Yamazaki 10 Years Old

Yamazaki 10 Years Old is a single malt from Suntory's Yamazaki distillery in Osaka Prefecture, Japan's first malt whisky distillery, founded in 1923 in the valley of Shimamoto between Osaka and Kyoto, where the Katsura, Uji and Kizu rivers meet and soft humidity aids maturation. This is the entry into the aged Yamazaki range, a Japan market release bottled at 40% in a 700ml format.

Maturation here is in Ex-Bourbon barrels, American oak that frames the spirit with clean vanilla and a honeyed sweetness. The distillery runs many still shapes for a wide spirit palette, and at ten years that spirit leans on the soft, balanced orchard fruit that defines the Yamazaki house character. The result is light on its feet, with a gentle and rounded finish rather than the deeper sherry and mizunara tones reserved for the older bottlings, an easy and approachable introduction to the malt.