Suntory Hakushu 20 Year Old 1989 TWE 10th Anniversary

The color of this sherry matured Hakushu is really dark. Almost like coffee! The sherry butt was put to sleep in 1989 and bottled 20 years later for the 10th anniversary of Sukhinder Singh’s shop The Whisky Exchange.

The nose is… wow! What a sherry bomb! Deep, deep sherry with raisins on syrup, espresso, dades, balsamico, sugared mandarins, prunes, dark honey, berry licqueur and dark chocolate. Quite some woodspice too, but the wood certainly has not taken control of the spirit. More like the other way around. What a party, this nose! With a few drops of water, it turns meaty and puts balsamico in the spotlight.

On the palate, this is a veritable kamikaze, with its 62% ABV. Ka-boom! So hot, it makes me gasp for air. Very drying too. Spicy with ginger and chili pepper. Great development on prunes and mandarin. Some grapefruit, now. And licquorice. Water brings out blackcurrants and dampens the spices somewhat.

The finish is very, very long on grapefruit and ginger. It leaves your mouth completely dry, even with a few drops of water. Dies a wonderfully sweet death.

Wow, I am really impressed with this Hakushu. Fairly unique, I think. Just great. What a monster! Unfortunately sold out (used to be around 195 EUR).

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