The old has gone and the new has come! Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master's Select

The Hibiki Harmony series was introduced to replace the aged expressions of the much-loved Suntory blend. There are the entry level Harmony, the Harmony Master's Select, Deep Harmony, and Mellow Harmony. The latter two are limited releases. The replacement of the aged whiskies with NAS has been the trend for Japanese whiskies, as demand has exceeded supply. NAS whiskies allow the distillers to be more creative in their cask selection. While age isn't an indication of quality, it often is one of the factors.

The Master's Select was released in Travel Retail. As usual, Hibiki's packaging is beautiful; you can't really be dissatisfied with a 24 faceted glass bottle. It's a work of art. In fact, people sell empty Hibiki bottles online! The 24 facets are supposed to represent the many seasons of the Japanese climate. If Singaporean craftsmen tried to follow the same principle, they wouldn't be able to make a bottle - we only have 2 discernible "seasons" - dry, and wet. You can't make a bottle out of only 2 dimensions. It wouldn't hold any liquid.

But enough of empty bottles. What about the stuff that's inside these beautiful glassware?

Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master's Select

Nose - Plum liquor is initially dominant. After the whisky has some time to breathe and open up, there's quite a bit of orange liquor and honey. There's something leafy and grassy in the nose as well. Some nice oak notes in the background. I read that some of the whisky that went into this blend came from Mizunara casks. Maybe that's what I'm smelling? I'm not getting any of the floral notes that were so pleasant in the Hibiki 12, 17 and 21.

Palate - Mm. Sweet and honeyed. Traces of vanilla, then a lot of fresh oranges and orange liquor. Slightly drying, and I think there's some sherry in here as well. The plum liquor is faint in the background, but that's a nice place to be. I don't think I like having the plum liquor being too dominant. JE says he got some chocolate, but they're elusive for me.

Finish - Fairly short. Light vanilla, oak, and a small sprinkling of spices.

Overall - No, this is not as good as the 12, which stood out for its honey and floral notes. This one is perhaps a little more balanced, but also less distinct. At just over $100 from DFS, this maybe counts as pretty value for money, but it's not great on quality. Still, smooth, pleasant, and easy drinking for those who hunger and pine for a Japanese dram.

Rare and Rarer - Two Japanese whiskies

From the same session at the Auld Alliance, but these two are Japanese whiskies of the rare variety.

Hibiki 21 (43% abv) - this one now costs over $1000 a bottle, and the limited edition bottling with Mount Fuji on the bottle costs significantly higher. I rather enjoyed the 17 years expression. Let's see if the 21 is even better.

Nose - Ripe Chinese pears. Sweet and fragrant, but still considered a light nose. Vanilla and slightly floral, compared to the 17, which was more floral, I feel. The grain whisky influence seems less pronounced in this. A bit of oak, and some caramelized sugar.

Palate - a bit of grass and pine, then the pears we found on the nose return. Some vanilla, and this one is surprisingly drying. It sucked the moisture out of the sides of my mouth. Not unpleasant, but not what I expected. And not something I will say that I found enjoyable. Thankfully, the dryness gives way to some bourbon-like honey sweetness.

Finish - the vanilla lingers for quite a while. There's a light bit of oak, and a refreshing grassy feel.

Overall - Good Japanese blend, though I thought it would pack more. It seems that the 17 was a bit better. This one is mellower and more austere. And the palate is surprisingly dry. Good, but I think it falls just short of greatness.

Ichiro's Malt, Chichibu, for the Tokyo International Bar Show (62.3% abv, 299 bottles) - Rarer, but surprisingly cheaper than the Hibiki 21 per glass.

Nose - Very young (6 years, bottled in 2015), very high strength. The French oak cask has done a thorough job on this whisky. Behind the sweet and fragrant oak lies some vanilla, grass, and light peat. With water: A touch of savouriness appears, and the oak gets even more fragrant.

Palate - alcohol burn. Young whiskies and high strength tend to do that. Silly me. After the whisky sits for a while, there's some light peat, grass and light pepper. I noted the high strength and alcohol burn twice when I was tasting this. Behind the alcohol lies a cartload of nuts. Almonds and roasted peanuts, if I had to be more precise. With water: The nuts get toned down, and the French oak becomes more fragrant and dominant.

Finish - light peat and nutty. There's some spice, like cinnamon. This finish feels rather spirit driven. The oak has done its job, but it feels like the malt in the spirit finally has its say right at the end. With water: A bit of vanilla comes out on the finish.

Overall - This is very good. Very young, very high strength. This means that the wood hasn't had as much time helping the alcohol to blend well into the rest of the liquid and help it settle down. But, nevertheless, this is actually pretty complex. I suspect with more time and different amounts of water, one will get more stuff out of this. The French oak used in the cask is also of top quality. I usually can't stand whiskies that have too much of an oak influence, but this one is good. The wood is fragrant, rather than cloying or overly assertive. A good base spirit matured in a very good cask. I like this, and may consider trying more Chichibus in the near future.

