Karuizawa Spirit of Asama

The aroma is sherried, dense, apricots, fruit, citrus, vanilla. On the palate, sweetness turning to salt. Apples, apricots, sherry. Aftertaste of apricots. Not bad, but a bit sugary and after a while it starts to get a bit astringent in the mouth.

price tag is high as I bought my bottle at around 75 euros :-)

Beautiful and deep density in the aroma. Unfortunately, the sulfur is also strong. Too much for me.

Sulphury blend of bad casks.

Even though this is one of the 'budget' Karuizawa's (I guess EUR 500 qualifies as budget, when you have to fork over a couple of thousands for an older single cask...), it shows the qualities that made this distillery so famous. Very floral, lots of fruits, especially berries on the nose and in the taste, very long finish. It is not as round as its more expensive brethren, there is a trace of sulfur and more oak. But the oak is something I usually do not mind. It is matured in 12 year old sherry casks, and even though it is very apparent that it is a sherried whisky, it has so many other dimensions that in my opinion only Karuizawa's have. So is it justified that the price has increased from under EUR 100 a few years ago to around EUR 500 now? It depends... if you ask me, yes, as this seems one of the few 'drinkable' Karuizawa's. Unless you don't mind opening a bottle of a few grand.

n: big sherry nose, with rubber, clay, sulphur and wet leaves, mushrooms. sultanas and prunes but this time they do not play the main role in my opinion. chocolate, leather and cigar boxes. traces of vick vaporub. t: oily mouth feel, lots of rubber within the sherry, chocolate and leather again. dryer than I would have expected. again these mushrooms, this time even more. again the dried fruits but somehow covered with these morbid tastes of clay and earth. very special. f: long, still earthy 88/100

REVISIT: N: Tomato-Worcestershire sauce-tamari combo, marzipan, plasticine,....i could go on and on with regards to descriptors but let’s just say it’s very open to suggestion. Somewhat old-style flavour wise with vibrancy. The next day the nose is fully fungal with ginger, soy,…, it’s a proper oriental dish. T: Ok, yeah - that's nice. Stands out clearly from the five other sherried whiskies i’ve tried tonight with deep sherry notes that sit in-between the rubbery Glenrothes and the grainy Glendronach 15 Revival - but yet with a deeper, richer and denser oriental sherry style. F: Rubbery sherry, shoe polish, cognac, gunpowder sulphur,… C: Yes, I know it's one of god's gifts and everything and it’s very good but of course it’s not perfect. There’s plenty of complexity on the nose and it tastes fab, but the resulting finish is,...  a little too much sherry influence - an influence that seems to mask the underlying spirit somewhat. These were merely niggles when this was released at just under £50 and this is a blend of what was left over pretty much, but at the ridiculous prices this bottle fetches now I’d have no qualms in selling unopened bottles - in order to buy more miniatures! Scores a B

N: Toffee and raisins galore with fungus [oyster mushrooms] wood oils, a touch of creosote, oily vanilla and huge, clean and oaky soft maltiness. T: Oily, malty arrival at full power without heat, although a few drops of water may be desirable. Huge vanilla and bitter<sweet with significantly less sherry influence here compared to the trifle monster on the nose. Short but marvelous full on development with a very fine mouthfeel indeed. F: Salty light aniseed finish that goes from bitter to sweet in a flash with a sour edge. Seemingly short finish at first with those vanillas hanging on by fingertips but actually theres a rather more complex lingering for the toffee/fudge malt coupled with that bitter to sweet interplay. C: Powerhouse malt with a glistening controlled performance all the way through. An extraordinary bottling for the original price of £54 but harder to justify at £280 [Jan ’15]. Scores a B+

The whisky itself is amazingly different. And not bad at the same time. However, he needs a lot of time in the glass to exploit his full flavor potential.

That price (especially at the whiskybase shop for 1.750€) for a whisky that doesn't deserve more than 82/100 (and the original price of 65€)... What a mad world...

Tasting Notes: https://whiskycuse.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/karuizawa-spirit-of-asama-48vol-ob-2012/

A nice simple karu

With a price around 70 EUR it is a bargain. Should have bought more than two bottles. Interesting with a Karuizawa the not is a sherry monster. I guess this one shows more of the real Karuizawa caracter.

Is not bad, but unfortunately not my taste.

This bottle could still buy 2 years ago for 72 euros. Despite the fact that with this the sherry would taste less than with other Karuizawa's it is still too much sherry for me. Not really my thing.

Tasting Note by The Chaps at Master of Malt Nose: Almond and hazelnut, hints of pine resin and Christmas cake. A touch of morello cherry, boiled sweets and dessert wine, hints of spice, truffle and pine needles.Palate: Incredibly rich palate entry with notes of sultanas and dark chocolate. Calves leather, soft smoke and overripe grape. Clove oil and nutmeg come late palate, as does the vaguest hints of rancio/truffles.Finish: Forest floor, sweet sherry and gentle wood smoke. Leathery.

Lots of sherry, cigar box, tobacco, some sulfur, dark fruit, sweet, soft, intense. A really good sherry box.

A marriage of 77 Sherry Butts from 1999 and 2000. The whisky is about 12yo.

The link is valid, so is the price! Still a few left. 277,09 VAT included! http://www.bestofwines.com/uk/whisky

Marvelous. My dearest Japanese ... Thanks to Phibo ... ;-)

Thanks Ale for the generous sample. A great malt, authentic sherry and a little bit dirty the way I like it. Great experience.

Notes on a sample. My first karuizawa. Very excited. No ... No ... It's not mine. First of all a nice load of pungent sulfur in the nose, what a shame. I let him stand and breathe, sometimes it disappears with a little more air. A little better, now all sorts of herbs I like. If only it weren't for the annoying sulfur. Otherwise there isn't much going on in the nose. Very herbaceous in the mouth, slight bitterness from the wood. Toffiffee. The sulfur is still getting through too much for me, match alarm. Otherwise I won't taste much more. Complexity nil. I think he would surely find his fans with other numbers on the price tag, For me that's ok, but nothing more.

If quality drops so much, that's a good reason to close the distillery.