Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2003 for Whisky Shop W. 4th Anniversary

Distilled: 2003 - Bottled: 2014 - Cask# ADDY3038 - Wood Type: Spanish Oak - Cask Type: Bota Corta - ABV: 55%

Nose: Fresh soft licorice sticks in brown paper bags (extremely evident with water). Alongside this there's a sweet honey BBQ steak marinade to be had. Soldering on with the sweetness you get Black Forrest cake, berry candy and/or red jellybeans, red Shiso juice, and marshmallow coconut and strawberry biscuits (Arnott’s). Umeshu. Fry's Turkish delight. The licorice keeps popping up only this time as all sorts. Slight berry vinegarette dressing...definitely some subtle sourness going on, this is masked with the addition of water, which also adds brown sugar mince pie.

Taste: On first contact you'll get a heavy dose of spicy soy honey marinade, spicy mince pies, and spicy blackberry sauce. Then, it transforms to rose hip and dates, but still leaving quite a prickly sensation on the palate. Water cuts that initial spice attack - mellowing it out creating a reasonable balance however, it becomes a little dry when diluted. 

Finish: Egyptian dates and blackberry compote. Interestingly, with water, a mellow licorice flavoured gum pops up - think along the lines of a well-chewed piece of Wrigley’s P.K. 

Comment: Enjoyable enough. I personally would have liked something a bit more to happen on the palate. Perhaps that will happen at a later date.