Yamazaki 15 Years Old 1983

Yamazaki 15 Years Old 1983 is a sherry matured single malt from Suntory's Yamazaki distillery in Osaka Prefecture, Japan's first malt distillery, founded in 1923 where the Katsura, Uji and Kizu rivers meet and humidity aids maturation. Distilled in 1983 and bottled in 1998 for the Japan market, it is presented at 45%, a vintage release from the years when the distillery was still building its name.

Matured in an Oloroso sherry cask, the Spanish oak gives dried fruit, raisin and a note of chocolate over the distillery's soft orchard fruit. Fifteen years in sherry wood lend the malt a deep, rounded sweetness and a darker, fuller body than the standard cask mix. It is an early showing of the sherried side of the Yamazaki house character, balanced and complete, a glimpse of the depth the distillery would become known for in its later and more famous releases.