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750ml
Bottle:
$86.82
$91.39
The lightly smoky sea-breeze aroma entices on the nose. The palate opens with bolder peat smoke underpinned by...
750ml
Bottle:
$71.82
$75.60
Sandalwood aromas are robust and exhilarating on the nose. The cedar cask influence is immediately apparent in the...
700ml
Bottle:
$78.66
$82.80
This single malt whisky marks Kanosuke's first consistent release in the 6 years since their opening in 2018. Like...
700ml
Bottle:
$154.80
6 bottles:
$141.60
Robust notes of cinnamon, pastry custard, banana, and smokey incense on the nose precede a weighty palate of black...
750ml
Bottle:
$41.40
Get back to nature; this is a whisky to savor during a spectacular sunrise. Lychee, edamame, pea shoots, green apple,...
700ml
Bottle:
$42.18
$44.40
12 bottles:
$39.90
Showing a nose combining earthy aromas of barley cake, toasted walnut, and campfire smoke with more fruit driven...
750ml
Bottle:
$16.66
12 bottles:
$16.33
Lychee and citrus peel aromas yield to flavors of exotic spice. Fantastic with aromatic or spicy dishes.
750ml
Bottle:
$16.51
$18.34
Always reliable, the 2018 Gewürztraminer delivers again, boasting flamboyant scents of rose petals, lychee fruit and...
750ml
Bottle:
$26.40
12 bottles:
$25.87
100% Gewürztraminer from No Clos Radio Vineyard in Tualatin Hills AVA (NW Willamette Valley). Fruit from No Clos...
750ml
Bottle:
$148.50
$199.94
Prunes, forest honey, vanilla seeds, dark chocolate cookies, and Brazil nut, with hints of chocolate orange and...
750ml
Bottle:
$32.36
$34.80
12 bottles:
$30.78
Number 19 in the 2020 Top 20. This new, higher proof Iwai (pronounced EE-why) was designed for cocktails; however,...
750ml
Bottle:
$47.43
$51.00
12 bottles:
$43.32
This carmine dram has a soft, mellow nose of raisin, earthy red wine notes, wet slate, prune flesh, stewed rhubarb,...
700ml
Bottle:
$38.76
$40.80
12 bottles:
$36.48
Blending only the best malt and grains, combined with the fresh spring water from the streams of Mount Daisen...
Faro Gewurztraminer Japanese Whiskey Mencia
Gewurztraminer is renowned for being a particularly tricky grape varietal to grow and cultivate, but is one which plenty of wineries persevere with due to its unique properties and excellent flavors The vines themselves are highly robust, and can even be unruly when in the correct type of soil, but they cannot grow well in terroirs which contain chalk or other similar components. They are also extremely susceptible to a wide range of diseases and rot, and due to their early budding and fruiting, they cannot survive frost. However, despite these problems, in cooler climates and on the right terroir, the Gewurztraminer grape varietal produces wonderful results quite unlike any other vine. The pink grapes are packed full of elegant and sweet flavors, their relatively high sugar content offering a light sweetness alongside floral notes, perfumed and aromatic aromas, and a distinctive taste of lychees.
Whisky might not be the first thing that springs to mind when we think of Japanese fine produce, but over the past one hundred years, this fascinating and multi-faceted country has diligently forged a unique whisky identity which is growing in popularity, and which is entirely its own.
The story of Japanese whisky begins in 1918, when Masataka Taketsuru was sent to Scotland to undertake a tour of single malt distilleries in the Highlands, and bring home a knowledge of whisky and distillation skills. He returned full of inspiration, helped no doubt by his new Scottish wife, and alongside his friend, Shinjiro Torii, set up what would become a successful whisky industry.
Today, the Japanese whisky industry is spread over a relatively small handful of distilleries, which continue to use Scottish techniques and recipes, but with a hefty dose of distinctly Japanese experimentalism. This is displayed most obviously in the barrelling techniques the Japanese use - to create a distinctly Oriental set of tasting notes, native Japanese oakwood casks are used for ageing, alongside casks taken from plum wine producers, which impart a beautiful set of floral flavors to the whisky.
While some distilleries produce some excellent single malts, the majority of Japanese whiskies are blended, which reveals a unique set of flavors and aromas ranging from honeysuckle and orange blossom, to toffee and acetone.