The WORST Yamazaki? | Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 11 тра 2022
- Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve (山崎蒸溜所謹製) EXTENDED DIRECTOR'S CUT available EXCLUSIVELY to Kanpai Planet supporters at buymeacoff.ee/kanpaiplanet
Kanpai Planet presents the ULTIMATE guide to Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve.
Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve (山崎蒸溜所謹製) is the most accessible of Suntory's Yamazaki Core Line Up. We give you everything you need to know about Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve from Suntory! Ever wondered what casks were used for Yamazaki 18? Is it natural colour? Non-chill filtered? What are the differences between Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve and the rest of the Yamazaki Core Range? And most importantly, how does it taste? We have you covered in the ultimate Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve overview and review!
As per the usual, expect lots of historic tidbits and other edutainment in true Kanpai Planet fashion. It's a whisky review like no other!
Other Yamazaki reviews on Kanpai Planet:
Yamazaki 18: • Yamazaki 18: Unicorn o...
Yamazaki Limited Edition 2021: • Yamazaki Limited Editi...
The Essence of Suntory Whisky Volume 5: • NEW Yamazakis! The Ess...
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#JapaneseWhisky #Yamazaki #Suntory - Розваги
I love the way you tell us about the history behind these awesome drinks 🙏🏻
Thank you so much! There is even more info in the extended mix, which is available for supporters at buymeacoffee.com/kanpaiplanet! 🙏🥃
Dude these new videos are killing it!!! Love the bump in quality! Great job^^
Thank so much Sam. Appreciate that, especially coming from you. Would love to get more eyeballs on this content, so please feel free to share far and wide. Kanpai mate!
Love these videos. High energy and informative. 10/10.
Thank you for watching and your kind comment!
An Extended Director's Cut edition of this review is available to supporters at buymeacoff.ee/kanpaiplanet 🥃🤓. More info, more knowledge, more opinion! Please consider supporting Kanpai Planet.
Great review and video! Thanks as always for sharing your knowledge in such an entertaining style.
Thank YOU for watching and taking the time to leave such a lovely comment! Kanpai!
Fantastic as always Mac. So much wonderful Japanese Whisky knowledge being gently poured into my slow brain. Cheers!
Thanks Jeff! And this is one you might actually be able to find somewhere! Kanpai!
日本のコンビニでは、180mlの山崎と白州が売っていることがあります。しかし、3,4ヶ月に一度であり、すぐに売り切るため、山崎が売れ残っているコンビニを探し歩くことになります。買えた時にはとても幸運です。
Well done on grabbing some at the conbini!
Excellent vid Mak, so enthusiastic despite not being particularly enthused by the whiskey. I am now a little bit wiser than when I woke up.
Thanks for watching and commenting Eddie! Yes, my passion is definitely disproportionate to the product!
Lovely review, Mac. I remember that I first bought this in 2014, actually together with the Hakushu Distiller's Reserve, and that I was pleasantly surprised by its quality, especially if compared against the Hakushu product. But similar to what Greg appears to have noticed with the Hakushu, later batches soon lost their initial lustre. Now I have not been to Japan in more than three years but once I will be back later this year I plan to check it out and see where this has gone in the meantime. Kanpai!
I'm noticing a 50:50 split between people who prefer Hakushu vs Yamazaki and vice versa. Batch variation does appear to have affected both the NASes for these guys sadly.
Thank you always. Really glad you enjoyed the video! Extended edition available at buymeacoff.ee/kanpaiplanet 🥃🤓
Spot on! And great video! Thanks for the insights!
What can I say? Thank YOU!
