Karuizawa 19 Years Old The Whisky Fair 58.3% 1988

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Serge Valentin (87)

Colour: straw. Nose: punchy but much less marked by the cask this time. Much fruitier as well (tinned pineapples), with notes of ginger and spearmint as well as a little lemon juice. Whiffs of linseed oil and cut cider apples. Starts to ‘sauvignonise’ after a moment. Excellent zing. With water: not much change here, were’s till on dry white wine, lemons and pineapples. Mouth (neat): punchy but sweet and fruity again. Pear and lemon drops, pineapple jell-O, strawberries, vanilla fudge, a little ginger again, bergamots, chamomile tea, hints of mocha... With water: gets more complex, with quite some grapefruit, ginger, cinchona, vanilla fudge, lemon pie... And then even more ginger. Quite amazing how gingery this one is. Finish: long, candied, lemony and gingery. Very good again, even if it hasn’t really got its siblings’ pretty immense stature.

BOW (90)