Yamazaki 25 Years Old 1984 (Mizunara)

Yamazaki 25 Years Old 1984 is a long aged single malt from Suntory's Yamazaki distillery in Osaka Prefecture, Japan's first malt distillery, founded in 1923 in the humid Shimamoto valley where the Katsura, Uji and Kizu rivers meet. Distilled in 1984 and bottled in 2009 for the global market, this senior expression is presented at cask strength, 48%, drawn from the upper reaches of the Yamazaki range.

Its depth comes from a marriage of American, European and Japanese mizunara oak. The American oak gives vanilla, the European sherry wood drives dried fruit and chocolate, and the mizunara threads sandalwood and incense through the long aged spirit. The listed fresh fruit, leafy and fragrant notes frame the distillery's orchard character, giving a rich, layered malt with real resin and weight. A quarter century in this cask mix shows the full reach of the Yamazaki house style at its most complete and perfumed.