Ichiro’s Malt And Grain World Blended Whisky (58.8%, OB for Liquorland Kimura, Virgin French Oak, cask #7255, 310 bottles)
Not a 100% Japanese native but more of a mongrel of various nations it seems. Colour: gold. Nose: hot white pepper, varnish and wood glue at first. Big, clean, modern, spicy oakiness indeed. Lots of coconut sweetness, bubblegum, warm sawdust and pencil shavings. The kind of profile that can be exhausting very quickly but the sweetness errs on the side of natural here which helps things along nicely. Develops some nice notes of moss, ferns, lemon icing and coconut milk. With water: really pure sawdust now. Also some more mossy notes, gravel, wood char and a new packet of yellow dusting cloths. Mouth: here it’s a tad more challenging. The oak is rather punchy and aggressive, takes a few seconds to simmer down. Then there’s hot plastic, boiled lime sweets, some mandarin peel and more of these sweet coconut notes, although there’s a tad more artifice to the sweetness this time. With water: cooking oil, trail mix, a hint of sugar syrup and plenty fresh, newly sawn oak! Finish: medium. All on suncream, condensed milk, a wee drop of mint julep and some more sugary cocktail syrups. Comments: Not my cup of thing I’m afraid. Too many splinters for my taste. Having said that, it’s a perfectly fine, high-octane blend and would no doubt make a very refreshing highball...
SGP: 841 - 78 points.

Chichibu 2011/2016 (62.4%, OB for USA, cask #1367, port pipe, 618 bottles)
The barley variety for this one was called ‘Braemar’ apparently. Colour: light amber. Nose: prickly and peachy in equal measure. That is to say, rather peppery and hot while at the same displaying notes of peaches in syrup, rum ‘n’ raisin ice cream, strawberry wine, cloves and spiced custard. Also some unlikely things such as Tizer and Irn Bru mixed together (It’s been done, I promise), juicy fruit chewing gum and a suggestion of Greek Retsina wine. I find it rather charming. With water: more pine notes such as pine cones, precious hardwood saps, big, earthy, strong black teas and some darker fruits such as figs and prunes. Also gets leafier and more towards tobacco. Mouth: The first thing is that it’s reminiscent of grappa, remember, even in Japan, a pipe is a big cask and four years is still pretty young so the distillate is still a rather loud and boisterous toddler. But it’s already clean and fruity and bready so it works well. Some allusions to the raw barley, sourdough and crusty brown bread. But then also raspberry cordial, elderflower, mint leaf and prune juice. A strange character indeed! With water: really good now! Syrupy, sweet green tea, lemon cordial, fresh barley, a good young VSOP Cognac, sweet custard, lime leaf, tarragon, mint extract and tea tree oil. Also some hawthorn and wormwood. Finish: long, leafy, lots of bitter lemon, coal dust, fruit loop sweeties, some youthful white port and resurgent bready touch. Comments: A bit scattershot at times, but it pulls itself together with a splash of water and you can’t help but fall under its very entertaining spell. Now, full term in Port is another matter entirely from finishing or re-racking I suppose...
SGP: 661 - 87 points.

Chichibu 7 yo 2010/2018 (59.6%, OB, cask #2633, cream sherry hogshead, 285 bottles)
Also distilled from the Braemar barley varietal. You don’t see too many ex-cream sherry hoggies about, this should be interesting... Colour: amber. Nose: oh! But what’s this? Sweet raisins, sultanas, fig jam, mint leaf, pear syrup, hessian, herbal teas, wild strawberry, a sliver of pecan pie and some bitter chocolate! A superb nose. Lush, old school sherry richness and all these wee notes popping out all over the place. Add glace cherries, fruit loaf and sweet liquorice! With water: develops in a sort of ‘new world’ direction, that is to say: lots of breads, cereals, light spices and toasted seed notes. Some lemon peel too. Pure, clean and very lovely. I feel like water is effectively brushing away the sherry and bringing out the distillate - not unlike the helicopter-induced speed-excavation of the velociraptor skeleton at the beginning of Jurassic Park (we’ll watch it one day Serge, I promise!). Mouth: mocha, chilli infused hot chocolate, sweet cherry beer, star anise, limoncello, brown bread and lime cordial. Superb! With water: a very direct spicy/bready mix. Some residual raisins and sultanas, damp leaves, espresso and general red-tinged fruitiness. Finish: long, bready, getting rather meaty as well with notes of Bovril, game and then instant coffee and Brazil nuts. Linger, leather and earthy. Comments: very very good! This kind of cask at circa 10 years of age will really be quite something.
SGP: 671 - 88 points.

