Hanyu Ichiro 1990 / Ten of Clubs/ Bot 2008/ PX Sherry Finish

N:  Rich brown sugar, giving way to summer berries, treacle, burnt toast, pleasant oak aromas of dried bark,  polished wood, hint of milky coffee, melted sugar, faint cocoa notes.  Appetising.  Develops very nicely.  Opens up and becomes more grassy with water.

P:  Rich and full, mouthcoating.  Big oak presence, but not too overbearing.  Sweet, with the flavours of the nose, plus ginger, a more noticeable maltiness and a sponge cake or castor sugar character.  Water takes the edge off and lifts a nutty character.

F:  Good length, tweedy, getting slightly dusty, hint of wet newspaper.

C:  An altogether more restrained and subtle malt than some Japanese stuff we’ve tried recently (which is good), but still with plenty of character and depth.  A malt to contemplate the evenings with.