CNY goodies part 4 - "World" whisky tasting

Our battle against time continues. 15 whiskies in 15 days. Can it be done?? Today is Day 13. No time to lose if the challenge is to succeed.

A bunch of stuff in today's bag of tasting notes - Hibiki 12, Ardbeg 10, Penderyn Aur Cymru Madeira, and Yamazaki 12. 

Hibiki 12 - This one has been discontinued, and prices have skyrocketed since the discontinuation was announced. Used to be one of the staples of the Suntory line of whiskies. A nice, amber colour.

Nose - Fruity. A little plum, somewhat like the Hibiki Harmony Master's Select. But this one is more complex. There's some sweet oak, and caramel. A little sherry? Some sweet red fruit in any case. Vanilla, and a little floral. Pleasant, well-balanced.

Palate - sweet. Suggestions of a little nut, like almonds. Oak. Sweet plum. Vanilla, and some spices. This one is really more complex and better than the Master's Select, in my opinion. Or maybe I just haven't given the Master's Select a fair hearing.

Finish - A little short. Some tannin, and thus, a little drying. Spices and wood.

A good, balanced dram. Japanese craft evidently on display.

Ardbeg 10 - Ardbeg is the quintessential peat monster. This tasting was contributed by PY, who is definitely a guy, despite having a name that often gets mistaken for being feminine.

Nose - ash and meat. Like a barbecue. Then some charcoal smoke. Exactly like a barbecue then...oddly, some vanilla as well. Or something sweet.

Palate - Immediately a bit drying. Herbal/medicinal, ashy, and more charcoal smoke. Sweet as well. Spicy on the way down. There's a little alcohol burn in this one. On second sipping, an odd taste. Reminded me of the brine in canned tuna. PY gives me an incredulous "huh? canned tuna??" Guess it's just me then.

Finish - spicy, and some drying tea tannins. Fiery, like swallowing warm coals. Leaves a little sweetness at the back of the throat.

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Second session consisted of the following 4 drinks. With me tonight was JP, who gave the taster bottle of Yamazaki 12. He got to try the Kavalan Solist Sherry and the Edition Santis. I won't be writing new notes on those, but just noting some of his remarks that differed from mine...

First up was the Penderyn Aur Cymru Madeira (46% abv). This one came courtesy of CP, who also helped me to get the Santis. Thank you!

Colour - straw

Nose - Leathery. Tanned leather. A little grain, and a little yeast, with that bit of sour scent that yeast has. Doesn't smell very promising, but we'll see.

Palate - a little sour. Then it becomes bitter. According to JP, this is the bitter that comes at the back of traditional Chinese medicine. Licorice, then rubber, tar. A little peppery. JP and I were making funny, grimacing faces at one another. Maybe some people like this profile of flavours, but we don't.

Finish - rubber and licorice. Burns a little.

Overall - mm. As the first Welsh whisky that I've ever come across, it was worth a try. Like an adventure in a YOLO sort of way. But I don't think I'll be rushing to get a full bottle anytime soon.

Yamazaki 12 - Less famous than it's 18 year old brother, but prices are also going up.

Nose - Sherry was the first to hit. A little bit of a citrus fruit. First word that came to JP was yuzu. Hmm. I thought it was something a little heavier than yuzu.  A bit of oak. Quite a lot of honey.

Palate - Sherry on entry. Rather sweet. A bit of spice and just a small whiff of smoke in the middlle. Vanilla backdrop. A lot of honey. This one is sweet.

Finish - a bit drying. Light smoke and spice. Like honeyed water with cinnamon.

On the whole, very nice. Not in the same class as the 18, but you can taste the progression. Some distilleries produce whiskies whereby the various ages are matured in very different ways, and thus taste very different. This one tastes just like a younger version of the 18. The 18 becomes richer, rounder, and more matured, but the basic is the same. Good quality and product control by the folks at Yamazaki.

JP's impression of the Santis and Kavalan: 

Santis - not really beer-like until the finish, as opposed to the beer I found upfront. He smelt more vanilla than I did, and some icing sugar. I can see why he found those notes, but perhaps that's not quite how I would describe them. On the whole, we agree that this is nice, pleasant, too dangerously easy to drink. JP says that he can almost taste the Alpine water that went into this whisky. JP also very versatile, being a good sipping dram as well as something to round off a more complex drinking session.

Kavalan - JP did not enjoy this much as I did, with the rubbery notes hitting him first. He found the rubber quite off-putting. Concluded that he wasn't much of a sherry bomb guy. Ah well.

So, 6 whiskies over 2 sessions that take us around the world. 1 Scotch, 2 Japanese, 1 Swiss, 1 Taiwanese, and 1 Welsh. That was fun!
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We are on 14 now...Getting really close...Will we succeed...? Or will I have to cheat...?!? Bring out an old tasting note? Write a new note on something that I already have a review for? Or what?

