Vatted Malt - BourbonSphere

Suntory Releases Two Hibikis To America

Suntory has announced the release of Hibiki Blossom Harmony, a limited-edition blend featuring whiskies finished in Sakura casks and for the first time Hibiki 30 Year Old will be available in the U.S. Hibiki Blossom Harmony Sakura Blossom season in early spring has always been an occasion for celebration in Japan, with many gathering around …

Hibiki Blossom Harmony
Sakura Blossom season in early spring has always been an occasion for celebration in Japan, with many gathering around the beautiful flowering Sakura trees that inspire the Japanese to appreciate life as it blooms. Hibiki Blossom Harmony captures this joyful spirit by blending a rare selection of whiskies finished in Sakura wood casks with diverse matured malt and grain whiskies to create this particular Hibiki.

This limited-edition bottle will be available beginning in October in select global markets including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. The expression is bottled at 43 percent ABV and has a suggested retail price of $160 USD.

Inspired by Sakura
Hibiki is a harmonious blend of various malt and grain whiskies from Suntory’s Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita distilleries. Constantly pushing the boundaries of what Japanese Whisky can be, the House of Suntory continues to explore and experiment with various wood types. The Sakura cask was one that intrigued Fifth Generation Chief Blender Shinji Fukuyo.

“I have been mesmerized by the Sakura cask for the last five years now due to its symbolism, but also because of its distinctive, subtly floral and spicy aroma and flavor notes,” says Fukuyo. “There have been many experiments with malt and grain whisky components, and we found that there was a special alchemy between the grain whiskies and the Sakura cask. It is this special relationship – harmony – that inspired me to create this blend.”

Achieving the right balance and orchestration proved to be a great challenge from the start since the Sakura cask is one with strong character that can easily become overbearing. After a period of trial and error, Fukuyo found that the grain whiskies finished in the Sakura cask best elevated the overall balance.

Hibiki 30 Year Old in the U.S.
Released in 1997 as a rare, limited edition, Hibiki 30 Year Old represents the paragon of the Hibiki brand and the art of Japanese craftsmanship. For the first time, this exquisite bottle will be available in the U.S. as of October for a suggested retail price of $5,000.

Hibiki 30 features a select blend of Yamazaki malt whiskies that are 30 years and older from Suntory’s treasured historic collection, with mild grain whiskies that have also matured at least 30 years. With a mere few thousand bottles produced each year, each is bottled by hand. This luxurious liquor has received accolades and awards from whisky connoisseurs around the world and it represents the pinnacle of whisky making at Suntory.

Bikkun Vatted Malt Spanish Whisky Review

By Emma Briones Rating: B Today, almost all distilleries start by learning from others. Some do it from a distance, others ask for help directly or use whiskeys from others to learn how to mix or tune. And what it does is enrich them all. To those who learn and those who teach. Some decide …

By Emma Briones

Rating: B

Bikkun Vatted Malt
(Credit: Basque Moonshiners)

Today, almost all distilleries start by learning from others. Some do it from a distance, others ask for help directly or use whiskeys from others to learn how to mix or tune. And what it does is enrich them all. To those who learn and those who teach. Some decide to use it as an experiment, and from moments like this whiskeys like Bikkun Vatted Malt are born.

It’s not that at Basque Moonshiners, a distillery from the north of Spain, don’t know how to make whiskey, quite the opposite. We already saw with Agot, their first and second release, that they are going strong. But the best thing about whiskey is always being able to share it. And that’s something that the Basque Moonshiners know very well. That is why for its third whisky they wanted to try something different: a vatted malt from different countries. The noun vatted hasn’t been used lately, as blended malt has become the standard, but they want to differentiate Bikkun, and that’s why they are using the noun “vatted” (which I personally like more than “blended malt”).

Bikkun Vatted Malt is a blended malt whiskey from Basque Moonshiners and Distell International (the parent house of whiskeys such as Deanston, Ledaig, Bunnahabhain). The final blend includes smoked malt from Islay (Bunnahabhain), sherry malt from the Highlands (Deanston), and single malt from Basque Moonshiners aged in Spanish Rioja Alavesa casks. As is the tradition in the Basque distillery, the whiskey has not been cold-filtered and has no added coloring. It is bottled at 46% ABV.

