Things I Really Drink: Yamazaki Peated Malt Spanish Oak (2024)

Last year Suntory released a pair of single malts within their Kogei Collection range: Yamazaki Peated Malt Spanish Oak and Hakushu Peated Malt Spanish Oak. "Kogei" is Japanese for "traditional artisan crafts", and this whisky duo was called the Japanese Kimono Edition. The Kimono part refers to the packaging, as the bottles and labels have graceful swooping designs fashioned by Kyoto's Chiso Kimono House. The whisky though, is still whisky.

The Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries produce several malt spirit styles for Suntory's blends (e.g. Hibiki and Kakubin). So, though Yamazaki's single malt is unpeated, the distillery does make peated spirit, and vice versa at Hakushu. So these Kogei Collection releases are a fun switcheroo.

Somehow Doctors Springbank and I found Yamazaki Peated Malt Spanish Oak selling for a fraction of its current going price. We probably could have purchased more than one bottle, but my experience with other Suntory NASes isn't fabulous. So we went halfsies. That I'm nearly done with my 350mL may offer a hint as to my opinion about this whisky.

Distillery: Yamazaki
Ownership: Beam Suntory
Region: Oyamazaki, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Range: The Kogei Collection
Age: ???

Maturation: Spanish oak sherry casks
Release year: 2024

Alcohol by Volume: 43%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No

NOTES

The (lovely) casks offer an excellent balance of dried fruit and raw nuts in the nose. Perhaps Oloroso + PX? The peat reads coastal, not Islay-style, nor Skye-ish, but something softer. Tar, sesame seeds, Play Doh, cherry candy, and amaretto merge in the mid- and background. After 30+ minutes, fig notes open in the foreground, while anise arrives in the back.

I believe the Scots would refer to this as hella moreish. The oily-textured palate brings an impressive bounty of fresh fruits, as opposed to dried ones, with loads of blood oranges and Rainier cherries up front. Delicate peat meets Meyer lemons, chile oil mixes with sandalwood.

This is one of the longest finishes I've experienced in a contemporary 43%abv whisky. Dried cranberries, sweeter lemons, Thai chiles, and wood smoke linger and linger and linger.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I did the unthinkable by pouring some Yamazaki 12 because this Peated/Sherried thing was way too good. They were tried, side-by-side, and the Peated Malt Spanish Oak won.

The sherry cask management at Yamazaki continues to be remarkable. Could it be the climate? Or seasoning sherry? Or focused quality control? Or all the above? I don't know, but Yamazaki Peated Malt Spanish Oak is so much better than I expected it to be, and almost better than it needed to be, with its SRP below $200 at the start.

I know I just gave another TIRD a 90-point score, and while this Yamazaki doesn't have that Tamdhu's complexity, the drinkability, stellar craft, and sheer joy it brings pushes this NAS to that level. It's been such a long time since I've had a TIRD that was so much fun to drink.

Availability - Secondary market, and primary market at secondary prices
Pricing - Terrifying
Rating - 90