Three Japanese days on WF, day 3


September 16, 2026

Three Japanese days on WF, day 3

We’re picking up where we left off yesterday, with the new Yoichis and Miyagikyos from Nikka, as interpreted by LMDW for their artistic series, the aptly named ‘Artist’ series. Rest assured, the creativity is on the labels, in real life, and in the bottles.

Yoichi 20 yo 2005/2026 (59.1%, Artist by La Maison du Whisky, virgin mizunara puncheon, cask #407529, 297 bottles)

The 10 yo was very fine but had been narrowly pipped by its Miyagikyo cousin of the same age. Let’s see whether another ten years can turn the tables… Colour: full gold. Nose: rich, highly aromatic, even enveloping on the nose, with plenty of honeys, proper bitter orange marmalade, and a very delicate smokiness, very vegetal, almost resinous. Mango liqueur then comes in, together with manuka honey and salted butter caramel. Nothing less. With water: a little more towards fig leaves, tomato leaves… Mouth (neat): smokier, more resinous, with a slight roughness that isn’t out of place at all (see our comments on the integration of oak in Japanese whiskies a little further up), and some salted citrus paste. Superb and powerful, with a slight Ardbeggian side. With water: it softens, almost falls into line, and moves even closer towards candied citrus. Finish: long, elegant, much less invasive than I had expected. Comments: I’m repeating myself, but these babies are very sensitive to water, so careful with that pipette, Eugene.
SGP:364 - 91 points.

I think we’ll change barrels (that's smart, S.) and finish this little Yoichi vertical first, then move on to the Miyagikyos. It should be more interesting that way after all, and a little less, shall we say, schoolroom.

Yoichi 35 yo 1991/2026 (65.4%, Artist by La Maison du Whisky, sherry butt, cask #129880, 144 bottles)

Impressive power for a 35 yo! We’ve already tasted quite a few 1991s. The very young ones had been a little brutal, the older ones much more charming and seductive. Colour: coffee. Nose: a fine example of an old malt where the sulphury side is perfectly integrated, as in some old Mortlach, let’s say. We’re talking truffles, bitter chocolate, ristretto coffee, and above all game birds, hung just long enough. Do they have grouse in Japan? With water: everything relaxes, moving towards candied citrus, bergamot, Iberian cured ham, with still plenty of dark chocolate and coffee. Touches of old plum spirit (vieille prune from Souillac!) Mouth (neat): absolutely massive, all on very old fir-tar liqueur, with an amusing little flash of Clacquesin. Incidentally, La Maison du Whisky held their first proper festival, before Whisky Live Paris, at the old Clacquesin distillery in Malakoff. We were there, naturally, and it was brilliant. Old bottles of Clacquesin are still easily found at auction and are well worth trying. End of commercial break, back to our Yoichi… With water: lots of little herbs, salted prunes, a few touches of anchovies and olives, there’s even a black tapenade side. Finish: very long, returning to very high-cocoa dark chocolate. And salmiak. Comments: hard not to think of certain Karuizawas, as well as old Mortlachs! In fact, I find it absolutely magnificent, with its slightly extreme side.
SGP:373 - 93 points.

Yoichi 40 yo 1986/2026 (59.4%, Artist by La Maison du Whisky, remade hogshead, cask #252819, 39 bottles)

The Yoichis from this era that I’ve been lucky enough to taste seemed globally peatier to me than they are today, although of course they were much younger. I haven’t tasted many 1986s, but the 1987s were certainly well peated (P = 4-5). Anyway, a forty-year-old Yoichi is a first, wow! And quite a privilege to be able to taste it… Colour: full gold. Nose: completely different, this is concentrated mandarin, peel and all, with touches of chen-pi and peppermint. Incredibly clear and fresh, with quince paste coming through after a while. We love this. With water: spruce buds, faded rose and geranium, very ripe guava, then more and more woodruff. Our pet plant! Mouth (neat): exactly the same combination on the palate, mandarins, chen-pi, quinces, mint, with just the addition of a little liquorice wood and lemon marmalade. Incredibly fresh, you could easily put away half a litre. I’m joking, okay? With water: even fresher, even more citrusy, even more dangerous, especially as it then starts going fractal on you, provided you haven’t added too much water. Finish: nicely long, more on mint tea with pine nuts, quite simply, then a little almond milk and white amaretto. Comments: it’s strictly impossible for me to tell you whether I prefer the 35 or the 40. Anyway, I’d change my mind tomorrow, then again the day after, and so on. Perhaps the slightest edge to this 40 because of its more pronounced fruitiness but trying to separate the two would become vulgar.
SGP:563 - 93 points.

