Yamazaki 12 Year Old in a 600mL Arita porcelain decanter, part of a Suntory series of Arita-ware bottles sold in Japan. Like the standard bottling, it is 43%.
About This Whisky
Suntory has long dressed its whiskies in ceramic for gifts and celebrations, and the Yamazaki 12 has appeared in many such bottles. The contents are the same 12-year-old malt, a vatting of whiskies from American oak, Spanish sherry oak and Japanese mizunara. The ceramic shields the whisky from light, and the bottle makes a display piece once it is empty. Expect bright orchard and tropical fruit, then a soft, buttery palate with the incense-like spice of mizunara.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Peach and pineapple, candied orange and vanilla, with a trace of Japanese oak.
- Palate: Soft and buttery, with coconut, cranberry and honey.
- Finish: Warm and lasting, with ginger and cinnamon.
Serving & Food
Try it as Suntory often suggests, in a mizuwari: one part whisky to two parts chilled soft water over ice, stirred well. Neat, it pairs nicely with tempura, pickled plum or white peaches.
How to Enjoy
A celebratory gift where the bottle matters as much as the whisky.
Product Details
Producer: Suntory
Distillery: Yamazaki
Country: Japan
Region: Osaka
Category: Japanese single malt whisky
Age: 12 years
Presentation: Arita porcelain decanter
ABV: 43%
Proof: 86
Volume: 600mL
About the Distillery
When Shinjiro Torii started building Yamazaki in 1923, he hired Masataka Taketsuru, freshly back from Scotland, to run it. Taketsuru managed the distillery for about ten years.
He left in 1934 to found his own company in Hokkaido, which became Nikka. Japan's two great whisky houses therefore share a starting point in this valley.