Thank you Mac! Interesting to hear about the cask composition. I got to know the same after Googling a bit. One day working week! I guess they regret that now.😀
It's not the easiest info to find. Suntory's website doesn't even have the full info, but that was one small piece of info I was able to find out from the company. And yes... huge regrets on the six-day weekend now I am sure!
love your channel and the information you bring (also absolutely loved your sake making sessions, so jealous) I am an ambassador for Suntory in Australia and really enjoy learning from your knowledge on all things Japanese whisky, I also wish i could go back in time to get Suntory making more whisky in the late 90's, one of the aspects of Yama production I was taught is the difference in cask choices between the 12yr and the DR is Yama DR incorporates Red wine cask from Bordeaux whilst the age statement use Mizunara, so both use sherry, ex bourbon etc, but the 12 uses Mizunara, and the DR uses Red wine cask, also, as a fan of your work, i would love to meet next time I'm in Japan.
Hi Tom - thank you for watching and commenting! I actually reached out to Suntory and one of the few things they confirmed to me was the barrel composition which is as stated in the video. No doubt there is more Mizunara in the 12, but there is definitely some in the Distiller's Reserve.
An Extended Director's Cut edition of this review is available to supporters at buymeacoff.ee/kanpaiplanet 🥃🤓. More info, more knowledge, more opinion! Please consider supporting Kanpai Planet.
Thanks for your kind words. Let's connect on other social media too. Kanpai!
@@KanpaiPlanet good to know, thanks for that 👍
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Well done again! This NAS is the Japanese whisky started me buying J-Whisky back in 2013!! I always have a bottle in the house!
🥃🥃🥃 Kanpai my friend!
I found when I tried it a few years back to have a finish. Something I am missing in the 10 and the 12. And find lacking in the 18 and am finding more in Suntory blends from the 80s.
Love to see you do a head to head on this and the current 12.
Thanks Niels. It definitely has an expansive mouthfeel and a finish. I'll try to do that 12 vs NAS head-to-head soon!
Greetings mate. Just subbed to your channel because this is highly interesting stuff. I'm from Germany, maybe I can give a little more, unfortunately not too much new insights into the matter of Coloring Whiskys and how this is regulated here. First and foremost, I bought the Distillers Reserve last year in October for a whopping 83 Euros (it's pretty hard to get it any cheaper here). I had the chance to get the 12 years old for 150 Euros, but I'm not willing to pay such prices. Would sure love to taste one of Suntorys aged Whiskys though. But the prices are even going way up, even for the NAS ones. The Yamazaki Distillers Reserve, if you can manage to get it, is up to 90 Euros and above. The Hibiki had a price raise a few years ago, but had been stable so far, it's way more easy to get this one here. I'm not able to get the Hakusho at all anymore, not even the NAS version. But seeing that even Whiskys from Scotland took a price hike, it's not that surprising seeing that the Suntory Whiskys are getting even more expensive now.
Since I've tasted the core range of the NAS version from Suntory, only the Yamazaki is left and I'm curious and full of joy to taste it myself after your review here.
Coming back to the coloring topic. Normally, this is heavily regulated in Germany. I own the still unopened bottle of the Yamazaki with the new packaging, neither on the gift box nor on the bottle is any mentioning of added color. So this is a pretty good indicator that there is no added color. But there is this little "But". The Whisky was mainly available for Travel Retail here in Germany. It's been mostly distributed to Airports and a few shops are able to grab some of the overstock. I don't know if this is handled differently when it comes to the Travel Retail. I've never seen the Yamazaki in any local store and it's hard to get even in German Online-Shops. Saying that, it's the most easy thing to get your hands on Alcohol in Germany, but it's still hard to get the Yamazaki and almost impossible to get the Hakusho. But if there are no different regulations when it comes to the Travel Retail, then it's safe to assume there is no caramel added to the spirits. But of course we can't say that for sure.
Cheers mate, Kanpai, Ganbatte, Viel Erfolg, Prost and whatever drinking salutes and motivations there are left, keep up the great work.
Thank you very much for the colour (pun intended)! Suntory themselves say that they do use caramel to even out colour between batches. So it is possible that some batches do not have colour, which is what you own, and some do. Thank you very much for your comments and I hope you continue to work your way through the back catalogue. Please consider supporting Kanpai Planet at buymeacoff.ee/kanpaiplanet. Kanpai!
