Karuizawa 25 year old Vintage

Review by Nonjatta contributor - Serge Valentin

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"Karuizawa 25 yo Vintage 1980 (58.1%, OB, cask #8185, 25cl)
Colour: Full amber.
Nose: Very, very clean, superbly malty, nutty and slightly smoky. Less sherry influence. Superb notes of chamomile tea and camphor and very faint rubber. Marzipan. Will water work as beautifully as with the older ones? Oh yes, it got even more superb, very pure, very clean, very compact. All on both old and fresh walnuts, vin jaune (or amontillado), ‘smoked marzipan’ (should that exist), walnut stain, hyme, fir honey... Quite fantastic.
Mouth (neat): Sweet, oaky, more drying than the older ones and more directly fruity (plums, apples). And very hot... With water: truly fantastic again, albeit not the most complex of them all. Greengage jam, resin sweets, cough syrup, mint drops, soft curry...
Finish: Long and perfectly spicy, with a lot of oak but a great one. This one really tastes ‘Japanese’ and it’s absolutely adorable I think. 91 points." (Serge`s scoring system is explained on this page.)

Alcohol
58.1 per cent (abv)
Price
The picture above is of a small 250 ml bottle. This one is also available in a 700ml for which you may have to pay between 30,000 and 40,000 yen. This shop sells this range.