Karuizawa 1984 (cask #7802)

This Karuizawa 1984 was bottled last year. Although it is bottled by Number One Drinks (like all others) it has a unique label that sets it apart from ‘official’ releases. It was selected by Cask Norway and Cask Sweden, which are part of the Nordic Group, a distributor of wines, beers and spirits.

Cask #7802 was a European oak Oloroso butt.

Karuizawa 29 yo 1984 (56,7%, OB for Cask Norway & Cask Sweden, Oloroso butt #7802, 577 btl.)

Nose: great. Clean, with lovely whiffs of tobacco leaves and worn leather up front. Cigar boxes. Very warm. Black tea. Classic dried fruits (prunes, raisins) with cinnamon and forest fruits jam. Old roses. Quite a lot of eucalyptus, cloves and dried herbs after a while. Turns very medicinal. Smoky wood in the background. Possibly the best 1984 nose I’ve had.

Mouth: oily mouthfeel, less monolithical than some others. The dried fruits are still there, but I’m mostly picking up all kinds of high-quality herbal liqueurs. Think Fernet. Some vermouths as well. Sweet mint liqueur. Aniseed, cumin, cloves, pepper. Walnuts. Mind that it’s savoury but not excessively dry or tannic.

Finish: very long, earthy, spicy and sappy but still quite jammy too.

You gotta love Fernet-Branca for this one. One of the most herbal Karuizawas I can think of. Lovely. The original price was around € 475. Current day collectors value is around € 2500. Many thanks, Kjetil.

Score: 93/100