Yamazaki 12 Year Old
Yamazaki is the original Japanese whisky distillery, built by Suntory in 1924. From Yamazaki, the first of Suntory’s products came: Suntory Whisky Shirofuda (White Label), which was quickly a failure of both product and marketing. The failure of Shirofuda led to Shinjiro Tori and Masataka Taketsuru’s falling out, with Tori retaining Suntory (which he had founded as a store selling imported wines in 1899) and Taketsuru moving north to found Nikka.
The Yamazaki began as a single malt distillery: Taketsuru returned from Scotland with every intention of recreating what he had learned at Longmorn and Hazelburn at the newly built plant near Osaka, so naturally malted barley was the first recipe used.
Not long after the Shirofuda flop, World War II broke out, and as elsewhere around the world whisky production took a backseat to industrial alcohol production for the war effort. Suntory - then called Kotobukiya after its first plant - was no exception.
It took over a decade for Suntory to get back on its feet - in fact, it wasn’t until 1963 that they abandoned the Kotobukiya name for Suntory. For years, they focused more on beer production, making use of the stills and fermenters that were already in place. While whisky production continued, it was minimal, even as a sister plant at Hakushu was opened in 1973. Suntory continued to build its non-whisky profile, arguably culminating in the 1997 move to be Japan’s sole importer of Pepsi© products, with subsequent moves to acquire Orangina and, in 2014, take over Beam to become Beam Suntory.
In the end, though, Suntory returned to its roots, producing award-winning whiskies from its Yamazaki plant including the NAS Distiller’s Reserve, 12-, 18-, and 25-year-old expressions. In the past few years, an exponential uptick in interest for Japanese whisky has driven the age statement to the brink of (temporary) extinction, but Suntory has remained adamant that these three age statements will remain, even at reduced volumes. Now approaching its century mark, the Yamazaki distillery is showing it’s still got more to give.
Yamazaki 12 Year Old: Specs
Classification: Japanese Single Malt Whisky
Origin: Yamazaki Distillery
Mashbill: 100% Malted Barley
Proof: 86 (43% ABV)
Age: 12 Years Old
Location: Osaka, Japan
Yamazaki 12 Year Old Price: $125-$150
Yamazaki 12 Year Old Review: Tasting Notes
Eye: Pine sap. Medium rims and syrupy legs.
Nose: Fruity and sweet, very subtle with a wisp of smoke. Takes me to a rainy pine forest.
Palate: Savory, salty, and vegetal all at once. Some smoke that comes in waves but never quite crests. Some extra salinity creepy in at the end and lingers. Mouthfeel is a little hot at first before settling into a savory, vegetal, oily texture.
Finish: Medium-length, vegetal and salty - reminds me of dipping parsley in salt water at Passover.
Overall: I know this is an award-winning whisky that people readily dole out $150 for, but it just doesn’t match my flavor profile. If I had to put a point on it, I think it’s the vegetal note…I’m used to vegetal in the form of peat or even wood, but just earthy and savory vegetation is odd for me. I’ll gladly try this again, though.
Final Rating: 5.6
10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)
9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)
8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)
7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)
6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)
5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)
4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)
3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)
2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)
1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)
More Japanese Whiskey Reviews
