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This is a great 17 year old blended malt named for Nikka's founder, the whisky-pilgrim Masataka Taketsuru.
This bottle was part of a private collection - if you'd like more detailed photos just get in touch!
Fresh and fruity with fruit salad, berries, sultanas and some other dried fruit, vanilla, fragrant wood and honey.
Spicy and rounded with vanilla, blood orange and a little chocolate.
Medium-length, slightly bittersweet, oak, fruit and cocoa.
Got my bottle at Narita airport last year for aprox 3500 yen which is a complete bargain for this one. Everything with this Whisky is very characteristic for Nikka in general. Hints of coffee, toffee, oak and the subtle pettiness would be a quick summary. This whisky is a mix of whiskies from their two distilleries Miyagikyo and Yoichi, which you understand if you have tried the single malts separately. Miyagikyo is the more elegant and smooth one while Yoichi is powerful and a bit peaty. The price defined at the website is a bit high in my opinion, but if you are in Japan you can usually get it for under 6000 yen which is a great price for a whisky like this.
Picked up a bottle when passing through Narita a couple of weeks ago en route to the States from SE Asia. A mind-blowing 3500 yen (only £19) for a Taketsuru 17? I didn't even hesitate. My plan was to pack that one carefully in my checked bag and buy another bottle on the return trip a week and a half later, when I would be staying in Tokyo for a few days. Sadly, it had long since sold out throughout the airport by that time. With the help of some gracious locals, I was able to track down a small shop which had just gotten a fresh shipment in the previous day, and though they didn't carry the 17, they did have a few of the great Taketsuru 21s in stock for only 6000 yen (£32), so naturally, I snagged one of those. As for the 17, well, it won WWA's World's Best Blended Malt award in 2015, a very good sign, but of course whisky tasting is always going to be subjective. I personally like this one quite a lot... fragrant, spicy, warm, complex, a bit sharp on the finish, but that's easily moderated by toning down the alcohol with a splash of water. (Even though this is a pretty standard 43% ABV, the alcohol seems to stand out, particularly towards the end. I certainly don't think it overwhelms the dram, but it's slightly more pronounced than I might have expected.) This one doesn't have the subtle sweetness nor the sherry influence I picked up in the 21, so it's quite a different expression -- not sure if it's aged in the same casks, but my guess is not. This is a very nice bottle to have. Though I do like this blend quite a lot, I don't think I'd be keen to pay £90 for it; however, for £19, it was an easy choice. This is a great whisky, though when it comes to blended Japanese 17s, I'd have to give the Hibiki 17 the nod over this one, though only just. I feel fortunate to have both in my collection.
Tonight's whisky was the 17 year old Nikka Taketsuru. The nose was found behind the alcohol sitting as a nice Winter pine for me. The taste gently wrapped the tongue in soft mint like notes before turning mildly peaty on the sides of my tongue. The ending allowed the soft entry to make way for a sharper finish with lingering peat like a fisherman's late October morning. More enjoyable japanese whisky than most i've had because of the complexity - whereas the yamazaki 12 or coffy, or even the hokushu 25 were ultra clean and distinct in their even balance but lacking the rolling mysteries of flavor i personally like at this stage in my drinking experience. Maybe my favorite Japanese whisky to date.
Sampled this as part of a tasting set. The palate is smooth, but there is a lot of alcohol on the nose and extra bite going into the finish. I was anticipating depth, but found this to be more one-note in my opinion. Glad I sampled it, but it's just not to my liking - especially given the price. I have fond memories of Japan that involve smoky bars, and similar whisky poured over perfectly carved spheres of ice. But sometimes it's the atmosphere that adds to the enjoyment of the experience... Others could disagree with my statements, but with such varied reviews, I'd recommend trying a sample first.
Smooth and complex, one of my go to whiskeys.