Another Japanese bottling from SMWS! A couple of years back I thought it was a good idea to aim my collection at mostly Japanese whiskies, but then the prices started to rise. Now the SMWS brings out the regular bottle and while their stuff is usually a bit more expensive, I don’t know if that also goes for the Japanese bottles. Luckily, in a sample swap a while ago I was able to get all these babies and I’ve been really enjoying them. Apart from dumping fruit juice in one, that is.

Nose:
Sour cherries, the black ones (amarenen in Dutch) with other red fruits on syrup. A lot of strong wood scents as well. I also get some hot spices and wasabi.Taste:

Spicy, hot and sharp (not unexpected). A very full sweetness which isn’t very defined. Meaty with quite some fruit as well. Lots and lots of strong flavours.

Finish:
This is weird. With all the strong flavours and scents going on at first, I expected a blast of a finish, but this is a bit disappointing. Mostly just astringent and then it’s gone.

The nose is absolutely fenomenal. Loads of strange combinations but oh so terrific all together. The flavour is back in the spectrum of us mortals, and the finish is a bit dissappointing. Which means it won’t be getting 5 stars, which was my estimate after pouring the sample. A bit of an anti-climax. But still. That nose…

After reading my notes on how this one smelled I looked on whiskyauction to see if this one’s there. After reading the notes on the finish I closed the window. That about sums it up.

Hakushu 1990-2009, 18 years old, SMWS, ‘A thousand flowers from a forest of tall trees’, 59.3%, Spanish Oak Butt, it used to cost only € 83!