Hatozaki Pure Malt (40%, OB, 2020)

• ABV: 40%
• Age: NAS
• Bottling: OB
• Category: Japanese Single Malt Whisky
• Cost: £46.75 available from The Whisky Exchange
• Origin: Kaikyo distillery
• Vintage: Undeclared

What they say

Named after the oldest stone lighthouse in Japan, Hatozaki Pure Malt Japanese whisky is a sweet, smoky blended malt whisky from Kaikyo distillery.

Official tasting notes:

Rich aromas of dried fruits, toffee apples and summer blossoms fill the nose, and the palate offers notes of sweet honey, delicate wood smoke and sultanas.

What I say

Created by Master Distiller and Blender Kimio Yonezawa at the Kaikyo distillery in Japan. An artisan blend of 5-6 year old single malt whiskies produced in small batches of less than 20 casks. The blend is aged for several years in old bourbon, sherry and mizunara casks (Japanese white oak from the Hokkaido and Tohuku forests).

My tasting notes:

• Appearance: Manzanilla (2/20), rounded, medium tears and finer legs.
• Nose: Fuller and richer than the blend with oodles of malty cereal barley, flapjacks and a touch of grassy hay, dried fruit, raisin, prune, woody cedar and sandalwood, pine needle forest floor, musty and aromatic, later a touch yeasty/beery.
• Taste: Full-bodied, polished red apple, raisin, black cherry, malty, treacle, liquorice, borders on chewy wood, cedar and chestnut, even mahogany, finely milled spices, cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper, wood smoke/cask char, light honey.
• Finish: Long, drying, more woody notes, cigar boxes, dried fruit in honey.

Overall

Packed full of malt and aromatic wood with gentle wisps of smoke, this is seriously delicious.

Score 88/100

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