlivet for The Whisky Exchange 2007 10 Years Cask 900174 *
Woody, sarsaparilla, cloves, burnt strawberry jam, shaving cream, chocolate, whipped cream. Woody, massive sherry notes, red apples, cream, coffee, dried stone fruit, caramel pop corn, cold butter, watermelon, toasted brioche.

Whisky 2017 – 150-151 – Helvetica, Perth

Two special drams to finish my time in Perth. Normally, I am not a fan of red wine casks but wow!

151 – Ichiro’s Malt ChichibuXHanyu Gasai for Isetan
Dusty apricots, carob, butter and spice cake, ozone, galvanized fence, hand cream, slight lemon zest. Hot malt, tobacco, leather, cream, slightly salt, old whisky, apricot bars, bitter herbs, boiled sweets, ice coffee.

152 – Ichiro’s Malt Chichibu first fill red wine for Isetan*
Massive nose, intense candle wax, buttered toast, boiling butterscotch, chocolate mouse, vintage soap. Manuka honey on buttered crumpets, aspirin, well structured tannins, bitter chocolate, brandy cream on warmed fruit cake, dried pears and peaches, raw cashews, toasted coconut.

Whisky 2017 – 41-48 – The Auld Alliance, Singapore

OK – So I went to the Auld Alliance in Singapore. Wow! I understand why it is regarded as the world’s best whisky bar. Yes, it was expensive but completely worth it – my only problem was my mistake ordering the Benrinnes. It is a fabulous dram, don’t get me wrong but didn’t really sit well with the other drams – a slight misstep when you are overwhelmed with such an imposing list.

The Card Series were impeccable. I know there is a brouhaha regarding Japanese whisky prices and is it worth it. For me I tried three stunning, unique and consistent drams that deserve significant praise.

The staff presented me with a mystery dram at the end a 1977 Sherry cask bottling of something Speyside. For me this was Ben Nevis but who knows.

41 – Springbank 15 Years Old Tall Bottle from the 80s
Apricots, hand cream, brown sugar, plump raisins. Stunning mouthfeel, wonderfully spiced, salty, slight warm malt cake, stewed apricots dolloped with cream, cake mix.

42 – Springbank 12 Years Old tall bottle from the 80s
Fruit on a cheese platter, coffee grounds, tropical cordial. Leather, cream, perfumed soap, salt, slight tropical fruit sweetness, woody spices on the finish, malty.

43 – Benrinnes Silver Seal 30 Years 1984 Cask 2268
Malty, stone fruit, banana leaf. Hot, cake, leather, salt, maraschino cherries, Sacher torte, malt loaf with butter.

44 – Glendronach 31 Years 1978 Olorosso Sherry Cask 1040
Gravox, maple syrup, rubber, chocolate mousse, sulphur. Heavy and unctuous just crazy mouth feel, berry jam taken within an inch of its life, angry caramel, match heads, boot polish, motor oil.

45 – Hanyu Ichiro’s Malt Card Series 7 of Diamonds 1991 19 Years PX 2nd fill Cask 9031
Caramel, grappa, peanuts, stewed apple, vanilla, turps, sarsaparilla, German spice biscuits. Woody, perfume, bacon fat, smoked praprika, peanut brittle, gooseberries and stone fruit, milk chocolate.

46 – Hanyu Ichiro’s Malt Card Series 10 of Clubs 1990 PX 2nd fill Cask 9032
Wonderful cocoa and musk nose, orange marmalade, crepes with butter and cream, boozy stewed stone fruit. Toffee apples, cream, orange blossoms, leather, cream, white pepper, slight meaty note, white peaches, salt.

l47 – Hanyu Ichiro’s Malt Card Series King of Hearts 1986 PX 2nd fill Cask 9033
Smoked paprika, grape skins, roast chicken, Coke spider, sarsaparilla, musk, dark chocolate. Maple syrup, roasted vegetables, smoked paprika, cream on Xmas pudding, rockmelon, salty, rose hips, dry ginger.

