During my brief dry period last month I did have some drams to celebrate Purim, a Jewish holiday which one is obliged to get drunk. Yeah, Judaism has some good holidays in it!

I’ve started the holiday by joining a charity whisky evening where some people donated whisky bottles and all proceeds from tickets were for charity.

In this event I’ve managed to write notes for only 2 bottles – well, I was getting a bit drunk after all… and this is the first one of them – Suntory Hakushu 12 yrs.

Most of my readers will probably know who Suntory are – After all, they are the producers of Yamazaki – the most known Japanese whisky brand in the world.

But Suntory has a younger distillery under their big wings – Hakushu. The original Hakushu distillery was built in 1973 on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Yamazaki Distillery and that means I’m older than the distillery!

Some of Hakushu recent bottlings such as the Heavly peated and the sherry casks got rave reviews but the cornerstone of the distillery is the 12 yo bottling.

Suntory Hakushu 12 (43%, buy here for £63.95)

Nose: started with a light whiff of peat smoke(!) turning fruity with lots of green apples, pears, sweet, some honey and nuts, with time some the nose turns perfumery with flowers perfume.

Palate: Salty and sweet oak wood, some sweet peat/smoke, stewed fruits – very fresh and smooth

Finish: Medium length, Sweetness with mild oak wood spices and hints of pepper

Conclusion: Hey, this one is good, balanced where fruits and spices mix together and kind of entrench in my mind as a Japanese Glenlivet 12 (That’s a compliment in case you miss the point). It ain’t cheap in Europe but if you happen to get offered a dram of it – don’t hesitate.