Suntory 1981 – Kioke Shikomi

This is a blended malt rather than a single malt, a vatting of malt whisky from Suntory's Yamazaki distillery in Osaka and its forest distillery at Hakushu in Yamanashi, with no grain in the recipe. Distilled in 1981 and bottled in 2005 under the Kioke Shikomi name, it pairs the orchard fruit and rounded sweetness of Yamazaki with the fresh, green, herbal cut of Hakushu, an honest marriage of two house malts rather than the voice of a single site.

Matured in Ex-Bourbon oak across more than two decades, it shows the savoury, faintly mineral coal gas note that older Japanese malt can carry, set over honeyed orchard fruit, vanilla and a trace of the sandalwood incense Suntory draws from Japanese oak. The long ageing lends depth and a quiet, settled character. At 43% it stays composed and unhurried, a vintage vatting that reflects Suntory's malt stocks of the early 1980s.