Karuizawa vintage 1992, cask 6978

[Willie JJ]

Karuizawa vintage 1992, cask 6978, 62.8%, bottled 20/02/2007

Colour: Deep gold/amber
Nose: Delightfully perfumed. Floral with violets and heather (ironically) and lots of other summer flowers that seem familiar, but I cant separate out. Hints of tropical fruits stored in hay, but the floral aromas are dominant. No sign of wood that I can find, but there is smoke and lots of it. But its not forceful. It's like a peat fire that has burnt down and thrown off all the dampness and gently glows filling the room with wonderful tarry smells. There's maybe a hint of elastoplast, but the medicinal smells are shy. Just wonderful.
Palate: The peat is there, but that amazing floral perfume just cuts through it and gives it a sweetness that waters the mouth. Then the peat asserts itself. Full on tarry flavours now. Magnificent.
Finish: Here comes the creosote and all the other things that have the peat-heads jumping for joy. The finish is only medium length and the slight ashiness at the end doesn't detract from it at all.

Fantastic stuff. A joy to drink. I understand that they no longer use peated malt at Karuizawa. I hope that works out for them, but on the basis of this, I'll be buying a bottle or two of the peaty stuff.

[C57]

Nose : Spicy and chocolaty with something sweet that I can't identify - molasses perhaps?
Floral as Willie suggests. Interesting because there are lots of aromas in there that I haven't identified yet.

Palate Initially some lemon in here. Then it gets a tang of peat - is this peated? I don't know.
Then some creosote - or is it asphalt? I find this quite complex. Hint of ginger that reminds me of Nadurra

Finish : Reasonably long and ull of that same creosote/asphalt element.

This is very good stuff

[TheTross]

Nose: Thick and robust. Menthol and quite a lot of honey initially. A fair whack of peat and a little salty and nutty. Perhaps slightly medicinal (antiseptic cream). Some sherry notes come through after a short while, as well as a little oak. Seems weaker than ~63%. Water reveals rubber, faint sulphur and menthol and a litle more salt, keeping the peaty base.

Palate: Immediate rubber and antiseptic cream. Peaty. Quite dry and hot - the ABV shows here, that's for sure! Water please! ...Ok, water's cooled it down enough to get notes of lemon and weak chocolate.

Finish: A touch rubbery and a little antiseptic cream again. A very brief note of Olbas Oil/Vicks Vapour rub appears, before giving way to a fairly dry, peated sherriness that lasts a while. Water adds a slightly minty overtone.


The nose is absolutely astounding when neat but the closed, hot palate offers little in comparison. A nice finish though to round the proceedings off. Water helps the palate in terms of coolness but not so much taste. Shame, because otherwise this would rate very highly with me.

[dramtastic]

Karuizawa Vintage 1992. Cask number 6978. 62.8 percent alcohol.
Nose: Some florals, apricot, sherry, golden syrup, vanilla, oak and the ubiquitous varnish. It is balanced from the get go.
Palate: Sweet. You can drink this neat, though it still has loads of punch. In no particular order, it has: florals, oak, sherry, stone fruits, raisins, currants and smoke. Again, very well balanced. With water, the cherry blossoms shine through.
Finish: Long and luscious, with mint, creamy nuts and lovely, trailing smoke and tobacco flavours.

I have always called it the great all-rounder. There is something in it for everyone.

Rating: 92/100.