Yamazaki 12-Year-Old Japanese Single Malt Whisky

Arguably the most iconic Japanese single malt, a spike in interest in recent years has resulted in a world-wide shortage of Yamazaki 12 year old.

Elegant and complex with tropical fruit notes, allocations are increasingly tight and sparse. Official Tasting Notes:

Nose: Peach, pinapple, grapefruit, clove, candied orange, vanilla, Mizunara.

Palate: Coconut, cranberry, butter.

Finish: Sweet ginger, cinnamon, long finish.

Yamazaki was built it 1923 under the guidance of Shinjiro Torii, the founding father of Suntory, with the first whisky running off the stills on November 11 1924 at 11.11am. Initially employing Masataka Taketsuru, who had lived in Scotland to learn the art in the preceding years, Yamazaki enjoyed popularity post World War 2 and is now one of the most famous names in Japanese whisky. 

The distillery has eight wash stills and eight spirit stills, with the wash still direct gas fired and the spirit stills indirect steam heated. Two of the spirit stills have worm tub condensers, all the rest have shell-and-tube. An array of sizes and generally descending lyne arms create a range of spirit styles at the distillery, although whiskies used for the single malt releases are often unpeated with tropical fruits.

Whiskies are matured in a variety of American oak ex-bourbon barrels and Spanish ex-sherry casks as well as Japanese Mizunara oak, although it is believed that less than 200 are able to be made each year making these whiskies very rare. They also use wine and umeshu casks in small amounts.