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Fellow Drammers,
We have got a serious Japanese whisky event coming up on Wednesday, February 26th at 7pm with our new friends at dekanta, the leading retailer of rare and fine Japanese whisky globally. And we are very lucky to welcome their founder Makiyo Masa as our guest speaker (fair warning, she's a new mother and so she might have to duck out early depending on how her baby is feeling). But what will definitely not be ducking out early is the whisky, and they are seriously hooking us up on that front (I've adapted the descriptions from the dekanta website):
Ichiro's Malt - Chichibu On the Way 2015. Any Chichibu is cause for celebration these days, but this very special bottle (which retails for $900 btw) had a wonderful journey, resting in a bourbon barrel, and moving to a Japanese Mizunara oak cask, before being bottled at 58.5 % cask strength. Baking spices, apples and nutty malt flavours bounce on the palate and make this another glorious release by the Chichibu distillery. The name speaks for this whisky, and the Japanese whisky industry in general, as Mr Akuto has stated. Aren’t we all on the way?
Yamazakura 963 18yo Mizunara Cask. This brand new Yamazakura 963 18 Year Old is the first single cask pure malt whisky in the popular 963 range and it’s available only at dekanta. After distillation, it was matured for a total of 18 years, including a finishing period in Japanese Mizunara oak that has imparted an incredible range of winter spices, aromas of incense and subtle wasabi spice onto the otherwise sweet and fruity spirit. It’s a complex, intriguing and delicious entry into the single cask category for the 963 range, and with only 320 bottles produced, it’s worth getting your hands on while stocks last. You won’t find this whisky anywhere else online. 53% ABV.
Two Whisky Set - The Essence of Suntory Vol. 3 - Yamazaki vs. Hakushu. The Essence of Suntory “Volume 3: Cedar Throwdown” was released on October 29th, 2019. The new range features fresh, new bottle designs and gorgeous labels showcasing modern Japanese art. This set includes bottles matured at the Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries that have been matured from cedar-head casks. Given their names and flavour profile, it’s safe to assume that a fair amount of whisky from each distillery has gone into the respective blends. This release came as a two-bottle set. The first is a "Rich Type Bottle matured at Yamazaki Distillery", the second is a "Clean Type Bottle matured at Hakushu Distillery", and of course we'll be trying both. Both are 48% abv, 500ml, NAS
The Essence of Suntory Whisky - Chita 4-year wine cask finish (a 16yo overall). A very limited special release from Suntory, “The Essence of Suntory” was initially released on February 27th, 2018. The new range features fresh, new bottle designs and gorgeous labels showcasing modern Japanese art. Three expressions have been announced so far, one by Yamazaki, one by the Hakushu distillery, and one from Suntory’s grain distillery, Chita. We don’t see much of Chita, so this one is much-anticipated. It’s actually a 16 year-old expression, which makes it even most exciting. Spending the last 4 years in a wine cask has made this expression smooth, mellow, and pleasantly sweet. At 49% ABV, you can expect some intensity to shine through the mellow palate. Like the other 2 releases, this comes in 500ml bottles
Surprise Japanese Whisky. Our friends at dekanta want to surprise us with our last Japanese whisky of the evening, and with Makiyo Masa joining us in person, I have no doubt we will be very pleasantly surprised!
2x Scotch Whisky Cask Samples from Cask 88. In addition to all the great Japanese whisky we'll be drinking, we'll try some fun cask samples from Cask88.com, a service enabling whisky collectors to purchase rare casks, and since they have a connection to our friends at dekanta, they've generously donated a whole bunch of cask samples, each maybe 100ml or 200ml samples, but together they add up to the equivalent of 2 full bottles. So everyone who attends will be able to try two cask samples, though we won't all be trying the same things.
That's our lineup (check out the pictures below)! Cost is $100/person (at cost, as always). Please let me know if you have any questions or you're having any issues with the website.
Best,
Charlie