The Yamazaki – 2023 NAS Release

THE YAMAZAKI
2023 NAS release, not sold in the US

MASH BILL – 100% malted barley

PROOF – 86

AGE – NAS

DISTILLERY – Suntory

PRICE – $20 (¥2980) for a 180ml bottle purchased in Japan

WORTH BUYING? – Sure. Glad it wasn’t a 700ml bottle though.

Uncorked and tasted in The Year of No Buying (The what? 🔗 here.)

I picked up this wee bottle of non-age stated (NAS) Yamazaki while in Japan recently. To my surprise, it was not a ubiquitous item on liquor store shelves. I never saw it once in the eight Tokyo shops I visited. One high-end store near the buzzing Shibuya district did have a similar sized bottle of the Yamazaki 12 Year behind glass, and when I inquired the clerk said it was for display only. I eventually found this NAS bottle, placed next to similar bottles of Suntory’s related brand, Hakushu, in a small chain liquor shop in Kyoto, not a speciality shop but something more akin to the average corner store in the US.

This was a surprise discovery for me on my travels, that contrary to my assumptions Japanese whisky that’s rare and sought after in the US is just as rare and sought after in Japan, and just as costly. But Japanese whisky not rare or particularly sought after in the US, yet still rather expensive there, is much cheaper in Japan. I’m sure there are exceptions but that did seem to be the trend.

Given the NAS edition of Yamazaki I have here is not sold in the US, while this particular bottle might generally be valued less than a 12 Year age-stated release, which is available in the US, my having had to fly to Japan to get it bumps it up in value just a bit. However, there’s a hitch in that logic: Although no, this is not sold in the US, the same stuff re-labelled as “Distiller’s Reserve” is sold in the US. So, marketing. Nevertheless, from a literal standpoint, this bottle is not sold in the US.

That’s just whisky hunter psychology, of course. We’re very good at convoluting. 😉 What “value” this or any whisky actually has is subjective—subject both to one’s own personal values, and those determined and acted upon by whisky company marketing departments in response to supply and demand data. People clamor after Yamazaki, so a small 180ml NAS bottle like this runs a sturdy $20 (¥2980) in Japan, and a full 700ml bottle is about $81 (¥11,880). A 700ml of Yamazaki 12 Year is about $163 (¥23,800) in Japan, and is available in the US for the similar price of $170 if you’re lucky, $200+ more likely. By contrast, a less sought after 700ml bottle of Nikka Single Malt Yoichi or Miyagikyo costs about $29 (¥4280) in Japan, less than a third the average best price one can hope for in the US.

But most importantly, how does this NAS Yamazaki taste? This is arguably the ultimate determinant of subjective value.

Here we are, at uncorking, the first pour out of the bottle. These brief notes were taken after letting the whisky rest for about 30 minutes in a traditional Glencairn.

COLOR – clear and vibrant honey yellows

NOSE – dry plastic, salty sea air, cream, custard, honeydew melon, vanilla taffy

TASTE – darker than the nose, with a light but viscous and creamy texture, the honeydew melon, cream and custard, salty taffy, and plastic

FINISH – cream, salt, black pepper, bitter wood tannins, plastic, a whiff of the melon

OVERALL – It’s fine. But c’mon y’all. What. Is the big tadoo. Over this stuff?

I really don’t get all the fuss over this brand. It’s fine. But it definitely has that cheap plastic edge that seems to come with the territory when artificial coloring is involved. No matter how many arguments I read that added color doesn’t impact flavor, it’s been very consistent in my tasting experiences that I get this plastic note in any scotch, Irish whiskey, or Japanese whisky containing it.

And I don’t believe those who say it’s merely psychosomatic. I hadn’t done that research before tasting this Yamazaki, nor had I even thought about it. I was just excited to try it. But when that plastic note hit me right out of the gate on the nose, after finishing the rest of the tasting, then I did some poking around online, which confirmed there is indeed added color in this whisky, and that it’s chill filtered.

Whatever. It is what it is. And for whatever their reasons, people pay what they pay for Yamazaki.

I have zero doubt the 18 Year is good. Likely even really good. Even this standard NAS release is basically “good” in my own estimation. The melon and cream notes are legitimately enjoyable. But then that plastic note hits those bitter wood tannins on the finish and it just ain’t great.

I’d very much prefer to have paid half what I did for this 180ml sample. For a full 700ml bottle in the US, $100 is what I could expect on a good day. And for $100 I am not interested in one whiff of that plastic note. If I’m going to pay that much for a whisky, I don’t want anything in it that’s not whisky, nor anything that is whisky filtered out of it.

Despite this minor rant, I’m glad to have this wee bottle. I picked it up on a very enjoyable trip to Japan. I’ll enjoy its remaining three pours well enough. Maybe I’ll even make a proper Japanese style Highball with it.

It’s all a part of the journey. And that I like, very much.

Kanpai!