Karuizawa - 1999 - Memories Of - #879

A 13 years old sherry cask matured Karuizawa from the Memories of Karuizawa series. Bottled at 62.9% vol.

• Nose: Dry Oloroso(?) sherry, rum raisins, assorted woods, sandalwood
• Mouth: Very oily, woods, earthy with leaves like in a dry forrest
• Finish: Red berries, a bit smokey, some light tannins, juicy tobacco, long and warm

Comment: One of the if not the best young Karuizawa I tasted so far. Very balanced with plenty of sherry and depth.

90 points

Karuizawa 1999 - 14yo - The Last Bottling

Nope, not the last bottling but seemingly the last bottling for the retailer Isetan. Fourteen years old and bottled at 60.5% cask strength.

• Nose: Sherry and oak, quite fruity, cinnamon and oranges
• Mouth: Sherry with more of a PX feel, sweet with butterscotch candy and with a tad tannins, without water it has a creamy mouthfeeling
• Finish: Fruity, sherry, warm and with some woods at the very end. Generally quite accessible for a Karuizawa

Comments: Smooth and accessible without the roughness some other young Karuizawas sometimes have.

85 points

Karuizawa 1999 - 2011 LMdW #867

An eleven or twelve year old Karuizawa matured in a sherry butt. Amazingly dark for that age and with a solid 58.9% vol. Bottled for La Maison du Whisky in France.

• Nose: Thick heavy dry sherry, some oak, dry red wine that went a bit sour, soy sauce, tomato
• Mouth: Lots of sherry, some oak
• Finish: Sherry, a lot of tropical fruit, very fruity in general, moderately oily, some very light bitterness and some oak

Comment: Interesting nose and fantastically fruity finish. 

88 points

Karuizawa 2000 - Tokyo Intl. Bar Show - Cask# 7603

This sherry butt aged Karuizawa was bottled for the Tokyo International Bar Show in 2013. Bottled at 62.4% vol.

• Nose: Subdued, some sherry, something reminiscent of plywood, really opens up with water which results in some minty pinewood and pine needles notes
• Mouth: Some light bitterness with sherry and some sweetness, pepper, pine needles again
• Finish: Medium long, warm and typical sherry, slightly bitter

Comment: Not that balanced, has some high points here and there like the nose with water.

84 points

Karuizawa 1999 NOH 13yo, K&L - Cask #869

This Karuizawa is part of the NOH bottling series by Number One Drinks. Aged for 13 years in a first fill sherry cask which I think was of the Pedro Ximenez sherry type.
Bottled exclusively for the US K&L chain(?) and the first Karuizawa to be sold in the US.

• Nose: Sherry, smokey, marzipan, old oak and cedarwood - the wood is very nice in the nose
• Mouth: Oaky, px sherry, sweet and oaky, some bitterness, nutty
• Finish: PX sherry, warm, oak, medium long, spices, raspberry syrup 

Comment: The (I think) PX sherry is a bit unusual compared to usual Oloroso casks Karuizawa is matured in. It's a good whisky but personally I'm not too fond of PX sherry whiskies... so take the score as you will.

85 points

Karuizawa 1970 - 42yo - Cask #6177

This sherry butt Karuizawa was bottled in 2012 by Number One drinks with 64.3% vol. cask strength.

• Nose: Sherry, sweet Oloroso, raisins, plums, sweet oak, a bit of a new leather bag and some cigars, dried cherries, slightly smokey, with water some plastic model glue in a positive sense
• Mouth: Sherry, warm and mild with spices, oaky but well integrated, some lingering fresh red fruits
• Finish: Warm and long, berries, very fruity, oak and sherry

Comment: Very excellent Karuizawa, big fantastic nose, oak and fantastic fruit. Fairly accessible compared to some other Karuizawas but none the less one of the best I tasted so far.

92 points

Karuizawa 1981 Cocktail Series - Cask #162

And finally the 1981 bottling of the LMDW cocktail series. Aged in a sherry butt and bottled at 55.8 percent in 2012.

• Nose: Sherry, red berries, sandalwood, juicy, leather, cherries, with water some malt and more fruits
• Mouth: Smokey, Oloroso sherry, oak, some tannins
• Finish: Warm, long'ish, sherry, smoke,oak, some tannins, sweet sherry with fruits, sandalwood and incense

Comment: A classic and excellent Karuizawa althou I feel it lacks a bit of the punch and intensity some other Karuizawas bring to the table.

