Tasting Notes:
Yamazaki Heavily Peated
Style: Fragrant and Oaky
Nose:
Aroma of lively vanilla honey dripping onto barley, Autumn forest and shrine wood. Fresh beat from zested orange, pineapple and white pepper. A rather woody body which is slightly smoked and peated, faint notes of white flower and nectar.
Palate:
Strike a few keys lower at the palate. Starts with a lick of orange vanilla syrup which is swiftly overrun by the mouth drying and bitter-ish oaky notes. Minimal, tantalising spice burn with an injection of smoke. Evasive almost Illusive soy sauce and wood incense fading in and out. Timber runs rampant, the peat is engulfed and hardly detected.
Ongoing dryness and the bitterness from the oak certainly exerted their influence throughout. The tone remain rather suppressed as very little honey sweetness was able to get through.
Finish:
Wood shed , roasted barrels, coffee beans combine and conjure a fairly heavy end note.
Thoughts:
I find it is more heavily “oak-ed” than peated”. It is a whisky which is both light and heavy – light bodied but with heavy woody notes, flavours resembles of tree barks, dried twigs and forest scent which dominated the proceedings. While the peat, orange and vanilla notes are more of some side decorative touches. That being said, there is still definitely a stronger peat presence comparing to other Yamazaki(s), giving it some extra dryness that others do not offer.
(48%/2013/OB/LR/NCF)
-Esmond
WhiskNick 