Other Whisk(e)ys

The Yamazaki Single Malt Japanese Whisky Distiller’s Reserve

43% ABV
$70
Website

We would like to thank Paul (check out his reviews here, or on Dapper Drams) for sending us a sample to review.

What the Distillery Says*

* Note that there is no mention of this product on their web-site, the below content is from various sources including packaging images.

Yamazaki Whisky is Suntory’s flagship single malt whisky, from Japan’s first and oldest malt distillery, multi-layered with fruit and Mizunara aromas. Released in Spring 2014, this is one of two Distiller’s Reserve single malt whiskies from Suntory in Japan. This single malt from the Yamazaki distillery is jam-packed with superb red berry notes, gained from the whisky being matured in Bordeaux wine casks and Sherry casks. It also features malt matured in Mizunara casks, adding subtle fragrant oak notes.

TASTING NOTES
Color: Gold
Nose: Strawberry, cherry, Mizunara (Japanese oak)
Palate: Raspberry, white peach, touch of coconut
Finish: Sweet vanilla, clear finish with, hint of cinnamon

What Gary Says

Nose:  Fruity with citrus, peaches, green apples, banana, grapes, a bit of red wine casks and Mizunara oak, hints of strawberries, cherries, and almonds.
Palate:  Sweet and full of fruit notes, peaches, pears, fresh berries, caramel sauce, honey, and almond cookies.
Finish:  Moderately long with lingering mixed fruit and notes of wine.
Comments:  This is like a liquid fruit salad in whisky form. Quite light and fruity, it has a lot going on – albeit it mostly in the fruity/nutty spectrum. Not a critique, but an observation. If you like fruity whisky, this is a lovely dram that you could spend some time with picking out all of the varieties.  You also get the nuance from the various casks which is interesting. While I rather enjoy it, I can see where others might find it lopsided and lacking balance (maybe a bit more spice and savory notes).

Rating: Stands Out

Canadian Club Chronicles 42 Year Old
Issue No. 2: The Dock Man

45% ABV
$300
Website

We would like to thank Canadian Club and Multiply for sending us a sample to review.

What the Distillery Says

Canadian Club®, an iconic whisky that has propelled the Canadian whisky category to fame for more than 150 years, is proud to announce the second release within the CC Chronicles™/MC premium release series: Canadian Club® 42 Year Old. The limited-edition expression, also known as Issue No. 2: The Dock Man, celebrates the dock worker of years past who consistently delivered quality whisky to bar owners and drinkers when counterfeit whisky ran rampant during the Prohibition era.

Batched and barreled more than four decades ago, Canadian Club 42 Year Old is masterfully blended to showcase robust rye spice, delicate notes of brown sugar and baking spices to create an exceptionally rich, smooth taste. As a result, this exquisite marque leaves fans with the complex, yet rich flavor profile Canadian Club is best known for.

“At Canadian Club, we pride ourselves on our commitment to consistently crafting superior Canadian whisky,” Global Whisky Ambassador Tish Harcus said. “For more than 150 years, we’ve consistently delivered quality expressions to whisky drinkers, and the release of Canadian Club 42 Year Old continues this tradition. Following the success of our first CC Chronicles release last year, we’re excited to unveil another premium, distinctive whisky that endures the test of time.”

Launched in 2018, CC Chronicles is a series of premium, limited-edition expressions created to celebrate the brand’s rich history and commitment to producing authentic whisky. Each issue within the Chronicles will represent an iconic moment in Canadian Club’s rich history. The series launched with the release of Canadian Club® 41 Year Old, celebrating the Water of Windsor, which was named Canadian Whisky of the Year in the 2019 Jim Murray Whisky Bible. Canadian Club 42 Year Old marks the second release within the series.

