We’re staying in Japan and move on to the next whisky I recently bought. This time we’re drinking Ichiro’s Malt Wine Wood Reserve.

This is a blend of pure malts from Hanyu distillery which were matured in french oak barrels that contained red wine, vatted and bottled in Chichibu distillery.

Ichiro’s Malt Wine Wood Reserve (NAS, 46% ABV, 5,680 yen – around $57)

Nose: Starts with strong red wine notes, oak wood. Later more red fruits & berries then wine, dark chocolate. Later some orange flavours shows up. Very rich nose!

Palate: Tingling sensation at first, then wood, spicy with peppery edge, nuts, chocolate, red fruits. Not exactly wine influenced.

Finish: Quite long. Malty, stays hot spicy with peppers, bittersweet with long fading gentle wood notes.

Conclusion: The wine impact is very strong on the nose but it’s more of sherry notes on the palate. Overall, it’s a very nice whisky of high quality, fitting as end of dinner dram.