Hatozaki 12 Year Old Umeshu Cask Finish Japanese Whisky (75cl, 46%)

Hatozaki 12 Year Old Umeshu Cask Finish is a Japanese blended malt from the Kaikyo Distillery in Akashi, Hyogo, bottled at 46% in a 75cl bottle. It is non-chill-filtered and natural in colour. The single malts in the blend were each aged for at least 12 years in American oak, then married and finished for a further six months in barrels that previously held umeshu, the Japanese plum liqueur made with ume plums macerated in ginjo sake. The nose brings cereal, light iodine, honeyed malt, pear and apricot with a touch of yellow plum. On the palate come orchard fruit, malt loaf and honey with a soft coastal salinity, and the finish is long and sweet, with jammy yellow plum over toasted oak.