Matsui Sakura Cask

Jim Murray rated 95.5/100 in 2022

Freshly peeled grapefruit blends effortlessly with vanilla-led oak.  A young malty character keeps an aloof distance.  The sugars are a subtle mix of grist and icing sugar.  It is the cherry wood giving delicate phenolic notes. The surprising oiliness works wonders in holding together and then extending the complexity.  You half fancy that there is a light phenol note on the loose here, and you are convinced that there is barley concentrate at work.  Also, you are pretty sure the sugars range from delicate muscovado to thin orange-blossom honey, but there are no statements just teasing and hints.  Those brilliant oils just keep on going and the spices rise like the moon and glow above all.  The fade is one of a tannin-barley combination.  Forget about discreet sips, take healthy mouthfuls and chew and allow the splendour of the complexity complete with those mysterious hints of phenol to unravel on your tantalized taste buds.  So gentle, so genteel yet so understatedly enormous yet so sprightly.  A treat and a paradox of whisky.

Alc 48%

Matsui Mizanura Cask

95/100 Jim Murray 2020 Whisky Bible

Winner Japanese Single Malt Whisky of the Year in Jim Murray 2020 Bible.

N24 A saltier, sea-weedy coastal character to this than is normally found, then settles back into its unique Mizunara style with a charming fragility that emphasises both the effect of barley and oak working in tandem.  This is a young whisky make no mistake but the sugars seem almost perfectly weighted, every bit as brittle as the barley as well as a lemon drop boiled candy character.  Everything about this aroma, even the delicate phenol notes, seems to set ready to collapse if not handled with care – just amazing.  T24 One barely needs to do anything here: the young distillate melts in the mouth and slowly the fresh barley dissolves over the taste buds: just so sexy and salivating.  In slow motion those tart tannins begin to form and spread – truly a one-off sensation deployed by the local oak, and with no great haste the spices spread and intensify, it is thought choreographed.  F23 just has more charm in slow motion through the sugars are not quite as well represented.  The tannins are clear and gentle, the spices no more than an echo.  B24 I cannot emphasise enough the brilliance and bravery of this distillery.  The Asian market puts a high price on dark whisky, yet here is a unique malt: young, entirely naked with no caramel work to hide any fat or blemishes.  This is as natural and purely Japanese as Onsen, except this is to be taken without water.

Alc 48%

Matsui The Peated Cask

atsushika Hokusai’s “The great wave”
Packing a potent peat punch, this bottling leaves a hale and hearty aftertaste, even among Matsui whiskies. We feel the force and majesty of the waves in this Ukiyo-e artwork reflects the spirit of our peated offering, hence why we chose it for our label. Aesthetically pleasing and delicious, this Matsui whisky is a work of pride.

Alc 48%