Yoichi 15 Review

Hi everyone,

Yes, Japanese whisky has gone nuts. Some nice standard releases from Yoichi and Miyagikyo disappeared very, very quickly, including this one. For those that don’t know, Yoichi and Miyagikyo are two of Nikka’s actual Japanese distilleries (I.e. not Ben Nevis with Japanese water added).

I was fortunate to try this in Germany last year, courtesy of my friend Michael.

 

Yoichi 15 45%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Fragrant and fruity, full and oily, reminiscent of Springbank, a heaviness of the malt, vanilla pod, slightly dirty smoke, light chocolate and milky coffee. A very little grassy.

Taste: Soft then oily, great oils, some spices coming in, dry oak, vanilla pod, orange, some dirty smoke.

Finish: Medium length. More fruity with lemon and orange, drying oak.

Quite complex for 15, more smoke than the 10. Should you add it to your Japanese whisky investment portfolio? Probably not at today’s prices.

77/100

 

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Japanese Review #27

Whisky Network Review #1031

Network Average: 75.2

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

 

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Mars 1988 & Yoichi 1991 Single Cask Reviews

Hi everyone,

Some rare Japanese whisky today from Mars and Yoichi.

Mars in particular I was keen to try, as the distillery closed for a long time and has only been producing again for the last few years. I had heard legendary things about the old stuff.

In the end, it turned out the other way round. The 3yo single cask I tried a while ago was way better than this one.

Mars 1988 Single Cask 46%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Very impressive. Complex floral, perfumed and sweet. Car sweets, orange and Turkish delight.

Taste: Very soft, silky, delicate, orange car sweets then more perfumed and floral with a soapy note. In the end it’s a bit like drinking washing up liquid.

Finish: Long length. Soapy and more than a little off. Car sweets, washing up liquid and a little oak.

Bottled 2013. I was excited about this one but very disappointing, particularly seeing the usual prices for these bottles are in the hundreds.

71/100

 

Yoichi- Nikka 1991 Single Cask 63%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Balanced and complex. Very nice amount of sweetness and smokiness, a very delicious Unami note like bacon, maple syrup and pancakes. Toffee popcorn.

Taste: Stunning arrival, dry mid-palate with lots of oak, spices and sweetness, orange, chewy sweets, then ashy smoke and bacon. Pretty delicious stuff.

Finish: Medium length. More Unami bacon and woody maple syrup.

Those Japanese... when they get it right, they get it very right. No water needed here. A little too dry maybe but bloody delicious.

88/100

Distilleries: Mars/Yoichi

Average Scores: 80/80.5

Distillery Rankings: 10th/11th of 64 places

Up/Down: Mars down 3>11 (9 places)

Thanks for reading!

Japanese Reviews #19-#20

Whisky Network Reviews #726-#727

Network Average: 74.9

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?