White Oak Akashi Sea Anchor

An Akashi blend. 40% vol.

• Nose: Banana, glue, some acidity like in old apple juice, alcohol
• Mouth: Oily, sweet
• Finish: Malt, barley, some hints of chocolate and leafs

Comment: Not too bad, but seems a bit young with some unpleasant alcohol notes. Not sure about the sea or anchors here :)

75 points

Uozumi Single Malt Whisky

This single malt whisky, I think, comes from the Eigashima/White Oak distillery and from my understanding is aged in a Spanish sherry cask. Bottled at 46% unchillfiltred and uncolored.

• Nose: Vanilla, caramel, cedar wood with cinnamon and nuts, slightly sharp, grassy with honey and oak also some fresh apple, the bourbon cask is very noticeable with the nose of some dry sherry
• Mouth: Oily, oak and fresh cut twigs
• Finish: Relatively long and lingering with oak, vanilla and at the very end some sherry mixed with hay and sunflower oil

Comments: Definitely has the White Oak profile. Enjoyable and interesting whisky.

83 points

(2015)

White Oak 14yo Wine Cask Finish

A fourteen year old White Oak Akashi whisky, finished in wine a white wine cask. Bottled at cask strength of 56% vol in 400 500ml bottles.

• Nose: Smokey, almost sherry cask matured like, a little bit peat mixed with a heavy red wine like a Rioja, leather, tobacco,  with time a bit wine acidity comes forth, water makes it dryer
• Mouth: Oily, buttery, some some and some red fruits, chocolate
• Finish: Smokey, tropical fruits, English wine gummy, oak, water brings out some dried oriental spices and chocolate which keeps lingering

Comment: This works really well and there are lots of tastes and flavors to discover. Water changes the character quite a bit as well. It isn't 100% harmonic with the wine finish I'd say but maybe 90%... 

88 points

White Oak Akashi 2008 for Shinanoya #1130

A five year old whisky matured in a Wild Turkey bourbon cask. Bottled in 2013 for the Shinanoya department store with 58%vol.

• Nose: Rather subdued, lemon, vanilla, mint and tree sap, some slight pinewood
• Mouth: Surprisingly mild with no harshness, very oily, grassy
• Finish: Honey, vanilla (like Häagen Dazs vanilla ice cream), some oak, french fries !?, very mild

Comment: There is an ever so slight harshness lingering in the background with an creamy and oily mellowness in the front.

84 points

White Oak Akashi 15 Cask# 40100

This Akashi White Oak was matured for 12.5 years in sherry casks and then finished in Japanese oak casks for 2.5 years. Bottled at 58% vol.

• Nose: Sherry, oak, glue, roasted chestnut, a bit solvent and plywood, burnt chocolate
• Mouth: Bitter, alcoholic, spices, oak and plywood/cardboard
• Finish: Roasted oak, warm a bit bitter, sherry, cherry schnapps, smoke and chocolate

Comment: This is very flavorful, quite funky and a rather unusual one but the bitterness and roughness, especially the plywood notes really harm the overall picture.

78 points

So I did a re-tasting of this one since I heard only good things about this one, and guess what, a very different experience. I don' t know what went wrong back then... my taste buds were not themselves that day.

• Nose: Sherry, dry dusty old oak, snadalwood, raisins, prunes, dried cranberries, soy sauce, very powerful nose, fills the whole room immediately. Water adds more earthy aspects.
• Mouth: Dry, spices, oak, a bit tannins
• Finish: Roasted oak, sherry, smoke, burnt chocolate, some tannins, spies and pepper, warm

Comment: Generally not that far of from the old tasting notes, but none of that cardboardy plywood aromas that threw me really off last time. Massively flavorful and punchy, maybe a tad too many tannins. A fantastic White Oak Akashi!

88 points

White Oak Akashi 12

The Akashi (あかし) 5yo was quite promising, so let's see what the 12yo can deliver.
Bottled at 50% vol. and seemingly limited to 2000 bottles.

• Nose: Wood shavings, malt, dry
• Mouth: Pepper, wood, fruit acids
• Finish: Woody, pepper, dry, sour peach

Comments: Compared to the 5yo this is rather one dimensional and quite disappointing. Also the wood influence is too strong. 

77 points
(2011)

White Oak Akashi 5

Here my tasting notes for the 5yo Akashi (あかし) from the White Oak (ホワイトオーク) distillery which belongs to the Eigashima (江井ヶ嶋) company, bottled at 45% vol. and comes in 0.5Liter bottles.

• Nose: Mineralic, dry, a bit nutty
• Mouth: Flowery, a tad bitter, malt, sweet
• Finish: Dry, a bit wood influence, a tad bitter

Comments: Not too bad, actually quite enjoyable. But the price they want for this in Europe is obscene.

79 points
(2011)

White Oak Akashi Blended

A very cheap expression of the Akashi line that isn't 100% Whisky but blended with some other spirits. (in Japan a bottle costs around 10€, in Europe around 40€ -_-')

• Nose: A bit alcoholic, a bit malty, typical cheap blend nose
• Mouth: mild, flowery
• Finish: Malt, sweetness, medium long, a bit bitter

Comments: In comparison to other blends in the 10€ category it's decent. In comparison to other 40€ whiskies it's quite bad. All in all fairly bland and boring but nothing horrible. Definitely not worth the 40+ Euros they want here.

70 points
(2011)