Suntory Hakushu 1989 / TWE 10th Anniversary / Sherry Cask

N:  Big sherry and grapefruit notes.  Lemon Opal Fruits.  Needs to be approached with caution due to the strength.  Some polished wood and old oak notes.  Needs time to open up.  Slowly develops resin and cocoa powder aromas, mixed peel, aged Cointreau, dark chocolate and pine.  After fifteen minutes, has developed gorgeous notes of candied ginger and exotic fruit – mango, plum etc.  This is heady stuff.  Water really lifts the polished mahogany character.

P:  Massive oak, but with a dusty sweetness.  Almost overpowering alcohol, really mouthwatering.  The grapefruit and cocoa notes are there alongside the wood, but this really needs a drop of water to open it up.  With water, the exotic fruit flavours really flower, and the zingy citrus is very much to the fore as well.

F:  Very long, dry and mouthcoating as you’d expect.  The lemony, grapefruity notes really sing, and sit well alongside the huge sherried oak character.

C:  Not for the faint-hearted, nor for people who dislike sherry.  The brave will be well rewarded, though.  An absolutely epic dram.