The clock is ticking.

The next bag of CNY drinks

Had a crazy fun session a couple of nights ago. Here are some notes taken from the evening...

Macallan 18 - This is the newer Macallan 18 Sherry Oak, which says on the bottle that the whiskies were taken from 1997 or older. Which is pretty much what the number "18" was supposed to indicate anyway. Superfluous clarification. But maybe that's part of the whole marketing plan.

Colour - dark gold

Nose - sherry. Raisins, fresh grapes, a bit of spice, caramelized sugar. Very sweet nose, with just a hint of some spice. Smells like cinnamon

Body - Rich and fairly full-bodied. A little oily.

Palate - A very nicely sherried whisky. Apart from the grapes and raisins, there's vanilla, choccolate, a healthy dose of spices, including cinnamon and something that stings a little, like pepper or chilli. Drying. Was colouring added? This dryness reminds me of artificial caramel colouring...hmm. probably not.

Finish - wood, spice, and a small puff of smoke. The alcohol burnt a bit on the way down in a warming sort of way.

On the whole, this was pretty enjoyable, and several people's favourite of the night. Macallan still produces quality; the issue is with the pricing...

Macallan Estate Reserve - A newer whisky by Macallan. This one tastes fairly similar in terms of the overall flavours, but the Estate Reserve has a much larger wood presence. The oak can be smelt and tasted from the nosing all the way through to the finish. In my opinion, this made the nose more complex, but masked/replaced much of the richness of the palate. Can't say much else about this; I'm not sure if I'm tasting it properly after having the rich Macallan 18.

A drink of water to wash the mouth, and off we're off to the next one!

Hibiki 17 - Ok, yes, I did say that the whiskies reviewed in this blog are going to be more affordable, but the Hibiki 17 doesn't fall within that range. But hey, it's CNY!

Nose - Floral, like the Hibiki 12 was, but more mature. Flowers in full bloom, rather than just freshly bloomed.  Ripe fruits, including apples and pears. Grain sweetness - vanilla, bourbon-like.

Palate - sweet grains. An excellently balanced and smooth blend. Rich, ripe fruits. Slightly jammy, and a little spice. And is that a little bit of peat? From the Hakushu perhaps...? Or is my tongue playing tricks on me...?

Finish - A little spice, balanced nicely by wood.

Japanese mastery. A fairly big step up from the Hibiki 12, but a big step in prices too, in the present climate...

Balvenie 30 - the star of the night.

Nose - Pears, which are apparently DW's favourite fruits. His wife was surprised by that fact. No one knew. Plum. Honey, lots of honey. A little bit of almond and pencil wood, in a nice way.

Palate - boomz. Very, very smooth. The alcohol is nicely blended with the rest of the liquid (as it should after 30 years in the barrel), and comes across as a warming complement to the flavours, helping to bring them up to the tongue. Slightly spicy. Fruit, feels a little like pears poached in wine. A touch of chocolate. Almond, oak, and a bit of coconut. The entry has a bit of the taste of fresh grass or moss. Very complex, rich, and well-layered.

Finish - Wish I could, but alas, it's not my bottle to finish. Oak, cinnamon, plum again, burnt sugar. JE insisted that there was something else in the finish, but since no one could read his thoughts and put words to them, then it shall have to be passed over in silence.

Amazing. It was 30 years well-spent.

Other drinks of the night...

Auchentoshan Three Wood - Now we're back in affordable range. Nice complex whisky, this one, both on the nose and the palate. Some online reviews criticize this whisky for trying to be too many things at the same time, with the three different wood treatments. There's some sour winey notes on the palate, like sour grapes, but doesn't detract from the niceness of the other flavours - a bit of chocolate, a bit of raisins, a bit of a whole bunch of other stuff. The sourness also reminded me of pomengranate, or grapefruit/pomelo. A little odd, but not unpleasant.

Glenfiddich 18 - Smooth, even by an 18 year old's standards. Unfortunately, in the company of the other beasts of the night, the Glenfiddich 18 was fairly forgettable and flavourless. Not much alcohol burn, simple, straightforward. Some vanilla, some suggestions of sherry cask influence, a little oak. Could be a decent regular drink, but a little flat, flavour-wise.

So, with these brief notes on 6 whiskies, the CNY whisky count is up to 9! Just 6 more, and there are 9 days of CNY left!!

*Also available for the night were the Yamazaki 18, Hakushu 18, JW King George V, Crown Royal North Harvest Rye, and Taketsuru 21. I already have notes for the latter 4. The Yamazaki 18 only made an appearance late in the session, and  my tongue was already numb and tired. So, I skipped it. Maybe there'll be an opportunity to do a tasting of the Yamazaki 18 sometime later...