Non chill filtered - Non coloured - ABV: 58% - Cask
strength - White wine finish - Batch #1 - Outturn: 400 bottles
Nose: Pleasantly meaty (oddly reminds me of silverside), day old fireplace ash, dusty dried leaves , fermented black soy beans, and singed cut grass (mulch). Things then take an interesting turn with a bit of time: rocky road, suggestions of raspberry cordial roll of the rim of the glass occasionally, red gum honey (as with the NAS), and trademark burnt rubber (present in the NAS/5-yo). Complex stuff. Water emphasizes sweet honey, fortified wine (sherry) and a distinctive Shea butter note.
Nose: Pleasantly meaty (oddly reminds me of silverside), day old fireplace ash, dusty dried leaves , fermented black soy beans, and singed cut grass (mulch). Things then take an interesting turn with a bit of time: rocky road, suggestions of raspberry cordial roll of the rim of the glass occasionally, red gum honey (as with the NAS), and trademark burnt rubber (present in the NAS/5-yo). Complex stuff. Water emphasizes sweet honey, fortified wine (sherry) and a distinctive Shea butter note.
Taste: Extremely warming. Follows suit with the nose: black fermented soy beans, burnt rubber, and fireplace ash. The mulch like quality is evident, but also lovely black breakfast tea, and again fortified wine. Water turns up the level of tyre smoke and Shea butter.
Finish: Follows the palate, not necessarily in order - black fermented soy beans and burnt rubber with moderate to long sherry.
Comment: My favourite out of White Oaks line-up, which has nothing to do with age, but the sheer complexity and great balance. It's said that the distillery's oldest expression to date will be released this year - looking forward to it, along with getting around to trying batch 2 of this 14-yo. For some further insight into Eigashima - White Oak take a look here. For another great perspective of this take a look at Dramtastic's Akashi 14-yo review over at The Japanese Whisky Review.
Reviewed by Clint A
Definitely my favourite expression to have come from White Oak so far. Great, great nose! Interestingly I did not pick up any wine notes although this was finished in white wine casks. Now I have high expectations for this year's release!
ReplyDeleteGreat nose indeed, perhaps more going on the nose than the palate, but the mouthfeel is equally great. Perhaps when time permits, spend a good length of time with this pierre and you may pick up fortified wines/sherry. Bring on the new release! Expect it to possibly be pricey though.
DeleteHi guys,
ReplyDeleteAre you sure your not already drinking to 2nd release Clint? That one was slated for release in about October last year. Just curious as Liquors Hasegawa has it down as new for current stock and they had the first release early last year.
Drinking the first release, Brian. I ordered this last year, around September, and have kept it until now to open it. Opened it this month in the presence of great company. I did notice Hasegawa's had/have it down as "new" as it is the second batch. The first batch and second batch have the same label, however the first batch is ABV:58% while the second batch is 56%. The bottle I cracked is the first batch as it has the ABV of 58%.
ReplyDeleteCorrection - the bottle was obtained August and not September according to the invoice. As for second batch as far as I know the release was mid-Dec.
DeleteThanks Clint, was looking for and easy way to tell the difference as the retailers don't seen to be specifying 2nd release(at least as far as I can tell).
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is hard to tell the difference, and like you said retailers are not stating the different batches. I guess the reason being is that they presume since the first batch was released a while back and have since almost sold out, they presume customers will automatically know that what is being released now will be the second batch. I haven't seen the second batch bottle as yet, I would be interested to know if it actually states on the label "second batch", besides the ABV difference? If you get the second batch Brian please do let me know. Enjoy the weekend.
Delete