Chichibu 9 yo 2009/2018 (63.1%, OB, cask #2352, white wine cask, 245 bottles)
9 years old? Time is well and truly airborne it would appear. Also, this one was distilled from barley variety called ‘Tipple‘. Is that a Japanese offshoot of the ancient indigenous Scottish variety ‘Bevvy’ I wonder? Colour: deep gold. Nose: turbo charged mature Sauternes! Behind that there’s apricot conserve, baked apples, glazed pastries and Cinnamon Graham’s breakfast cereal. These various garden and orchard fruit notes increasingly manifest as liqueurs and syrups giving a very textural feel to the nose. Add to that some sultanas, a little fig, tobacco leaf and perhaps a wee touch of melon too. With water: eases into itself perfectly with water developing notes of satsuma, kumquat, sweet muscat and various pollens and wildflowers. Mouth: the alcohol is indeed rather feisty but the sweetness and richness of the fruits is also very ‘present’. Spiced fruit chutney, toffee apples, plum sauce, five spice, some kind of exotic fruit-infused mead and more wee notes of cinnamon, all spice and crystallised orange peel. There’s an increasing earthiness as well and even a tiny glimmer of rancio. With water: Pow! really comes into its own with water. Orange blossom, rosewater, incense, mandarin liqueur, poppy seeds, various fruit jams and heather honey. Finish: long, lightly sappy, full of warming wood spices, some hops, red liquorice, eucalyptus and menthol tobacco. Still a beautiful, lingering natural sweetness. Comments: I’d be intrigued to know the kind of white wine cask this was matured in. That aside, however, this is a terrific wee Chichibu: sweet, savoury, succulent, textural and complex. But water is pretty essential I’d say.
SGP: 751 - 90 points.

Ichiro’s Malt Double Distilleries + Peated (61.3%, OB, bottled 2018, 129 bottles)
A vatting of regular Chichibu, peated Chichibu and aroun 5% Hanyu, so I’m told. Colour: white wine. Nose: peated malt sitting in malt bins is the initial impression, which means we’re pretty close to the raw ingredients. It’s gets better still with these notes of lemon barley water, oily sheep wool, lanolin, brine, ink and new leather. There’s also suggestions of goats cheese rolled in ash, straw, herbal tea and pure sea salt. Purity is very much the watchword so far. With water: gets very ‘fermenty’ with water. Towards sourdough, active yeast, lemon juice, whelks and other raw shellfish notes. Notes of wet kelp and rope as well. Mouth: big, rather immense and very chiselled stuff. We’re getting towards this blade-like, pin sharp profile more akin to a good Caol Ila. Only here there’s also an added layer of farmy funk that drifts in after a while. Some beach pebbles, mechanical oils, engine grease and dried seaweed in strong ramen broth (man I really want some ramen now, dammit!) With water: pure kiln smoke, soot, kippers and peppered mackerel. Strong soy sauce and miso (ramen again!), more ashy notes and a rather bright lemony aspect. Finish: long and throwing up more mineral, pebbley notes. Some green olives, preserve lemons, smoky grist and light tarriness. Comments: Like so many of these bottlings from the Chichibu ‘stable’ I find this one a tad all over the place in some ways but not in a negative way. This to and fro between cask and spirit - or in this case peat and malt - is often adding complexity, charm and entertainment to the proceedings. I suspect, over the next decade, we’ll start to see Chichibu itself settle down a little in style and start to emerge as something really special and idiosyncratic with a more assertive distillery character. I know this is a blended malt, but it’s the Chichibu component that really sings loudest and most beautifully.
SGP: 475 - 88 points.

