By the time this review posts I will hopefully have just landed in Tokyo. To mark my first proper visit to Japan (outside of transit lounges) here is a review of a Japanese whisky.

This is the Hakushu sherry cask release from 2013. I’m too frazzled by last minute packing right now to go look up when these releases began or ended. I know that I’d tried and failed to get my hands on the previous year or two’s releases—I only managed to get this bottle because when the Whisky Exchange sent out their email in January 2014 announcing it was on sale, I was sitting jet lagged in my parents’ flat in Delhi and so managed to jump on it almost instantaneously. I also got a bottle of the Yamazaki Sherry Cask from that 2013 release in that order. That one I ended up selling at auction in the UK a couple of years later when the price it was commanding became ludicrous—I have no regrets about that sale: I sampled that whisky from a friend’s bottle and didn’t think it was anything very special. I’m sure this bottle of the Hakushu Sherry Cask would also be worth a lot of money now (and probably has been for a while). After all, it’s been a long time since there’s been much quality Japanese whisky on the market. But this one I’ve held on to for myself. And here I am now, drinking it. Let’s get to my notes.

Hakushu Sherry Cask, 2013 Release (48%; from my own bottle)

Nose: Classic old-school sherry cask notes of brandied raisins, apricot jam, orange peel, salted nuts, pipe tobacco and dark chocolate along with some earthy notes. In the background is a lick of smoke. The orange peel expands as it sits. A couple of drops of water and the fruit becomes stickier—some fig jam in there too now.

Palate: Comes in as promised by the nose at first and then there’s some polished oak. A very good drinking strength; rich texture. Brighter and saltier here as it goes and there’s some savoury gunpowder as well. With more time it gets a little leathery as well. Water makes it drier and emphasizes the oak and nuts and leather.

Finish: Long. Gets first sweeter and then picks up some bitter notes (dark chocolate, coffee grounds). Saltier here too with time and the gunpowder lingers as well. As on the palate with water.

Comments: I know my notes are not super detailed but this is just a flawless sherried whisky (though hardcore sulphurphobes would disagree). I hesitate to call it a sherry bomb as it’s not over-the-top in any way and is wonderfully balanced. Highland Park used to make whisky like this once upon a time—their old 18 yo is what this calls to mind.

Rating: 90 points.