90 points

Karuizawa 1982 Cocktail Series - Cask #8444

And the next one in the LMDW Cocktail series. This one was distilled in 1982 and aged until 2012 in a Bourbon cask. Bottled at 58.6% vol.

• Nose: Sandalwood, smoke, incense, oak, cold ashes
• Mouth: Dry, oak & some tannins, orange peel
• Finish:  Warm, peppermint, some light smoke, lingering oak

Comment: Rather dry and minty Karuizawa and generally a bit unusual. The nose is superb.

89 points

Karuizawa 1983 Cocktail Series - Cask #8597

Another Karuizawa from the Cocktail Series for LMDW. This time a 1983 distilled and bottled in 2012 with 62.1% vol.

• Nose: Sherry'ish (yes I know it's a Bourbon cask), sandalwood, rather Japanese, juicy, leather, tobacco, dried cherries and berries, very fruity! and some smoke
• Mouth: Oak, a bit smoke, mild and sweet, a tad of underlying tannins, quite oily
• Finish: Sherry, sandalwood, smoky, nutty, yam stark(?)

Comment: A fantastic nose! Mouth and finish fall a bit short compared to the nose but are excellent nonetheless.

90 points

Karuizawa 1984 Cocktail Series - Cask #7975

This in 1984 distilled and in 2012 bottled Karuizawa is part of the "Cocktail Series" for LMDW in France. Aged in a sherry cask and bottled at a solid 59.3% vol cask strength.

• Nose: Sherry, raisins, oak, tobacco, sandalwood, dried cherries, a bit pine cones
• Mouth: Dry, sweet oak, Oloroso sherry (not overly dominant)
• Finish: Warm, juicy oak, all kinds of wood, sherry, relatively long, a hint of tannins

Comment: Excellent well balanced Karuizawa without too much sherry influence but excellent oak influences.

90 points

Karuizawa 14yo 1999 for HST cask #2316

This Karuizawa is a joint bottling between Liquors Hasegawa, Sake Shop Sato and Whisky Shop Tamagawaya. Bottled at 61.3% vol.

• Nose: Sherry, dry, slight sulphuric with sawdust and medicinical (but not in a really negative sense)
• Mouth: Warm, fruits, banana, sherry
• Finish: Oloroso sherry, warm, very fruity and mild

Comments: A suprisingly mild Karuizawa with the the typical heavy sherry influence. Very fruity, love it.

88 points

Karuizawa 12yo 2000 'Brilliant Sherry' for Isetan Cask #199

This Karuizawa was bottled for the Isetan warehouse chain. From my understanding there are a few different cask numbers of this one around. The notes here are for cask 199 with 60.2% vol.

• Nose: Dry, slightly hot, white wine / Riesling, apple fruit, with water a tad glue
• Mouth: Fruity, apple, fino sherry
• Finish: Fruity, medium long, fino sherry, a bit grassy

Comment: Not an overly typical Krauizawa, the nose is a bit boring, mouth and finish are sharp and defined.

83 points

Karuizawa 1999 & 2000 Tokyo Int. BarShow #2565

The second Karuizawa bottling from the Tokyo International BarShow. Bottled at 61.6% and like the sister bottling a vatting of two 1999 & 2000 distilled sherry butt casks.

• Nose: Raisins, Sherry, Ume-ex (salty concentrated ume plum), slightly harsh, with water some glue and solvent
• Mouth: Sherry, oak, herbal
• Finish: Red fruits, some slight tannins, juicy oak, quite nice!

Comments: Rather good finish, nose and mouth are good too but nothing stellar plus the slightly noticable harshness is a negative.

85 points

Karuizawa 1999 & 2000 Tokyo Int. BarShow #7698

This Krauizawa is a vatting of two sherry butt aged whisky casks distilled in 1999 and 2000. Bottled at cask strength with a whopping 61.7% for the Tokyo International Bar Show. At the bar show two exclusive Karuizawa bottlings were sold as well as a Yamazaki Puncheon and "Chibidaru" (mini cask) Chichibu.

• Nose: Subdued, a bit harsh, some plywood, some yellow fruits in the background, with water smoother, but still a bit harsh
• Mouth: Some light (fino?) sherry, a touch bitter, honey
• Finish: Relatively short, oak and tannins, slightly drying

Comment: The notes sound a bit too negative - it's not to bad, but but the harshness with the lack of roundness isn't too thrilling. But letting it breath for a while brings it back together.

