Is This Benchmark Japanese Single Malt Worth the Price? (2025)

This flagship expression of the Yamazaki brand pioneered Japanese single malt whisky when it was released in 1984 by the House of Suntory. Our tasting panel says it’s a benchmark example of the category, particularly noting the long, rich finish. However, they observe that it’s relatively expensive for an entry-level offering and may be difficult to source.

Tasting Notes

Color: Gold

Nose: Peach and yellow peach skin, caramelized pineapple, vanilla, clove, mizunara oak, sandalwood, shortbread, baked apple, salted toffee, nuts, wet moss, lemon, passion fruit, candied fruit

Palate: Butter, toasted coconut, ripe peaches, leather-bound notebook, vanilla ice cream, raisins, baked apples, lemon zest, black pepper, chocolate

Finish: Long and smooth, with notes of barley, burnt caramel, stewed stone fruit, chewy tannins, and Saigon cinnamon

Similar bottles: Hakushu 12, Nikka Miyagikyo Single Malt, Macallan 12 Year Sherry Oak, Glenmorangie The Original 10 Year Old, Glenfiddich 12 Year Single Malt

Suggested uses: Sipped neat or on the rocks; cocktails including the Old Fashioned, Vieux Carré, Rob Roy, Rusty Nail, and Bamboo

Our Review

Our reviewers highly rate this Japanese single malt whisky, which is Yamazaki’s flagship single malt expression.

“To me, this is perfection,” says Kenta Goto. “It has great balance, harmony, and a rich long finish from the first sip to the last. It’s great for sipping and mixing.”

Julia Momosé calls this bottling a “benchmark example of Japanese single malt.”

“This is one of my favorite Japanese whiskies to share with people [who] are just getting to know the category,” says Momosé. “Experienced sippers will often know and love this, and it makes a great whisky to level-set when tasting through some new bottles, or just for something comforting.”

On the nose and palate, our reviewers pick out notes including mizunara oak, tropical and stone fruits, vanilla, and baking spices. They also observe a long and rich finish.

“[This whisky has] subtly chewy tannins with a long balanced finish,” says Jacques Bezuidenhout.

Goto finds the finish “smooth, woody, and sweet.”

Our entire tasting panel recommends this expression for neat sipping or mixed into certain cocktails.

“This is my go-to whisky at home for sipping,” says Goto. “It’s also good on the rocks, [and] in a highball it feels luxurious and is really delicious. This could also be great to use in some classic scotch cocktail recipes like a Rob Roy or Rusty Nail.”

Momosé recommends enjoying this expression neat or on the rocks, but also says that it will make a “fabulous highball or Old Fashioned.”

“I enjoy it in a Vieux Carré variation partnered with Armagnac instead of cognac to highlight the spiced mizunara characteristics,” she adds.

“I would sip on this neat or maybe [over] a quality ice cube,” says Bezuidenhout. He notes that it could also work well in a stirred cocktail like a Bamboo, but finds that its limited availability makes it best reserved for sipping for most drinkers.

While our reviewers all find this bottling to be a high-quality representation of the category, their opinions diverge slightly on its overall value.

“The collector’s whisky market put this out of reach for the regular whisky drinker who loves a good dram,” says Bezuidenhout. “It competes with any 12-year single malt but the price drives it beyond competition.”

Production

This single malt whisky is made with malted barley that is imported from Scotland at Yamazaki Distillery, the first and oldest malt whisky distillery in Japan. It comprises a blend of single malt whiskies that are fermented in stainless steel and wooden casks, distilled in copper pot stills from both Japan and Scotland, and cask-aged for a minimum of 12 years in different oak barrels, including American, Spanish, and Japanese mizunara oak barrels.

History

Inspired by Scotch whisky, Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii opened Yamazaki Distillery in 1923, in a valley outside of Kyoto. He selected the location for its proximity to some of Japan’s softest waters, as well as the misty, humid environment that’s ideal for cask-aging.

Until the 1980s, the whisky made at Yamazaki Distillery was blended, but Torii’s son Keizo Saji, Suntory’s second president and Yamazaki’s second master blender, pioneered Japanese single malt whisky starting in 1984 with the flagship 12-year-old expression. Since then, the Yamazaki brand has released 18-year-old, 25-year-old, and 55-year-old expressions, as well as a Distiller’s Reserve bottling.

In 2014, Suntory purchased U.S. company Beam Inc for $16 billion, and Beam-Suntory became the world’s third-largest spirits producer. Since the purchase, Yamazaki’s international presence has grown significantly as global demand for Japanese whisky has skyrocketed.

Shinji Fukuyo is the current master blender for Suntory brands.

–Written and edited by Audrey Morgan