Canadian Club 42 Year Old delivers a perfect balance of smooth and intense flavor characteristics to deliver optimal taste:

Aroma: Robust rye spice, caramel, and oak with a hint of char
Palette: Pleasantly warm and slightly sweet with delicate notes of brown sugar and baking spices balanced with oak and rye spiciness
Finish: Lingering taste of toffee and a subtle tartness of the palate

Canadian Club 42 Year Old will be available across the U.S. in very limited quantities with a suggested retail price of $299.95 for a 750ml bottle.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Caramel cream candies, soft baking spices, nutmeg with a gentle citrus note (maybe lemon cream pie>), a wisp of oak over a slightly floral note.
Palate:  Sweet with caramel, brown sugar, a touch of maple candies with a hint of lemon, gentle cinnamon and pepper spice.
Finish:  Moderately long with notes of caramel and pepper spice.
Comments:  This is a soft and gentle dram, squarely in the Canadian Club family style. While soft, it packs a lot of flavor for 45% ABV, and is very well balanced with complexity but not as much oak as you might expect with 42 years. I can’t imagine fans of Canadian Club looking for a super-premium dram being disappointed in this. Is it worth $300? That’s for you to decide. There aren’t many (any?) 40+ year old Canadian whiskies on the market to compare against, and there are folks who would pay $300 for a 6 yr barrel proof rye in the US. I’m not one of them, but my point is value is in the eye of the buyer. I do think this stands out as markedly more complex than any other Canadian Club offering I’ve tried.

Rating: Stands Out

Cotswolds Single Malt

46% ABV
$60
Website

What the Distillery Says

The first single malt whisky ever distilled in the Cotswolds.

Carefully sourced ingredients
Malt: Odyssey. We are committed to using only barley grown in the Cotswolds, and the variety and farm on which it was grown are listed on the label of each bottle. We are one of a very small number of British whisky-makers to use 100% floor-malted barley. This comes to us from Britain’s oldest working maltings, in nearby Warminster. It is unpeated.
Yeast: Two complementary varieties – Anchor and Fermentis – to ensure good yields and excellent fruity flavours.
Water: Village water supply – filtered, softened and demineralised before use.
Wood: Premium first-fill Kentucky ex-Bourbon 200-litre barrels and reconditioned American Oak 225-litre red wine casks that have been shaved, toasted and recharred.

Lovingly crafted
We use traditional production processes and equipment to produce our Cotswolds Single Malt. Locally-grown malted barley is milled and then mashed in our 0.5-tonne mash tun, mixing the milled grain with hot water to produce worts. Yeasts are then added. We run the fermentation for more than 90 hours in order to generate plenty of fruity flavour compounds alongside the alcohol produced.
Then the distillations begin. First, in the wash still (Mary), and the second in Janis, our spirit still. In the spirit run, we only select a small section – the heart cut – which is taken unusually early in the distillation to capture the fruity notes and avoid the heavier, rougher elements that appear at the end of the run. The end result is a light, colourless, fruity new-make spirit. This is diluted to 63.5% ABV and put into casks to mature. This release has been aged for just over three years, and is bottled non-chill filtered, with no added colouring, at 46% ABV.

Tasting notes
Nose: Notes of honey and butterscotch layered with light fruits (peaches & apricots), a hint of marzipan.
Palate: Strong notes of tannin-rich malt, oils and dark sugar with lots of spice, caramelised Seville orange marmalade.
Finish: Long and resinous, with dark red fruits and a hint of treacle.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Honey, subtle fruit notes of peaches and pears with a dusting of nutmeg, a bit of a winey note with malted barley.
Palate:  Honeyed malt, a touch of molasses, stewed peaches with vanilla, slight pepper bite with overly ripe bananas.
Finish:  Short to moderate in length, drying with spice and oak.
Comments:  I loved visiting the Cotswolds a few years back, and hadn’t ever had an English whisky. While this is young, it is a nice enough pour; lightly fruity, not objectionable. I’d say it punches above its weight for its age, although maybe not for the price. If they were in the U.S., I’d refer to them as a ‘craft distillery’, although unlike most in that category they’re using full sized barrels which makes a huge difference. I’d love to try this with some age on it.

Rating: Stands Out