Hanyu The Joker ‘Multivintage’ (57.7%, OB ‘Card Series’, 3690 bottles)
A vatting of vintages from 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991 and 2000 from a variety of cask types. Colour: light amber. Nose: certainly an older whisky profile after all these youngsters. It’s also what I’d term a more classical Japanese style. That is to say hot paprika, polished hardwoods, firecrackers, pot pourri, exotic teas, light soy sauce, meat stocks, sandalwood and hints of old medicines. With water: gets fatty, oilier, sootier, more towards mushrooms, leaf mulch, butterbean paste and damp tobacco leaf. A slight grubbiness emerges. Mouth: slightly mushroomy and rather earthy with bitter chocolate, black tea, herbal extracts, soot, lime leaf, mild curry powder and things like black pepper, truffle and graphite oil. It’s very good but a tad tough, which is something that I find with most Hanyus. With water: more wood spices, caraway, fruity chilli, paprika, leather, strong black tea, five spice, star anise and bitter herbal extracts like Unicum. Some gingerbread, horseradish and cumin. Finish: good length although not the longest. Towards dried tropical fruit chunks such as mango and papaya as well as red fruit teas, lime cordial, wood shavings, light tar extracts and more herbal, menthol, medical touches. Comments: I find these Hanyus a tad frustrating. There are aspects which are excellent such as the complexity and depth of flavour. But they can also tend towards being too hot, too extractive and too much hard work. It’s funny how far away we are from the blended malt and yet we’re in the same ball park as far as quality is concerned if you ask me.
SGP: 462 - 88 points.

Arran 21 yo 1995/2017 (49.5%, Cadenhead 175th for Berlin Shop, hogshead, 270 bottles)
Colour: orangey gold. Nose: orangey indeed. Blossom honey, orange peel studded with cloves, some grated nutmeg, chamomile tea, fruit loaf and stem ginger in syrup. A rather glossy nose with plenty of crystallised fruits and things like quince, poire williams and mixed citrus peels. There’s a nice note of furniture polish as well which gives it an impression of being slightly older than it is. Custard and sweet wines too. All very lovely. Mouth: sweet and very syrupy. Then some deeper and rather peppery wood spice aspects. Pot pourri, cinnamon bark, tobacco pouch, old leather, young dessert wines. Pretty excellent in my book! Crystallised orange peel, sultana, lime leaf and a wee nibble of rancio. Finish: medium in length and rather towards the wood but it’s clean and fragrant with hardwood shavings, saps, dried herb mix and sandalwood. A hint of star fruit in the aftertaste. Comments: Quite simply, a really great wee Arran that is wise beyond its years but still alive and a wee bit mischievous. One of my favourite Arrans ever in fact. 
SGP: 551 - 89 points.

Arran 22 yo 1996/2019 (49.6%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, hogshead, 276 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: this one is more savoury and fragrant. More immediately towards sandalwood, lemon peel, bracken, heather, plum jam, gooseberries and rather a lot of fresh pastries such as croissant, brioche and fruit muffins. Fruity cereal bars, muesli, golden syrup and flapjack. Some elegant heathery notes in the background as well, alongside some melon, guava and banana bread. Another really excellent mid-aged Arran. Mouth: lots of fruit lozenges and hard boiled fruit sweeties. Mint tea, orange soda, light hessian notes, pink grapefruit, fizzy sherbet and vitamin tablets in soda water. Whereas the 95 was more wood-dominated, this 96 is all on easy going fruits and pastries. Green apples, pears, more gooseberry and a wee scattering of dry cereals. Finish: good length, all on dried herbs, bouillon stock, fruit syrups, honeys and some tobacco leaf and old shilling ales. Comments: Despite the obvious differences in profile between these two - which I really enjoy - I find it extremely hard to pick a favourite. They’re both pretty excellent and very pleasurable drams. 
SGP: 641 - 89 points. 

