NV Yamazaki Sherry Cask 48%

Nose: when they say sherry. They are not joking: huge oloroso signature, nutty, thick, dry, as rounded as a snooker ball. A nose that was not uncommon in the warehouses of Scotland three decades ago, but now as rare as.. well, an unsulphured sherry butt… Taste: every bit as silky as the nose promises. The sugars, spices, plum, walnut cake and moist Melton Hunt Cake combine for something rather special. Finish: long, juicy dates, more walnuts, sultanas as big as a small planet… a light, teasing spice. Balance: one of the first sherry casks I have seen form Japan not in any way, shape or form touched by sulphur for a very long time. It is as if the oloroso cask was still have filled with the stuff when they filled with Yamazaki spirit. If anyone wants to find out roughly what the first Macallan 10-year-old I had in 1975 tasted like, then grab a bottle of this. 48%.