Thanks Mac, for again a highly informative and enjoyable review.
Have not tasted this whisky, so no comments on that from my side.
Slàinte mhath/ Kanpai
Thank you always. Really glad you enjoyed it! Extended edition available at buymeacoff.ee/kanpaiplanet 🥃🤓
Great review, background, history and tasting notes. Yes, a lack of transparency is really frustrating, especially when this seems to be doing the brand more harm than good and doesn't seem to be good business practice.
One would think that using Ex-Sherry casks and French Red Wine Barriques, there would be absolutely no need for any E150a colour, yet, there are some companies who are obsessed with shelf consistency from batch to batch and will dafka insist on adding colour to keep every batch looking exactly the same. This to me, makes sense with Blends like JWRL, but when it comes to Single Malt Whisky, it shows a lack of understanding of your customers. Someone who is looking for whisky from a single distillery will be looking for its uniqueness. Moreover the customer will understand that, being organic, no cask and seasoning will be the same and one must expect, no, celebrate those differences from batch to batch.
[SUBSCRIBED]
I agree Reb, but for some companies the brand, and their perception of what that stands for, trumps all.
Good job Mac ! Cheers )
Kanpai!
An Extended Director's Cut edition of this review is available to supporters at buymeacoff.ee/kanpaiplanet 🥃🤓. More info, more knowledge, more opinion! Please consider supporting Kanpai Planet.
Great review & insight as usual and totally agree with you about this...I didn't bought it but got me the nas Hakushu & beyond the surprise of first batches (rather interesting), next batches quickly became a bit less subtle for me, and nowhere near even their previous 10 yo that I still have home...For me even the value of "the flipper's delight" Yamazaki nas "Sherry Cask" is debatable for some vintages...When you have tried "the real deal" from them like me & you, you are rightfully so legitimate to ask them "Is this the best you can do to represent the distillery as a unique item ?" My answer is No ! Now is that Yamazaki nas a bad whisky in my opinion ? No, but it doesn't represent well the distillery compared to the 12 yo, and is clearly targeted towards a bigger audience as a mellow crowd pleaser & mizuwari base (or supposed to be) whisky, which is understandable, but not for us; Kanpaï !
That's exactly it Greg. Is it "bad" vs is this the best they could do... that dynamic preyed in my mind as I made this review.
Figured I’d post this same comment on this video as well as the exclusive one from earlier in the week - can’t hurt the UA-cam algorithm that’s for sure!
Mac’s back, baby! Great video! As always, very insightful, interesting and impeccably well presented.
I must admit, I don’t like the direction that Suntory have been taking in recent years. Likely chill filtered, colour added, and lacking the character and dimension of some of their older editions.
I have always viewed Japanese products to be of high quality, be trustworthy and respectable - characteristics which I think Suntory have begun to lose sight of in recent years. They have such a large market share and brand image that they can afford to make products that are subpar with older similar variants (and still charge a massive premium - at least in overseas markets). I’m sure Japan’s whisky standards certainly do not help the situation out either, but these are not good signs for the future of Suntory products.
What I do love is that despite living in Japan, you’re not afraid to offer a genuine, no BS opinion on their products and the brand itself. It really helps prospective consumers make a more informed decision on the products beforehand.
Keep up the amazing work Mac!
Take that, algorithm! Stealing my reply from the exclusive edition (available to supporters at buymeacoffee.com/kanpaiplanet)!:
There is definitely a didactic attitude which is pervasive here from big companies - both here and elsewhere... "You will drink what we told you."
With all these craft distillers joining the J-whisky ranks, it will be interesting to see if Suntory shift their ways.
Your penultimate paragraph shows me that once again you have seen behind the curtain.
Thanks always for your continuous support!
Sounds like a nice enough dram for the cost, a pity it's so absurdly expensive here in New Zealand. I sure miss the days when I could get a bottle of the 12 from any liquor shop for $100 (it's now ~$400.) Knowing what I know now I'd have stocked up on it at the time.
