Yamazaki Sherry Cask 2013

Named by Jim Murray as the "World Whisky of the Year" in his 2015 Whisky Bible and subsequently reaching massively lofty heights in the £££ stakes at auction, we pretty much anticipated this was a whisky we would never taste. And then a chance retweet meant we won a bottle from the kind folks at The Whisky Exchange. A couple of weeks of do-we-drink-it-or-do-we-cash-in followed, before we realised that was a stupid argument, we'd paid nothing for it, we didn't need the money and besides, we actually wanted to know what it tasted like. Also, CHRISTMAS YOLO. Christmas 2014 was a good day...

We've since savoured this dram, always treating it as a "special occasion" kinda whisky, and so World Whisky Day seemed like the perfect time to polish it off. Here are our thoughts.

Colour: Indulgent mahogany.

Nose: Walnuts, raisins, plum pudding, deep dark wood and bags of demerara sugar, with some allspice and cinnamon thrown in for good measure. The sherry influence is hugely apparent and creates an opulent and enticing aroma.

Palate: Rounded and robust. Hints of black forest gateau with cherry liqueur and dark chocolate both identifiable. Dried fruits and rich sugars follow through from the nose. It's suffered somewhat from being open for such a long time, gaining a slight astringency, and in hindsight we should have just got on with it and drank it quicker as the flavours (although definitely still apparent) have diminished slightly. That said, it's still a great drink and in it's heyday was truly magnificent.

Finish: Long, tannic and warming, the chocolate notes in particular lingering along with the wood. Delicious.

To conclude - it's a very fucking lovely dram indeed, we have absolutely no regrets about drinking rather than selling, and we reckon it's well worth the initial £80-100 pricetag. But over a grand? We'd rather have 20 bottles of Uigedail thanks.

Cheers, and a very happy World Whisky Day!

World Whisky Day 2014: A round-up

May 17th 2014 was chosen as World Whisky Day, a day for dram lovers all over the globe to raise a glass and celebrate the amber nectar. We chose to partake both from our personal collection at home, and with the fine fellows at The Broadfield. It was great to chat to other whisky lovers - as well as at the pub, social media really got behind the event and we were invited to discuss our drams with folks from around the world.

Here is our day in photos...

From left to right:
Glen Scotia 16, Aberlour 10 (top), Ardbeg Corryvreckan (bottom) and Lagavulin 16

All in all a delicious combination of drams were shared, and it was great to take part in something that the entire international whisky community can get behind.

World Whisky Day is held on the third Saturday of every May, so save the date for next year! And if you raised a glass this year, let us know what you imbibed!

Slainte!

J&L