Glendalough Mizunara Finish 13 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey
46% ABV
$110 – 120
Website
What the Distillery Says
This winner of World Best Irish Whiskey, is now the first, and only, Irish Whiskey released with a Japanese mizunara finish.
Extremely rare, and expensive, virgin Japanese mizunara, comes from Hokkaido, the rugged most northern island of Japan. It is coopered in the south of Japan in Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan’s only independent cooperage, by Japan’s oldest cooper. It amplifies much of what is already there while layering on more vanilla smoothness, sandlewood notes and even a little coconut, or gorse flower if you’re from our neck of the woods.
This is a whiskey that’s hard to make. It is unique in terms of what is being done with Irish whiskey and it is very limited. This is one to savor.
The nose: Sweet honeycomb, vanilla, apricot, and citrus.
The taste: Velvety smooth with vanilla, fudge, rock candy, peach and marmalade followed by coconut, cinnamon and cloves.
The finish. Long and spicy with biscuit malts, vanilla, oak and dark chocolate.
What Gary Says
Nose: Clean and crisp malt, with a slight sour oak note over a hint of citrus-infused sake.
Palate: Softer entry than expected from the nose; subtle creamy vanilla flan with drizzled honey and cinnamon dusted nuts before picking up with some pepper spice on the backside.
Finish: A bit short and drying with some pepper notes.
Comments: This is an interesting dram. If trying blind, I’d have guessed that this was finished in some type of former wine cask (and specifically sake). I wish I had some of Glendalough 13 yr to compare with in order to really narrow in on the cask finish influence. As pointed out in my review of their 7 yr single malt finished in Black Pitts porter casks, Glendalough’s goal of challenging expectations for Irish whiskey was definitely achieved here. I applaud them for their innovation and trying new things. While this doesn’t hit me squarely in my wheelhouse, I applaud their innovation and urge Glendalough to continue trying new things.
Rating: Stands Out
We would like to thank Glendalough for sending us a sample to review.