Friends, lovers, middle-aged air traffic controlsmen, listen here and listen well because I traveled the world for this review.
I flew across oceans.
I learned fluent Japanese at an infant’s level.
I pissed off an elderly tuna monger by asking tuna many questions.
What I’m trying to say is, I’ve become a man of the world. I spent a week in Japan immersed in as much culture as the Park Hyatt could offer. In fact, I accumulated so much culture that when I got back to the states, U.S. Customs made me pay taxes on it.
One of my favorite pieces of Japanese culture is this bottle of Kentucky straight bourbon.
Wild Turkey 12 year is distributed only in international markets (most notably Japan), so if you want it for a reasonable price you’ll need to put on your sailing shoes and book a transatlantic flight. It’s readily available throughout Asia for about $50 which is what I bought mine for. You can also order it online, but it’s marked up quite a bit.
Bottle Architecture:
You can really see the Japanese influence on the packaging. Notice the picture of a bird on the box and the engraving on the bottle. The bird is clearly meant to be Japan’s national bird, a green pheasant.
Also note the prominence of the color purple, which is technically just a shade of red – a lucky color in the region.
Finally, note the 12 year age statement. In Japan, children up to 12 years of age can get half price bus and train tickets. I assume that’s why Wild Turkey didn’t age this any longer, otherwise transportation costs would double.
Nose:
Rich and fragrant. When I reviewed Barrell Grey Label 15 year bourbon, I described it as “black permanent marker on the nose but not in a bad way.” I get the same thing here. It smells like a sweet, peanutty, black permanent marker.
Taste:
Rich and sweet, and that black permanent marker note carries through on the palate. Again, that’s not a bad thing–there was a whole crew in my kindergarten class that couldn’t sniff enough of the stuff.
No bitterness, which is great.
Finish:
Long.
Bottom Line:
8/10 – I like this and next time I’m overseas, I’ll buy another bottle. But honestly, unless you have a super palate, this bottle isn’t going to taste totally different from any other well-aged higher-proof bourbon. At the end of the day bourbon is bourbon and this is bourbon. I’m not sure I’d be able to pick this out of a line-up from the 15 year old Barrell Grey Label I have. But that bottle cost $250 and this cost $60. So my verdict is that this is a tasty bottle and does what bourbon does really well at an amazing price point. But if you’re anything like me, it’s probably not going to be something you’ve never tasted before.
For those of you planning a trip to Japan, I’d put this on your list. Blantons also has some Japan exclusives, but they’re not as easy to find and from what I’ve read, not much different than a regular bottle of Blantons.
Now you’re probably wondering–what about actual Japanese whiskey? Well, actual Japanese whiskey is pretty overpriced there (even more so than here), though I managed to snag a bottle of Hibiki Blossom Harmony for $110 out of sheer dumb luck (story: the clerk didn’t know the price and called to the back to ask the store owner. All I hear is a string of Japanese and then “Hibiki.” The clerk then quotes me $110, which I’m pretty sure was the price for regular Hibiki Harmony, not the Blossom edition that in every other store went for five times that. To clear my conscience, I try to clarify that I’m asking for the price of the Hibiki Blossom Harmony, not the regular harmony. I don’t speak Japanese, and the clerk doesn’t speak English. He looks confused, then quotes me $110 again. I try again to confirm that the price is for the Blossom edition. He looks at me like I’m stupid. There’s a line of elderly Japanese men behind me. They’re all looking at me like I’m stupid. I decided not to shoot a gift horse in the mouth, and bought the bottle).
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