82 points

Karuizawa - 1984 - 28yo - #3692

This classic Karuizawa was distilled in 1984, aged in a Sherry Butt and bottled in 2012  by Number One Drinks. Some solid 61.6% vol.

• Nose: Raisins, all kind of woods, sherry, warm, hot dusty streets after a short rain-shower (yeah, that's a bit vague...), oily, some slight matchsticks and earthy
• Mouth: Warm, very oily, sherry, oak, creamy, very round mouth feeling
• Finish: Sandalwood, oak, smooth sherry with oak, oily, red fruits, long and warm

Comment: Very good classic sherry heavy Karuizawa. Balanced and good harmony.

90 points

Karuizawa - 1990 - #679

This first fill Karuizawa was distilled in 1990 and bottled in 2012. Aged in a first fill sherry cask. Bottled at 56.1% cask strength.

• Nose: Glue, acidic, a little bit harsh - water tames it though, red fruit juice with acetone, menthol
• Mouth: Sherry, a little bit bitter and tannins, oak, quite oily
• Finish: Tannins, sherry, quite drying and some oak

Comment: This one takes quite a bit of water to be tamed. I've seen some raving tasting notes about this one elsewhere on the the net, but I don't feel this one. It's good whisky, but that's it. Even at ~22 years it feels young, harsh and unfinished compared to other Karuizawas. (Maybe something was wrong with my sample... don't know)

81 points.

Karuizawa The Whisky Fair 1988, 19yo - 58.3%

The 2007 Whisky Fair in Germany had two Karuizawa especially bottled for the event. I already reviewed the 60.6% bottling before and now I finally got to taste the 58.3% refill sherry butt Karuizawa. Also I believe this bottling is a shared bottling with whiskysite.nl which released their own bottle of this cask.

• Nose: Without water quite strong solvent and alcohol with some malt and sherry in the background, also quite furity. With water much more accessible with moderate sherry, old wet oak, salt, banana, some matchstick and grassy. But some sharpness still remains.
• Mouth: Malt, sherry, some smoke and oak, smooth vanilla
• Finish: Fairly dry, some smoke and oak, fruity sherry towards the end and some bitter malt at the very end.

Comment: Quite good but not too stunning like many other Karuizawas. Letting it breath for a while mellows the dram and gives it a nice vanilla edge. The 60.6% bottle from the same event is quite a bit better IMO. 

86 points

Karuizawa 1999 & 2000 Asama

The Karuizawa Asama is a multivintage bottling of 1999 and 2000 casks aged at least 11years and bottles at 46% and sold at a budget price (for Karuizawa anyways).
Aged Karuizawa typical in Sherry Butts - although I saw some Bourbon cask Karuizawa now.

• Nose: Sherry, matchsticks, gunpowder, very nutty, acorns, a bit acidic, generally the nose is a bit atypical for a whisky..., more accessible with a bit water
• Mouth: Sherry, gunpowder, dry, with water some malt and a tad bitterness (but not in a negative sense)
• Finish: Sherry, dry, oak, medium long, tobacco, leather

Comment: Well, it's unmistakably Karuizawa alright, not overly accessible on first sip, but interesting. On the negative it lacks the composition and fineness of the older brothers. Not entirely sure how I should rate this one... anyways:

80 points

Karuizawa 1981 Cask No. 6207

This Karuizawa was distilled in 1981 and bottled in 2011 for LMDW.
Bottled at cask strength with 58.3% vol. and as expected this was matured in a sherry cask.

• Nose: Oloroso sherry, matches, sour plums, sandalwood, dry leather, water brings out more woods
• Mouth: Oriental spices, freshly baked cookies, oak, malt, with water mild tannins
• Finish: Sherry, pepper, smoke, oak, cedarwood, dry, long and warming, dry tobacco, at the very end cinnamon with cedarwood

Comment: Excellent nose, mouth and finish can't keep up there. But still very good.

89 points

Karuizawa 15

Another standard from the now closed Karuizawa distillery. This time the 15 years old, which is one age step up from the 12 years old.
Bottled at 40% vol and matured in sherry casks.

• Nose: Sherry (more mature compared to the 12yo), juicy tobacco, hints of matchsticks, some slight oak and smoke
• Mouth: Honey, a bit oak, slightly grassy and a bit oily
• Finish: Oak, Sherry, grassy and earthy, juicy tobacco and spices

Comment: Quite good and more reminiscent of the pricey single casks you can buy than the 12yo. Probably rather hard to find thou.

83 points
(year?)