This time, we will introduce some delicious whiskeys that we bought in December 2024 or drank at bars.
1st bottle: Signatory Linkwood 12 Year Old 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel
This is a book released by Komaspi.
There was a link wood-like feeling of pine, green apple, banana and wheat, and a vanilla feeling from the barrel.
Personally, I like short-ripened linkwoods that are around 10 years old, but this one caught my tastes and had everything I was looking for in a short-ripened linkwood, so I bought it.
It is aged for 12 years and costs about 15,000 yen, so I think it is very cheap.
It's one of the many Linkwoods, but it's delicious, so if you see it at a bar, I highly recommend giving it a try.
2nd: Three Rivers Shiki Imperial 1998 25 years
This is the Four Seasons series released by Three Rivers, and the label is Mucha's Spring.
The taste is peach.
This is all I can say.
It has a thick viscosity and a sweetness that makes you feel like you're actually drinking peach juice.
The price is 120,000 yen per bottle, and the price of a half shot at a bar is roughly divided by 20, so one drink should cost around 6,000 yen.
It costs a certain amount of money, but I think it will be more impressive than that price.
The peace sign on the back guarantees that.
If you see this at a bar, you should definitely try it.
3rd bottle: Single Cask x Asaya Shoten Glen Elgin 2009 15 years
The taste is green apple, herbal flowers, and from the second half onwards, there is a ginger-like freshness and stimulation, with a particularly strong green apple flavor.
Glen Elgin itself is a whiskey that has a green apple flavor, but I think it has one of the best green apple flavors of all.
『Whiskey Lovers Nagoya 2025” I tried it and bought it on the spot.
There were many orders at the event, and general sales were also held, but they sold out in 3 seconds.
I think it's difficult to buy, but if you see it at a bar, it's definitely one you should try.
4th: Ocean's Coolie 2002 20 years
This is not a bottle released around January 2025, but a bottle released in the past.
This is a coolie from 2002, which is said to be a hit year, and it's milky and delicious with a lemon candy flavor.
Lately, I've been becoming more and more interested in Irish whiskey, and it seems like you can still buy it, so I'd like to buy it if I have the money.
5th bottle: Clerin Babar 2017 Ex Benriach Cask
It's not whiskey, it's rum.
It has a strong adhesive/cemedine smell, so if you don't like this part of rum, you probably won't drink it.
However, when you get beyond this scent, you can feel a strong tropical and ethereal scent.
And what's great about it is the price, which is cheap at around 9,000 yen per bottle.
I think this is a product that will appeal to people who are familiar with, or even like, the smell of rum adhesive and Cemedine.
If you see it at a bar, give it a try.
Closing Thoughts
The number of releases increases at the end of each year, and the number of releases seems to slow down at the beginning of the year, as usual.
Still, there were some good releases, and there was also a big release called Imperial.
Next month February will be ``Chichibu Whiskey Festival 2025”, which attracts many whiskey lovers from Japan and abroad.
I think there will be some good releases in line with that, so let's wait with anticipation.