Orkney 12 yo 2007/2019 (55.5%, North Star, hogshead, 370 bottles)
I haven’t checked the co-ordinates so I’m not sure if this one also hails from that infamous illicit Orkney still at Mrs Cameron’s house...? Colour: white wine. Nose: lots of chalk, bandages, pebbles and lime. Something slightly funky and earthy underneath as well. Continues with distant peat smoke, ink, crushed sea shells and plenty of freshly milled grist plunging into a mash tun full of seawater. Superbly fresh and characterful stuff! With water: develops this rather fresh linen and fabric side. Beach sand, bath salts, mineral oil and putty. Mouth: slightly tart, bitter herbs, quinine, lemon barley water, sea salt, very light antiseptic notes and things like beach pebbles and crushed aspirin. More raw barley and some heather and hessian notes. Some crab meat, light medical notes and soft waxiness. With water: again gets drier, more fragrant, more towards linens, oils, light herbal notes, citrus fruit peels with slightly bitter pith notes and more mineral aspects. Finish: long, herbal, medical, lemony, sooty and getting increasingly mineral. Comments: Some of these stocks are just superb! These casks at 15-20 years old will be totally thrilling I think. I hope someone is saving a few... 
SGP: 362 - 89 points. 

Highland Park 27 yo 1986 (45.1%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #4.202 ‘Salt and pepper’, refill hogshead, 261 bottles, +/-2014)
Colour: light gold. Nose: bruised cider apples, heather honey, soft seashore notes and a little herbal medicine at first. The height of loveliness and very much on the lighter, easier side of Orkney. Lots of sea greens, gorse, heather, beach pebbles, gomme syrup and wee touches of pineapple and mint. A scatter of toasty cereals as well. Perfect age and strength make this very approachable, the kind of gentle and evocative character that can only really come from patience and refill wood. Mouth: simple and easy but rather beautiful in its elegance and subtly. Gentle wood smoke, white pepper, warm kiln air, mineral smoke, flints, lemon rind, tiger balm and soft sooty notes. A few green fruits, some pink peppercorns now, guava, mandarin, exotic spices, sultana and gentle medical touches. Finish: good length. On green teas, soft seashore notes, mineral oil, lemon infused olive oil and buttery cereals. Comments: Quite simply another very good Highland Park, captured at a supremely quaffable age and strength. The kind of bottle that can mysteriously evaporate during a rainy evening stuck in a Kirkwall hotel with an oversized Alsatian winemaker. 
SGP: 462 - 90 points. 

Angus:
Allt-a-Bhainne 26 yo 1992/2018 (51.6%, The Single Malts Of Scotland, Elixir Distillers, cask #36, hogshead, 279 bottles)
Whisky people used to say there was always at least one ‘great’ bottling from every distillery. The search continues in the case of Allt-a-Bhainne. Although, in all fairness, the search goes on with quite a few of them really. So that sentiment is largely nonsense. Indeed, people used to say lots of things... Colour: oaked chardonnay. Nose: gentle to the point of timidity at first nosing. Grass, olive oil, some shy green fruits, apples, pears, distant custard. If someone did one of those little pots for a nosing kit labelled ‘nice malt whisky’ they might use this. Some butter, some cereal, some more general garden and green fruitiness. With water: fruity mueslli, sweet porridge, lemony, cereal, lightly grassy, some youthful dessert wine. All perfectly fine. Mouth: easy arrival on bubblegum, juicy fruits, fruit salad sweets, runny honey and some sweet cereal notes. All very clean and pleasant but it’s just a tad hollow and generic is the only problem. More light custard notes, some lemon peel and apricot jam. With water: sweet, easy, green apple, some white chocolate, mint tea with lemon. Simple but very easy. Finish: medium, getting ever so slightly dryer, a twist of white pepper, some citrus pith, cornflakes and maybe a bit of vanilla. Comments: If you just want some very easy, simple, inoffensive malt whisky flavoured malt whisky then this will do the job. It’s just not particularly exciting or interesting. The search continues...
SGP: 431 - 80 points.