The Suntory Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara, blended in honour of the House's 100-year anniversary. The renowned Japanese distillery Suntory celebrates a momentous 100-year milestone with the launch of their limited edition 2023 Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara – a single malt Japanese whisky aged exclusively in rare Mizunara oak casks – and the classic Yamazaki 12 Year Old (encased in limited-edition celebratory packaging for the anniversary). The duo pay homage to Suntory’s 100th anniversary, showcasing the distillery’s unrivalled craftsmanship and dedication to the art of whisky-making.
“Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara was blended for our 100 year anniversary and features a rich texture created from a long aging process. This expresses the delicate and meticulous attention to detail that went into its craftsmanship,” says Fifth Generation Chief Blender Shinji Fukuyo. “I believe this whisky embodies the founding family’s spirit to pursue quality, and I am honoured to share this with the world.”
The 2023 limited release of Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara is a unique alchemy of Suntory’s flagship single malt and Japanese Mizunara oak, in which the unique malt is aged exclusively. The blend’s expression of rich and elegant notes of dark cherry and ripe peach is accented with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, and features under notes of Japanese incense and a lingering finish of clove, sandalwood, and hints of dried coconut.
The centennial edition of Yamazaki 12 Year Old is an homage to the Japanese principle of “Monozukuri”craftsmanship, embodying elevated artisanship, and the pursuit of quality, ingenuity and expressiveness. The bottle’s design nods to the historic Yamazaki, the oldest malt distillery in Japan, and the illustration renders the distillery in deep copper tones from a low angle, looking up (a reminder to stay grounded and Shinjiro Torii’s dream of making whisky blessed with the riches of Japanese nature and craftsmanship). Peach, pineapple, grapefruit, clove, candied orange, vanilla and Mizunara (Japanese oak) shape the whisky’s expression on the nose, with notes of coconut, cranberry and butter on the palate and sweet ginger cinnamon undertones.
The limited edition release of these whiskies commemorates not only Suntory’s century-long legacy but also presents a rare opportunity for whisky connoisseurs and collectors to experience the finest expressions of Yamazaki. Each bottle is affixed with a label that signifies the distillery’s centennial celebration, adding an extra touch of exclusivity to these remarkable releases.