The Whisky
If I liked Agot’s design, Bikkun’s style fascinates me. A combination in white, black, and gold with a split label. In the glass, the whiskey is light gold. The first hit on the nose is pure peat, but not explosive, but rather that aroma of smoke that mixes with notes of toasted oak. There are also notes of malt, minced biscuit, and butter. That touch of fresh yeast and pastries with hints of candied fruit. Some nuts: hazelnut, walnut. A touch of sour apple towards the end.

On the palate, it is lighter than expected, although somewhat unctuous. It starts with intense notes of peat and a slightly spicy point. It is followed by a sherry touch, with more chocolate notes and some raisins. There is some licorice in the background, which gives it a slight minty touch. It maintains the sweet notes of cereal and butter, with some nuts, mainly hazelnuts. It is spicy, with intense notes of black pepper and a touch of dark chocolate and coffee. The finish is quite long, with a hint of smoke and honey.

Bikkun in Basque means “done between two”, and the name works perfectly with this whisky. Bikkun Vatted Malt is a whisky made between two but, as happens with children, it is a good mix of both. It is a more balanced whiskey than Agot, and in which the different malts are intertwined without one having more prominence than another. Some will think that perhaps the islay profile wins because of its smoky notes, but precisely the character of the Basque malt manages to tame the Bunnahabhain peat. I have been calling for the return of the vatted category (currently called “blended malt”) for years because I fervently believe that it is a word that has a lot to offer. Bikkun Vatted Malt is a good example of this. Also noteworthy is the choice of the Basque Moonshiners team to bottle it at 46%, where it has its maximum potential. With a few drops of water, it softens without losing its character.

The Price
Bikkun Vatted Malt is available in Specialist Retailers in Europe. It retails at 45€.

Compass Box Kicks Off 2022 With New Limited Edition

Compass Box Scotch Whiskymakers are thrilled to announce their first Limited Edition of 2022, Vellichor (SRP $450;44.6% ABV). This new expression, inspired by the experience, emotion, and aroma of old bookshops, is ideal for collectors and whisky enthusiasts alike and will only have 3,246 bottles available worldwide. Vellichor will be available from select specialist retailers. …

“To us, Vellichor starts with a word and an emotion: the experience of being in a second-hand bookshop and being enveloped by its aroma,” says Whiskymaker, James Saxon. “We scoured Scotland for the volumes we needed to express this, eventually discovering two parcels of Scotch whisky from a distiller and bottler in Speyside. Both were blends that had been aged further in Sherry casks and were more than two decades old. These are some of our favorite whiskies to work with and we have capitalized on such discoveries before with previous Limited Editions, including The General and The Circus. Refining the very specific aromas of old books with whisky has been a moving process for us.”

‘Vellichor’ itself is a word that describes and embodies the fragrance and nostalgia of old books found within second-hand bookshops. This sentiment flows through all elements of the bottle as it is shown in the artwork with the aesthetic of aged, well-used paper, and the shades of brown and yellow convey the accumulated age of the whisky components they have used to create such a special whisky. The complex, transportive aroma of old books is a favorite of Compass Box Whiskymaker and founder, John Glaser, and Compass Box Whiskymaker, James Saxon. They both studied literature and spent many hours in densely packed libraries; creating a whisky that embodies this atmosphere and unique fragrance was a great adventure for them both.

Compass Box has combined rare, Sherry-matured blends with malt whiskies from the sought-after Highland Park and Macallan distilleries, together with a small amount of very old whisky from the Caol Ila Distillery. Not many blends feature 23-year-old whisky from the Macallan Distillery, fewer still are built around even older whisky from the Highland Park Distillery. It is the smoky and tropically fruity nature of this set of casks from the famous Orkney distillery that inspired the idea.

Alfred Giraud Harmonie French Whisky Review

By Richard Thomas Rating: B If one reads these pages about world whiskey or the business of whiskey at all, then the fact that France is the world’s second largest market for our thematic drink should be well-driven into your noggin by now. Because French whisky consumption is the highest in the world, at over …

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

Alfred Giraud Harmonie Triple Malt
(Credit: Alfred Giraud)

If one reads these pages about world whiskey or the business of whiskey at all, then the fact that France is the world’s second largest market for our thematic drink should be well-driven into your noggin by now. Because French whisky consumption is the highest in the world, at over 2 liters per capita annually, they are also the second most lucrative market. Knowing those facts, the question becomes not why is France producing whisky, but why isn’t French whisky better known?

