For Relaxing Times, Make it Suntory Time

Japan is the baby and nascent darling in the world of whisky. Ever since Masataka Taketsuru visited Scotland in the 1920s and brought home the knowledge of distilling whisky, his work gave birth to what is widely regarded as the new whisky superpower alongside Scotland and Ireland. To read more about Japanese whiskies, go to the wikipedia link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_whisky

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce a very interesting and candid Japanese Whisky blog that we've been reading:

http://nonjatta.blogspot.com

Nonjatta is probably the most comprehensive Japanese Whisky resource on the Internet (in English which helps). I especially love the Mizuwari Deathmatch Championship that he has going on. To find out more, check out his site. :)

Billboard from the movie 'Lost in Translation'

For those of you who watched 'Lost in Translation', I'm sure you get quote reference in the title of this post. Tonight, we are going to sample the Suntory Hibiki 17 and 21 year bottlings. Here are the results.

The Review


Taste Profile



The Scoring

Suntory 17 Year Old HibikiStrong peach and oak notes especially on the nose. A soothing dram that is easy to drink but ends up just a little short on the finish.

Suntory 21 Year Old HibikiEven fruitier and more floral than it's 17 year old sibling, this bottling just delivers on all aspects. Very clean. Very good. Highly recommended.

This man knows his whisky

Caol Ila 18 Years

Islay malts seem to be the rage these days. Whisky aficionados are slowly moving from the traditional Highland Malts (Macallan & all the Glen_ labels) to the more pungent and richly flavoured Islay style. As you must know by now, Lagavulin is one of our favourite Islay whiskies (if not our favourite whisky), although we have yet to do an official scoring of the Ardbeg and Laphroaigs that we own. Stay tuned for those tastings... Tonight, we sampled the Caol Ila 18 years to discover if it is the 'hidden gem' in Islay as boldly stated on the label.

The Review

Taste Profile


The Scoring

Conclusion: This is quite a decent whisky with nice citrus notes combined with the peaty, salty flavours of the sea. It is one of the lighter Islays out in the market.