When at Maltstock, Billy from the Whisky Exchange let us taste a dram from a new Karuizawa series called Spirit of Asama. I don’t know if I remember correctly, but I think this it a range of new vattings from Karuizawa based on the stock of Number One Drinks.

It will probably not consist of the really high end thirty something sherry bombs but a more gently styled vatting of casks. I think there still will be some sherry casks, but not the deep brown ones that everybody wants but cannot afford.

A while after Maltstock I got a pack of samples from the same Billy and The Whisky Exchange containing that same Spirit of Asama sample, and another one. The first is at 48%, the second at 55% ABV. Apart from that I don’t know much about them (yet).

Karuizawa Spirit of Asama 48%

Sniff:
A much lighter style of sherried Karuizawa (by the colour and the scent). Quite friendly with old leather, shammy like. Wet wood, sweet with over ripe fruits. Papaya and mango. On the brink of rotting fruit sweetness, just pleasant on the nose but on the brink of being too much. It does get less cloying and less sickly sweet after a while. The typically Japanese style of wood spices are present too. Sandal wood and such.

Sip:
It’s a bit sharper than I expected and more spicy too. Red cinnamon, pepper corns, ginger. Also some grilled tropical fruit and sweet apple as well.

Swallow:
The finish gives me a bit of dry sherry like notes. There’s some chocolate, raisins, cashew nuts. Not very long though.

Karuizawa Spirit of Asama 55%

Sniff:
It starts of rather comparable to the 48%, with some fruits and the shammy leather. It quickly goes in a different direction with more feinty scents of mushrooms. There still is that fruity sherry base for the leather and mushrooms though. Also a tad minerally, not-too-sweet peach and sweet apples. I prefer this to the 48% so far.

Sip:
The flavour profile is rather light with lots of fruit, sweet spices. Some papaya again. The fruitiness gets a bit more crisp like the tinned fruit salad you can buy from the bottom shelf in the supermarket. Sugary syrup too, with some spices. Almost no wood influence.

Swallow:
The finish isn’t the best I’ve ever had, with a medium length, rather sweet with the syrup and fruit salad again.

Weird. I expected to like the stronger version better than the 48% one, but I think I will chose differently. The first one I thought to be a bit more coherent and not so strangely diverse as the 55% one. The last one started off very interestingly but I think it didn’t pull through in the end game.

Depending on what they’re going to cost these might be very cool introductions to what Karuizawa is about, if you’re unwilling or unable to spend the £ 200 on the really old, really good casks.

They’re not up on the website yet, but both will be for sale at The Whisky Exchange.