A 1998 Yamazaki from Spanish oak sherry butt #CU70062, bottled in 2011 at 61% under Suntory's The Single Cask label for the JR Osaka Mitsukoshi Isetan department store. It is a one-cask release made for that one store rather than for general sale.
About This Whisky
Suntory's The Single Cask bottlings were drawn from individual Yamazaki casks and labelled with the cask number, and some were selected for particular shops in Japan. This cask carries the JR Osaka Mitsukoshi Isetan name on its label. The spirit was distilled in 1998 and spent about thirteen years in the butt before bottling at full strength. The Spanish oak accounts for the dark fruit and cocoa in the glass.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Orange peel, dried fruit and dark chocolate, with warm spice and polished oak behind.
- Palate: Rich and round, with raisin, cocoa and malt, then firm oak spice.
- Finish: Long and warming, sherry sweetness drying slowly into oak.
Serving & Food
Serve at room temperature in a small tulip glass, neat to begin with, then with a few drops of cool water. It goes well with kakuni (braised pork belly), walnut cake, or a square of orange-flavoured dark chocolate.
How to Enjoy
Collectors of store-specific Japanese bottlings, and a 1998 Yamazaki for a special occasion.
Product Details
Distillery: Yamazaki (Suntory)
Series: The Single Cask
Selected for: JR Osaka Mitsukoshi Isetan
Cask number: #CU70062
Distilled: 1998
Bottled: 2011
Cask type: Spanish oak sherry butt
ABV: 61%
Volume: 700mL
Country: Japan
About the Distillery
Yamazaki matures its spirit in a wide spread of cask types, including American oak barrels and hogsheads, Spanish oak sherry butts, wine casks and casks of Japanese mizunara oak. Blenders draw on all of them for the house single malts.
Suntory celebrated the centenary of Yamazaki in 2023. The renovated distillery reopened to visitors on 1 November that year with new tours covering fermentation, distillation and the warehouses.