Yamazaki Distillery Tarudashi Genshu 10 yo

Review by Nonjatta contributor - AshDLS:

Yamazaki Distillery Tarudashi Genshu 10-year-old. 57 per cent alcohol (abv).

Colour: A wonderful rich gold colour. It has a relatively gentle (but mouth-watering) nose for such a strong alcohol content. The first thing that hit my nose was the wood of the cask and a floral character, but give it some time and warmth and it's like waving a freshly-cut green apple right under your nose. I've also noticed a couple of standard 10yo reviews mention a paint-like scent. It's definitely prominent in this one too, with a deep whiff, but certainly not in an unpleasant way.

Mouth: The mouth feel is like running your tongue up against in the inside of a cask! [Nonjatta Ed.: be careful of splinters!] A reasonable amount of dry spice on the palate with a honeyish sweetness trailing not far behind. Could quite happily sip away at this one without adding any water (despite having given it a go). It is not as overwhelming as other cask-strength malts."

Nonjatta note: "Tarudashi Genshu" means "Straight from the cask, cask strength." Ash tells me this was picked up from the distillery last year.