Karuizawa, 1967 Cask #6426
This was originally bottled in 2009 as a 42-year-old for The Whisky Exchange's 10th Anniversary, with the cask split between TWE and La Maison du Whisky, generating around 200 bottles per retailer.
Nose
Strawberries, straw, vanilla, pipe tobacco, dry sherry, mossy forest floor
Palate
Sweetness, meaty notes, tannic notes, sherry, lemon sherbet, red berries
Finish
Seasoned wood, warm spice
The nose arrives with a huge waft of fresh strawberries and straw before moving into clouds of vanilla and pipe tobacco, then settling into the classic Karuizawa signature of dry sherry and mossy forest floor that devotees of this distillery know so well. On the palate, an immediate sweetness gives way to rich, meaty and peppery gravy-like depth, with a dry tannic bite as the sherry reasserts itself — before a series of palate-tingling surprises emerge in the form of zesty lemon sherbet and bright fresh red berries, sensational from a whisky of this age. The finish is long and measured, as you would expect, winding down through nicely balanced woody notes and subtle spices.
