Karuizawa 1994 Full Proof Europe

The famous barrel tossing girl! A sequel to the classic caber tossing lass (see the bottom of this post). Nonjatta contributor Bert Vuik, a friend of the people behind Full Proof, says this one is from the same cask as the Ichiro's Choice "Peated Golden Promise"

Review by Nonjatta contributor - Serge Valentin

Visit Serge`s website, the definitive Whiskyfun.com.

"Karuizawa 1994/2006 (61%, Full Proof Europe, cask #2221, ex-Glenlivet sherry butt, 204 bottles)
Colour: White wine.
Nose: Much rawer, milky and mashy, leafy, with notes of tobacco ashes... But we know Karuizawa needs water, don’t we? With water: it got very farmy, herbal, leathery. Hints of ‘clean’ baby vomit (which is not bad, mind you), rotting apples... Definitely wild.
Mouth (neat): Very punchy, with good oakiness and spiciness. Definitely resinous and spicy but let’s bring it down to our favourite tasting strength, 45% (all pros will tell you it’s much too high – okkkkaaaaaay). Well, that didn’t work as beautifully as with the officials but that’s probably because of the much lower cask influence here. Still a bit raw and hot, spirity, grainy...
Finish: Long, fruity and mashy, with a little pepper and paprika. A little youngish but it’s good distillation, no doubt. Let’s just say this one is less outta this world than the older "Vintage" official bottlings’s, which makes perfect sense I guess (despite – or is it because of? – the ex-Glenlivet butt). 83 points." (Serge`s scoring system is explained on this page.)

Alcohol
61 per cent (abv)