48 – The Auld Alliance 1977 Sherry Cask (perhaps Ben Nevis)
Chocolate, dried apricots, salty butter, cake mix, yeast. Cake mix, apricots, leather, green peppercorns, cocoa, green herbs and salt, chocolate mousse, tobacco, spiced pumpkin.

Whisky 2016 – 121-123 The Mash Tun, Tokyo

121 – Salon de Shimaji Pen x Shinanoya Hanyu 2000 14 years Mizunara heads
Chocolate box, Terry’s chocolate orange, lemon balm, balsa wood, lemonade. Spice busicuits, short bread, doughnuts, honey, marshmallow, salt.

122 – Mars 618 20 Years 1989(?) Single Cask
Egg whites, whipped cream, milk chocolate, strawberries, green peppercorns. Dry to begin then crushed ants, huge vanilla, tannic salty mouth with a finish that just keeps going, cloves and sarsaparilla.

123 – Suntory Hakushu 1988 Bourbon Cask 8J40514
Plastic, chocolate, flinty, strawberry jam and whipped cream on scones, kiwifruit and pineapple. Pina colada, medicinal, coal, tropical cordial, salt, chocolates by a campfire, leather and bracken. A beast of a whisky!

Whisky 2016 – 9-11

Hi all – been a bit sick and busy. Haven’t been able to do as many tastings as I would have liked, unfortunately. Anyway, back at it and I had a couple of Adelphi drams.

9 – Adelphi Longmorn 23 Years
Apricot jam, almond biscotti, chicos, marshmallows, nutri-grain, strawberry and cream. Aero bars, milk, nutty, jammy stone fruit, a big mouthful of melted butter.

10 – Adelphi The Glover 14
Herbal, red dates, clove, medicinal, tobacco. Focaccia with salt and thyme, some cream and butter, slight sulfur note. I expected a lot more, given the hype. The 22 year version is very expensive and I may just skip it based on this tasting.

11 – Adelphi Glen Garioch 22
Wood polish, egg white, cucumbers, sultanas, green bananas, maple syrup and butter on pancakes. Butters, rose petals, salt, green herbs, maple syrup.

Whisky 2015 – 117-122 (The Mash Tun, Meguro, Tokyo)

I had two great nights at The Mash Tun in Meguro, Tokyo. It’s a short walk from Meguro station and by Tokyo standards easy to find.

The Mash Tun has the largest collection of Cadenhead bottlings I’ve seen, maybe close to 40. While many of the locals (in fact now that I think about it all of them) were tucking into Cadenhead, I was there for the Japanese stuff you just can not get in Australia.

117 – Ichiro’s Malt – Whisky Talk 2015
Typical Japanese creaminess, cocoa, autumn leaves, salt, slight gassy note, angry dust. Tastes like it smells. Which is unusual. The peat is really subtle. I can taste this in my throat.

118 – Blackadder and Ichiro’s malt 5 year
Chestnut honey, flour, floral, ginger, egg white, clove and cola. Honey and cola. Really delicious. The sweetness is complex like brown/black sugar.

119 – Karuizawa TIBS 2012
Rubber, apricots, chocolate, maple syrup. Rubber, vanilla, pepper, sulfur, clove, salt, maple syrup.

120 – Fuji Gotemba Single Grain Blender’s Choice 2014 029/500
Bananas, coconut, formic acid, some acetone, apricots with ice cream. Butter, crushed ants, vanilla, tropical fruits, toasted hazelnuts.

121 – Ichiro’s malt 2015 Tokyo International Bar Show Cask 2360
Wow just wow – favourite for the year!! Banana, ice cream, malty bread with butter, tomato paste, fruit tingles, slight vino cotto, CHICOS. Yeast, brown bread, vanilla, banana bread, prunes, plums, grapes.

122 – Hanyu King and 6 of Spades Cask 123 (Grappa Cask)
Slight woody pine notes, vanilla, roses, dried strawberries, chocolate and a bit medicinal. Peppery and spicy, instant coffee, a touch of vanilla, strawberries in a day old chocolate cake, length that lasts forever.