18 year old blended malt from the Kurayoshi range, created by the Matsui Shuzou distillery. Though not very well-known, Matsui Shuzou have created some rather marvellous expression for this series, made using malt whiskies from Scotland, transported over to Japan, blended with Japanese malt whiskies and brought down to bottling strength with volcanic-rock-filtered water.
Slightly grassy at first, before layers of buttered bread and aromatic oak develop.
Fresh orange, black tea smokiness, a pinch of cumin powder, brown sugar.
Vanilla-forward, with another hint of smoke lingering.
A little grass, a lot of oak. Oranges & black tea. Long sweet & smokey finish.
Tried it in a bar in Tokyo. I was blown away by the complexity of flavour. Unbelivable.