Let’s move on to the Miyagikyos, then.

Miyagikyo 15 yo 2010/2026 (58.8%, Artist by La Maison du Whisky, Port hogshead, cask #125892, 204 bottles)

What’s always rather puzzling with these babies is that there seems to be absolutely no relationship between their bottling strengths, so cask strengths, and their ages. In theory, strength can rise in hot, dry environments, as in Kentucky for example, but I don’t think we could claim that’s the case here. Yoichi is up north (Hokkaido), while Miyagikyo is near Sendai, on Honshu, in a very humid environment. Unless, of course, the casks are stored somewhere hot and dry… Mystery… Colour: full gold. Nose: we’re facing oriental spices, masala, also bergamot, very pronounced, and some little resinous touches that are much more discreet than in the Yoichis. And then, mango! With water: this is probably the most ‘Scottish’ so far, at least among these little beauties from Nikka. Ripe apple, acacia honey, blond tobacco, while the mango has gone rather quiet. Mouth (neat): very powerful, very distinguished, with lemons, clementines, candied angelica, and one drop of pear liqueur. Japanese pear, naturally. With water: a little oak now, kirsch, almonds, and even a drop of sour cherry juice. Finish: rather long, a little more marked by the wood. Comments: this is of course very beautiful, but I think I slightly preferred the 10 yo.
SGP:561 - 89 points.

Miyagikyo 25 yo 2000/2026 (60%, Artist by La Maison du Whisky, sherry butt, cask #117935, 425 bottles)

Colour: amber. Nose: this time the rubber tree is back, even with some metallic touches, slightly smoky tea, potting soil, fruit skins, and an amusing chocolate-mint side. A little walnut stain, amontillado, dark tobacco… With water: cedarwood, cigar box, then straight into an old box of Caran d’Ache pencils, the big one, thirty colours at least. You remember, the Matterhorn on the lid? Mouth (neat): it’s very different on the palate, spicier but also fruitier. Peach soup, paprika, then more and more tobacco, like when we used to smoke unfiltered cigarettes, back in the last century. Indeed, there’s also a little tar, but nothing like the Yoichis. With water: the walnuts are back, as is the amontillado side… Finish: rather long, with no major changes, except that it’s rather dry, with black tea and cocoa. Comments: the 10 yo still remains my favourite so far.
SGP:461 - 89 points.

One of my favourite Miyagikyos was the 18 yo 1996 LMDW #42439 (WF 91), a peated one. Are we about to beat it?... Suspense…

Miyagikyo 40 yo 1986/2026 (59.9%, Artist by La Maison du Whisky, virgin oak puncheon, cask #78858, 174 bottles)

This is, naturally, the oldest Miyagikyo of them all. And as usual, it refuses to play by the rules, being remarkably pale for such a venerable age. Colour: full gold. Nose: oh yes, a greenhouse in full bloom, little rubber objects, school erasers, bitter almonds, toasted pecans, sesame cream, peanut butter… Then pink grapefruit and the tiniest touch of fresh turmeric. The coherence and compactness of the whole are quite sublime. With water: little flowers and herbs come rushing in, pansies, borage, wood sorrel… And you can eat all of those too! (a very French concern). Mouth (neat): incredible citrus fruits and the finest Wulong tea. That implies a certain tannicity, very obvious here, but mingled with those citrus fruits, it melts into the whole and becomes a tremendous asset. A touch of linseed oil. With water: a veritable collection of little oils, peanut, rapeseed, sesame, hazelnut, pistachio… Finish: fairly long, very elegant, with pistachio at the helm. Thin Mints in the aftertaste. Comments: what a beauty! But once again, mind the water. These high strengths can tempt you into adding too much ‘without thinking’, and there’s no way back. A glorious drop, nonetheless.
SGP:452 - 93 points.

Right, I’d have loved to vat the two 40-year-olds, Yoichi + Miyagikyo, just to see whether the marriage might tickle 94 or even 95 points. Sadly, being hopeless philistines, we drank the evidence before conducting the experiment. Like savages, and like you-know-whom.

I should add, in closing, that all these Yoichi and Miyagikyo ‘Artist’ bottlings are beautifully adorned with photographs by Yoshiki Hase, taken on location in and around the distilleries. Here are two superb examples:

Yoshiki Hase

Check the index of all Japanese whiskies we've tasted