While I have a bottle of this amazing stuff at home, I decided to review the sample I brought from the Emakina tasting last Friday. I had to make sure the order of drams was all right, after all.

Anyway, there might be a subtle difference between every batch of blended malts. The 17 year old was my first ever Japanese whisky. Both in what I ever tried, and the first one I bought. It took me a while to decide whether or not I wanted to buy a whisky of seventy euros. Back then it was the most expensive bottle I bought.

When I think back to it now, I don’t really recall it as a great whisky, but just ‘good’. Not entirely sure why, but it’s not a dram that changed much for me. I think back then I was a bit in denial about its qualities. It was a good dram but it didn’t top my collection as I’d hoped. Still a good dram though.

Sniff:
It has that typically Japanese scent of sandalwood and furniture polish. There’s candles too with sherry, hazelnut. Milk chocolate and raisins, but also dried prunes and Brazil buts.

Sip:
The palate is pretty dry with dried fruits again. Raisins, prunes and oak. Some sherry and some light spices. Rather old and dusty.

Swallow:
The finish mellows quickly with fruit and spices. There’s some nutmeg, pepper and clove.

The finish is surprisingly spicy compared to the palate and nose, which were much more fruity. The good thing about it is that it doesn’t feel unbalanced, it feels more like a step forward and feels like it’s supposed to happen.

In short, this is an awesome whisky and it certainly deserves all the accolades the internet and the pro whisky press give it. At the tasting last Friday it was one of the favorite whiskies, maybe the favorite.

While it’s an expensive dram, I think it’s worth it and the increase in price over the last couple of years are justified. It did go from € 85 to € 125 in about five or six years.

Ah, more info. The price has already gone up from € 125 to € 145 in the last month! It’s getting quite steep to get hold of this one!

Nikka Taketsuru 21yo, 43%. Available from Master of Malt for € 142