There is a huge amount of "If I knew then what I know now" in the Japanese Whisky space!
If you enjoyed this and other videos, please consider supporting Kanpai Planet at buymeacoff.ee/kanpaiplanet
appreciate the rum bangers on your shelf
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Bought a bottle in Japan where I live in Kanagawa last week for 7,700 yen. About $53 in US dollars.
Good stuff! It is a shame that regular stores mark this up, but regardless, enjoy and Kanpai!
Thank you for saving me $150 US. I found this at a local store heavily marked up. It doesn’t even seem worth the $100 retail.
#yourewelcome 🥃🥃🥃
This is a €155 for 700 ml in Holland today. I paid $85 2 months ago in Panama duty free.
Insane pricing around the world, let alone secondary... but the market seems to lap it up!
Got a bottle of this last winter. Not available in the US so it was part of a UK online order. $108 usd total price with shipping. Also got the Hakushu distillers reserve as well for the same price. Glad I tried them but for me the Yoichi and Miyagiko are much better and cost less. Cheers
I find it very strange that Suntory do not release it in the US. Perhaps they find it a better market for their premium age statements. Glad you got to do a Nikka vs Suntory head-to-head! Kanpai!
@@KanpaiPlanet I have just recently seen the distillers editions on US site's so maybe they are now bringing them in.
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Great Review! I am also very disappointed with the NAS Yamazaki.....light and day compared to the classic 12 year old. In my market I remember buying them back in 2015 for $30 now it is close to $100. There are far better quality whisky at this price range sadly and Suntory sticks to their traditional ways which is usually shot down buy whisky nerds!
Absolutely! Could not agree me. $100 for Yamazaki NAS is insane. Thanks for watching and commenting!
As usual, you've done a bang up job with this review. I also have an issue with a whisky distiller suddenly becoming iffy with what they're putting in the bottle, when previously they couldn't wait to tell you everything. I'm guessing they're giving themselves 'wiggle room' to use different methods, aa long as it keeps to a certain taste and appearance. But how does that make them any different from your average distiller?
Exactly. There's no positive motivation for a lack of transparency. Kanpai! 🥃🥃🥃
I will tell you , it cost an arm and a leg 😂
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A very fair assessment. Before the NV was born I gather that the 12 was often used in high balls which seems a waste to me. Would it be worth doing a taste test of the NV in a high ball/mizuwari and on the rocks as these may be how most Japanese people drink it. Personally, if I am drinking a NV Japanese whisky straight, I'll go for Nikka's Yoichi as it seems to have more going on IMHO.
Don't tell anyone, but your serving suggestion video idea is in the works...
@@KanpaiPlanet Looking forward to that one Mac!
I thought you would! 😜
Does anyone know if there's any other whiskeys that have a similar taste to the Yamazaki 18?
That' a tough question to anwser because of the balance between Mizunara (Japanese Oak), Spanish oak and American oak. Probably Yamazaki 12 comes closest!
Hi if you had to choose would you buy the Hibiki or Yamazaki distillers reserve?
I would choose Hibiki Japanese Harmony over Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve.
@KanpaiPlanet thanks for the advice! See if been recommended the Hibiki but then some people keep telling me Single Malt is better than blended which then confuses me! Any advice with that debate?
I judge each drink on it's won merits and do not think one category is intrinsically better than the other.
Almost like the explosion of demand for Japanese whisky around the world (and the huge markup in international prices) has lead to a drop in quality to rush out product to satisfy demand. Who would have thought? #capitalism
Quite! 🥃
Mac ... Looooong time no C ... Very Fair Objective review ... When you boil the fat off the pig ..its down to personal taste and budget .. I will not be buying .... cheers
It's been a while! Hope you've enjoyed the sake and whisky festival content!
A decent dram, and nothing more these days. Let's see what happens to Japanese whisky in 8 to 9 years. The prices being asked for very young whisky by the new distillers is interesting at first, but quickly becomes boring and a waste of money.
The landscape will look very different in 10 years time for sure!