Yamazakura Pure Malt 15 Years Old Whisky (70cl, 43%)

This is a 15 year old pure malt from Yamazakura, the Japanese distillery of Sasanokawa Shuzo, bottled at 43% in a 70cl bottle. Only 2400 bottles were produced. The whisky was aged for 15 years in oak barrels, then in tanks, and again in oak barrels, and is reportedly finished in wine barrels. The Yamazakura distillery closed in 1998 and merged with Sasanokawa Shuzo. Its own distilling went through turbulent times alongside the boom and bust cycles of the Japanese whisky market, when imported bulk spirit replaced its own production.