Suntory Yamazaki 12 Year Old

Nose

Maple syrup, white grapes and honeysuckle lead a soft and spicy character.

Palate

Spice starts, fading beneath caramel, sweet orange and cinnamon toast.

Finish

Grape skin and pineapple.

Appearance

Clear dark golden with burnished gold highlights.

Aroma

Cinnamon, red apple, muscovado sugar and jasmine blossom.

Taste

Medium bodied and honeyed in style, this easy vanilla malt bursts with apple fruit and jasmine freshness but is made complex thanks to notes of candied orange peel, cinnamon and clove spice and balancing dusty cigarette ash and cedarwood dryness.

Aftertaste

Woody oxidised pineapple notes linger on the pleasant finish.

Rating

4.5/5.

Yamazaki is the first Japanese distillery established 1923. The distillery is situated in the vale of Yamazaki, an area of dense bamboo grooves at the foot of Mt. Tennozan outside Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital and stronghold of traditional Japanese culture.

The spiced wood arrives first then dried cranberries with a lasting muddle of orange marmalade and honey sweetness.