Distilled: 2000 - Bottled: 2009 - Cask#8779 - Cask type: Hogshead - Outturn: 230 - ABV: 62.9% - Age: 9-years-old
Nose: Golden brown puff pastry
straight from the oven glazed with olive oil, or is it straight up olive bread?
These aromas are rolling around in sweet peat and char-grilled Gingko nuts/seeds on
skewers. The malt is relatively blossomy (violet and sweet floral notes) and
musky with fresh and damp straw (in a very good way). Quite nutty - roasted
salted almonds/pistachio with milk chocolate, in fact bring on the Nuttella
spread at certain intervals. Very chameleon like - just got really complex:
sweet peat - earthy (rich soil), wood planks, and creaming soda that I find in
many Hanyu bottlings. Water initially transforms the aromas completely -
becomes herbal: lemon thyme/lemon grass, and limoncello (Italian citrus-based
lemon liqueur) before drifting off.
Taste: Slightly bitter (in a
great way) with gorgeous/sophisticated peat and Sansho spice: ground berries
from the Prickly Ash Tree (earthy and tangy with a bit of lemon - that lemon
thyme perhaps?). Quite velvety and prickly with pencil shavings, and char
grilled Gingko nuts. Yeasty and biscuity. Diluted makes things a bit salty. Is
this a typical Hanyu? In my opinion - NO! Is it an active cask? Yes!
Finish: Spicy, prickly, and
bitter with a medium to long grilled Ginkgo nut and lemon thyme
mouthfeel. The peat is lustfully there.
Comment: A fairly complex
Hanyu in my opinion - very complex for a 9yo indeed. Posses quite a few
"new" or "non typical" flavours and aromas associated with my experience and Hanyu malt. This is another of my "must find another bottle for
retirement" malt. It is also a fairly light looking Hanyu (obviously cask
influence). Yum!
For an alternate review check out The Japanese Whisky Review
Reviewed by Clint A
Nice to see you have come around to this one Clint. I still reckon it has some similarities to GH 14!
ReplyDeleteBoth equally outstanding malts, a few similarities, but it was the GH 14 that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up (in a very good way). The reaction I had with both malts, although possessing some similar qualities were different IMO. Different meaning preference - leading towards the GH 14, and not due to age. Still, once this 2000 single cask is emptied I will be left with the task of hinting down another as I do like it regardless, though the outturn of this and the forever increasing popularity will make this one hard to find again. I'd love to get the 17 SC you have. Drammed it at a bar and enjoyed it a lot.
DeleteI think some of the similarities with the Hanyu 9YO and the Gh14 are the following. Some non typically flavors for a Hanyu including peating. The GH has a refinement above to be sure. Glad that bar had some of the GH14, I knew you would be impressed!
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