Spirit Type: Whisky

Country: Japan

ABV: 43%

Bottle Size: 700ml

Description:

The Kurayoshi 12 Years Pure Malt Whisky is an acrid distillate that hits your palate first before caressing it. It is rich, yet with a pleasant, full, never soft taste. It seduces you with the warm sweetness of malt at first, then assaults you with a peat onslaught. However, as soon as the flowers and honey appear, they are joined by magnificent nods to ginger and candied pears that serve as a shoulder.

The oxidation is evident; the almond and dried fruit tastes are magnificent and expand the aromatic boundaries of a whisky of great daring that is difficult to approach and most definitely out of reach for the average unpretentious drinker.

In other words, despite being blended, the Kurayoshi distillery's sensitivity comes through. Once again, the Japanese masters' talent allows them to mould a whisky from Scotland and paradoxically modify it, giving it a uniquely Japanese character and a perfect balance of opposites.

As is customary when discussing Japanese whisky, we must go into the subtleties and adopt an animist attitude of taste that emphasizes minute distinctions and subtle yet distinctive nuances. When you open this tiny liquid poetry, the genius spills out, and there is no going back.

And you'll find yourself parting with cash since the only issue with Japanese whisky—rather than whether it is actually Japanese or not—is the exorbitant price at which it is typically marketed.