Yamazaki 18 Years Old

Yamazaki 18 Years Old is a senior single malt from Suntory's Yamazaki distillery in Osaka Prefecture, Japan's first malt distillery, founded in 1923 in the humid river valley of Shimamoto south of Kyoto where three rivers converge. This global release sits at 43% in a 700ml format, among the most decorated of Japanese single malts and the older sibling to the benchmark 12.

Matured in Ex-Bourbon wood, the American oak gives honey, vanilla and a deep, mellow sweetness over the distillery's fresh orchard fruit. This pour shows a cooked mash richness and a note of chocolate alongside the fruit, the long years in cask lending weight and roundness to the spirit. In the house style the older 18 typically carries a faint mizunara lift of sandalwood from the Japanese oak in the wider mix, and the whole malt drinks deep, soft and balanced, complete without ever turning heavy.