To that, I will add a minor bit of trivia: many experts believe the idea of aging American whiskey in new oak barrels was borrowed from the French. At the time Americans were inventing bourbon and rye–the late 18th and early 19th Centuries–the French were not making whisky, but they were making cognac. And what is cognac, but grape brandy aged in new French oak? I bring that up not only to underscore that old school Franco-American connection, but also because the Giraud family are distinguished cognac-makers.

That brings me around to this particular French whisky, Alfred Giraud Harmonie Malt. First, note the absence of the designation “single malt.” This is a vatted triple malt (for another example of a triple malt, see Monkey Shoulder), made with whiskies from three French distilleries. That whisky was aged in new French oak and new American oak casks, but it is not known if that trio of cask types correspond to the trio of French distilleries, or represent a more complicated mix (i.e. distillery #1 provided whisky in new French and American oak, etc.). One whisky source is lightly peated, and the other two unpeated. The whisky is finished in ex-cognac casks after marriage, and bottled at 46.1% ABV. A mere seven casks-worth are released annually, but keep in mind a cognac cask is 400 liters, or almost double the size of a bourbon barrel.

The Whisky
The nose here builds on a sweet platform of malty honey with a touch of the kind of saline, cut and dried grass smell one gets from work going on at the edge of sea marshes. This note is so light as to not even merit being called a dusting of salt, because the vegetal and saline aspects combined are a mere touch. The flavor follows very much in suit behind this line, with a sprinkle of cinnamon added for good measure. The finish winds down grassy and a little spicy.

For a whisky that builds its identity around having some peated whisky in the mix, I found it quite un-smoky. Still, that one whisky was supposed to be lightly peated, and then blended with more unpeated stuff, so this isn’t all that surprising. Instead, the peat played up the vegetal side of things, and brought the tiniest bit of salt into the profile as well. Overall, I would say Harmonie is an enjoyable, but unremarkable malt, except for that understated peat influence that comes out in a way that most would no expect, and that gives the whisky its distinctive character.

The Price
This French malt comes in at $190 per bottle.

Compass Box Releases No Name, No. 3

Compass Box Whisky is delighted to punch up the peat in its latest release of its limited edition Scotch whisky: No Name, No. 3 (48.9% ABV, $130 SRP). And no, the company isn’t covering the Elliott Smith son. This final creation in the No Name series brings a new smoky experience to the trio with 10,794 bottles available worldwide from spirit retailers beginning November 1. This new blended malt whisky would make the ideal festive gift for any enthusiast or collector.

“No Name was not intended to become a series, but we have thoroughly enjoyed showcasing different heavily-peated malt whiskies within a consistent recipe structure,” says John Glaser, Compass Box founder and whiskymaker. “The interplay of smokiness between all three blends is completely different, showing that peat is far from one-dimensional. No Name, No. 3 showcases a rich intensity that makes it vibrant and expansive, with a wild yet graceful peatiness. No Name, No. 3 completes a compelling trilogy, and we are excited for fans of this style to try it.”

A big-boned and peaty whisky, No Name, No. 3 boasts richness and tropical characteristics. Bottled at 48.9% ABV, this final expression is based around malt whisky from the Laphroaig Distillery, aged in recharred hogsheads. Compellingly waxy, fruity and sooty malt whisky from the Bowmore Distillery supports this. Fruity and silky unpeated malts, and a little of the Compass Box Highland Malt Blend, complete the composition.

The result is a blend with an intense rendition of seashore smokiness, backed by baked pear and pineapple notes. Aromas and flavors reminiscent of the patisserie and the smokehouse make for a rewarding and complex experience. James Saxon, lead whiskymaker for No Name, No. 3, recommends enjoying it neat alongside a full bodied blue cheese.

The label, designed by Stranger and Stranger, lends itself to the season with bold and contrasting colors reflective of the dramatic array of flavors within the whisky, making it an artful addition to any home bar this holiday season.